post seven: collaborative issue mapping

by zena dakkak

To further our understanding of the issue of homelessness, in week five our collaborative group continued the mapping process with several brainstorming activities to inform each other of our findings. At this point, the brainstorming activities and mapping exercises allowed the group to view each others insights and perspectives into their research.

figure one: emotive words relating to the issue

Our first exercise consisted of listing any emotive words we thought contributed to the issue of homelessness. With over 200 word results we then wrote all the words onto paper, reading them aloud as we go in case of any repeated words. We laid them onto the tables and individually marked our initials with the words we thought stood out to us. I chose the following following words:
– Survival
– Assumptions
– Alone
– Privacy
– Strangers

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Following, we listed the words individually selected by each group member and mapped them besides the most powerful stakeholders and the least power stakeholders. At this point we realised that almost every word related to each of the listed stakeholders.

We then moved onto writing the antonyms for each word that was selected. All the original words had a negative connotation to our issue, but as soon as we wrote the antonyms it shed a different light onto the issue and emphasised the importance of creating a positive outlook in order to progress with change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To add to our group discoveries, we further mapped the controversies surrounding homelessness and then listed the human and non human actors and stakeholders involved.

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reflection

At the beginning of this process, I didn’t really think this issue was so complex. Like many others I thought it was as simple as it is shown online or in the media. After doing some further research into my issue I began to have a basic understanding of the problems the homeless community are facing on a daily basis. Similarly, the group mapping process proved to be very valuable as we all had similar yet different views on the issue. With further research, our group was able to understand, map and flesh out a deeper understanding into the issue efficiently.

Working as a group demonstrated beneficial as it enabled us to listen and respond to each other’s perspectives on the issue. We were able to map many insights as a group rather than the little we had as individuals. As a group I found it interesting how everyone mapped their ideas. Each group member was helpful with their input and created a mapping method that will assist me in the future to create design solutions. Their views were very important and allowed me to thoroughly add additional information on the issue I would like to pursue.

As a result of co-creating maps, it has enabled me to realise the different views, hidden perspectives/ assumptions that if I solely working by myself I could not see. It has also allowed me to experiment with different approaches to map additional information that I have collected. I have started to seek different methods that I may not have considered.

 

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Post 2: Finding treatments for Bipolar Personality Disorder

Mental Health Post 2: Building your expertise using scholarly secondary sources.
By Lina Lindberg.

After conducting my initial secondary research, I found that society/individuals are highly uneducated on borderline personality disorder. Therefore, I decided to do some further research into what kind treatment people with Borderline personality traits get. To broaden my own knowledge and get a perspective of the different variations and the outcomes. I reviewed two sources: “Dealing with disclosure in patients with borderline personality traits” by Navin Dalani, and “Experiences of care by Australians with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder” by S.Lawn and J. McMahon.

“Dealing with disclosure in patients with borderline personality traits,” written by Navin Dalani, was the first article that I came across. Dalani questions the way that many patients with borderline are frequently not informed of their diagnosis. Published in ‘The medical journal of Australia’, Navin Dalani seeks an answer to the question of how to deal with disclosure in patients with borderline personality traits within the hospital services. Mental health patients with borderline personality traits are frequently not informed, both in the inpatient ward and in the outpatient clinics – even if the patients are documented and needs treatment.

Mr. Dalani asks the question that everyone else seems to be either too scared or self-uprupted to ask – ‘Why the disparity?’. Dalani then answers his own question, by explaining how it is safer with disclosure, to not reveal to the patient that he/she is sick. Often a strong personality attribute of patients with borderline is that they are considered ego syntonic.

To deal with a BPD person is chronic and the therapist is under a lot of pressure. One of the reasons, how I understand it, is because the therapist has to find a good balance. There needs to be a trust but the therapy also have to avoid boundary violations. What the patient must learn, especially in suicide cases, is that it is unrealistic to expect others to take responsibility for keeping him or her alive.

The article is very vague, and Mr. Dalani does not find a direct answer to what needs to be done and by who to make people’s life easier with treatment. I understand that it is difficult to deal with these issues, but the more research I do into the subject the angrier I become. Is it the lack of knowledge that is the issue? Or is it that we live in a society today that just does not care enough?

The second source, that would classify as a report, written by S.Lawn and J. McMahon, is ‘Experiences of care by Australians with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder’. Lawn and McMahon have compiled results from surveys done by 153 people living in Australia with the BPD diagnosis. By analysing and comparing different how the patient experience support sources. The report is very hands-on and clear, which makes it hard to not face the problem of how patients with the BPD diagnosis face a lot of discrimination.

This second article is clearer and presents very relevant information. First published in the Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 2015, Lawn and McMahon write about the ‘Experiences of care by Australians with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder’. This report’s aim is to explore experiences from 153 people in Australia if the BPD diagnosis.

The report explains how challenging the mental health condition is, and how patients with the BPD diagnosis experience significant discrimination when attempting public or health services, how the patients feel and what treatment that they thought has been the most successful for them.

The statistics in the surveys was very clear and somewhat confronting. In one of the surveys they ask the patients “To what extent have the following caused you anxiety?” and 71.3% answered not being taken seriously. It is interesting to compare mental health treatment to medical care. Patients who require surgery receive significant resources and empathy, but mental health, where the issue is in your brain, is a completely different experience.

As for the treatment, psychotherapy was reported as the most helpful. This involves developing a crisis plan, education and information about BPD, meditation and cognitive behaviour therapy. Many participants rated mental health support groups and community support groups very unhelpful.

In so many situations, society assumes the best way of treating someone, instead of asking the person what works best for them. Discrimination and respect is lacking in treatment of mental health. In further studies I want to gain more knowledge into how people’s everyday actions towards patients with BPD can change.

References:

Dalani, N. 2013, ‘Dealing with disclosure in patient with borderline personality traits’, The Medical Journal Of Australia, vol.199(10). Pp. 661

Lawn, S. & MacMahon, S, ‘Experiences of care by Australians with a diagnosis of borderline disorder’, Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, vol. 22, pp. 510-521