Social Isolation

Paper Summary:

This paper stresses that it is not the illness of schizophrenia that will cause the person in this case study on mental illness the most hardship, but rather society and his own response to his diagnosis in the form of social isolation. The author points out social isolation is related to stigma, which any patient with mental illness or dementia is certain to experience. The paper relates that the origins of both stigma and social isolation are found in the labeling process. The author stresses that social isolation creates very serious problems for treatment and recovery. The paper concludes that the main role of nursing in relation to social isolation must be a response to the patient's and the family's needs for understanding, support and health teaching.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Issue: Social Isolation
Therapeutic Intervention
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"At the same time, the labeling process which instigates the entire experience of social isolation produces a massive impact on the patient by not merely providing a diagnosis but imposing a new identity. Deegan (1993), herself a patient with schizophrenia, maintains that the label of mental illness arrives as a package plan which ensures that the patient will be utterly alone. Social isolation begins in the health care system because health care providers tend to confuse the person with the symptoms. The patient is forced to perceive themselves as health care providers view them through the label that comes with diagnosis."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Andreasen, N. (1995). Symptoms, signs, and diagnosis of schizophrenia. The Lancet, 346 (8973), 477-482.
• Deegan, P. (1993). Recovering our sense of value after being labeled. Psychosocial Nursing, 31 (4), 7-11.
• Feeney Mahoney, D. & Cloutterbuck, J. (2005). African, American, Chinese, and Latino family caregivers' impressions of the onset and diagnosis of dementia. The Gerontologist, 45 (6), 783-793.
• Kadri, N. & Manoudi, F. (2004). Stigma impact on Moroccan families of patient with schizophrenia. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 49 (9), 625-629.
• Kenny, J. (2001). Cloaked in secrecy and shame. Canadian Nurse, 97 (1), 20-24.

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