Win the battle of loneliness: Nurses Role

Vol. 1 No. 1

Year: 2011

Issue: Feb-Apr

Title: Win the battle of loneliness: Nurses Role 

Author Name: Kiran Qaisar Ali 

Synopsis:

Introduction: Loneliness is an emotional state of emptiness and hollowness. It has a great impact on physical and mental health of a person. As a health care professional, it is important and essential to prevent, detect and treat loneliness appropriately and effectively in order to promote mental health and prevent mental illnesses. Case Presentation: A 40 year old lady admitted in a psychiatric hospital with the diagnosis of schizophrenia a year back. There was no past and family history of psychiatric illness. Before her illness, she was leading a glorious life with her husband and children. When she was diagnosed as schizophrenic patient she had lost everything. Her husband got separated and at the same time he took their children with him. She was left all alone with her illness. Initially, there were lots of hurdles in interaction with this patient as she was not talking with anyone and remain isolated in her room. Whenever she speaks, she talks about her children. It seems that she was missing her children. One day during conversation, she stated that I feel emptiness. I am all alone in this world. Conclusion: To win the battle of loneliness, there are many ways to detect loneliness, however, clinical manifestation and patient’s history including root cause of loneliness plays a significant part. In addition, effective strategies could be applied by health care professionals as well as patients to combat with loneliness effectively.