This chapter provides an overview of the common medicines prescribed within mental health care and explores the ways in which personal narratives and social expectations can influence the experience of taking medicines. The chapter also looks at concepts and practices that influence the management of medicines and encourage safe and high-quality use of medicines. These concepts include consumer experience, concordance, and shared decision-making. Facilitating a positive experience of medicinal use requires quality communication and team work, whereby nurses, psychologists, occupational therapists, dietitians, medical practitioners and pharmacists work in partnership with the consumer and carer.

This chapter introduces the concept of mental illness, how it is diagnosed, and the main diagnostic classification systems used in health practice. The experiences and symptoms of people living with mental illness – according to criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5 – are reviewed. It is emphasised that diagnostic criteria can be considered within an overall framework for conversation and engagement between practitioners, consumers, and carers, with the overarching aim of exploring and understanding the best response to distress and treatment approach to promote recovery processes. Criticisms towards diagnostic classification systems are also summarised. Finally, potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its implication for people’s mental health are presented.

Readers of this book will have thought deeply about how to collaborate with and support people with a mental illness, their families and carers. The preceding chapters have given considerable emphasis to a narrative approach. This final chapter discusses leadership, particularly for new entrants into mental health settings.Effective clinical care is person and family centred. It seeks to understand and involve consumers, carers and families in rich discussions about their needs, preferences and values. This understanding and involvement is combined with evidence-based practice to support consumers in their treatment and recovery goals.At the heart of the decision to take this approach has been the fundamental belief in human connectedness. By working through this text, readers have been challenged to think about how and when to move in new ways when working with resilient and vulnerable people, which is helpful across a range of practice settings when seeking to make a difference in the lives of people experiencing a mental illness. While this is important in providing a theoretical and practical basis for care, it is at the point of care that effective leadership is required.

This chapter reflects a coming together of key issues and themes embedded in everyday work with consumers and carers. In recent times, the definition of a carer has expanded to include immediate family and friends, and may also include extended family members such as grandparents and cousins. In transcultural and other contexts, it is important to use humanistic language in line with a recovery approach; for example, the terms ‘support person/people’ and ‘support networks’ may be preferable to the term ‘carer’ in mental health practice and mental health nursing. This approach provides a foundation for human connectedness, and sets the consumer narrative as central to mental health practice and mental health nursing, specifically.The chapter introduces students to a narrative-based understanding of mental health and trauma-informed mental health care, as well as key concepts in mental health and mental illness. It discusses mental health nursing as a collaborative, specialised field of nursing.

Readers of this book will have thought deeply about how to collaborate with and support people with a mental illness, their families and carers. The preceding chapters have given considerable emphasis to a narrative approach. This final chapter discusses leadership, particularly for new entrants into mental health settings.Effective clinical care is person and family centred. It seeks to understand and involve consumers, carers and families in rich discussions about their needs, preferences and values. This understanding and involvement is combined with evidence-based practice to support consumers in their treatment and recovery goals.At the heart of the decision to take this approach has been the fundamental belief in human connectedness. By working through this text, readers have been challenged to think about how and when to move in new ways when working with resilient and vulnerable people, which is helpful across a range of practice settings when seeking to make a difference in the lives of people experiencing a mental illness. While this is important in providing a theoretical and practical basis for care, it is at the point of care that effective leadership is required.

While the health systems in Australia, New Zealand and other developed countries are regarded as some of the finest in the world, there is an ever-present need to ensure flexibility regarding cultural competence and responsiveness and cultural inclusivity across a range of practice settings. If current rates of immigration to Australia continue to grow, it is estimated that by 2050 approximately one-third of Australia’s population will be overseas-born (Cully and Pejozki, 2012).This chapter examines the mental health needs of people from refugee and immigrant backgrounds, with emphasis given to asylum seekers. Mental health issues that may affect these populations are explored, as is engagement between people of refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds and mainstream mental health services. This chapter seeks to deepen and broaden readers’ understanding of the effects of trauma among people of refugee background, and links this to strategies that might be used by mainstream mental health practitioners and services in response.

While the health systems in Australia, New Zealand and other developed countries are regarded as some of the finest in the world, there is an ever-present need to ensure flexibility regarding cultural competence and responsiveness and cultural inclusivity across a range of practice settings. If current rates of immigration to Australia continue to grow, it is estimated that by 2050 approximately one-third of Australia’s population will be overseas-born (Cully and Pejozki, 2012).This chapter examines the mental health needs of people from refugee and immigrant backgrounds, with emphasis given to asylum seekers. Mental health issues that may affect these populations are explored, as is engagement between people of refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds and mainstream mental health services. This chapter seeks to deepen and broaden readers’ understanding of the effects of trauma among people of refugee background, and links this to strategies that might be used by mainstream mental health practitioners and services in response.

Suicide is a significant national and international public health issue. Each year an estimated 3300 Australians and approximately 650 New Zealanders die by suicide. While suicide is a behaviour not an illness, it can occur in the absence of mental illness. The determinants and precipitants of mental illness and suicide are interrelated and frequently associated with one another. The aim of this chapter is to discuss and describe demographic characteristics of suicide, key definitions and drivers of suicide, suicide risk factors, plus lived experience of suicide and suicide related harms through first person accounts. As with other forms of mental distress, people in suicide and self-harm crisis can be helped through compassionate and person-centred approaches.

Suicide is a significant national and international public health issue. Each year an estimated 3300 Australians and approximately 650 New Zealanders die by suicide. While suicide is a behaviour not an illness, it can occur in the absence of mental illness. The determinants and precipitants of mental illness and suicide are interrelated and frequently associated with one another. The aim of this chapter is to discuss and describe demographic characteristics of suicide, key definitions and drivers of suicide, suicide risk factors, plus lived experience of suicide and suicide related harms through first person accounts. As with other forms of mental distress, people in suicide and self-harm crisis can be helped through compassionate and person-centred approaches.