Nutrition for the mentally ill

Very strictly monitor the nutrition of patients, they are weighed. If the patient has lost weight, take appropriate measures. If you recover without improving overall health, this is an unfavorable sign. During the meal, the attendants monitor the patient to take the food that is prescribed to him by the doctor. For example, patients with bad teeth receive food prepared in a grated form;patients with diseases of internal organs are assigned a special table. Weak patients need help, they eat slowly, food should be crushed, bread is soaked, peeled off. If the patient is very weak, the nurse feeds him with a spoon, and watches the patient eat the food, and gives only half a spoonful. The head of a lying patient is lifted and supported, food should not be hot. Sometimes the patient refuses from poverty, this indicates the severity of his condition. Refusal of food is caused by various reasons:

• dull patients with a desire for suicide refuse to eat because of the desire to starve themselves to death, they think of death as happiness;

• Patients with delusional persecution refuse to eat, fearing poison;

• Patients with hypochondriac syndrome may refuse, as they think that their bowels have become stuck together and impassable;

• patients with hallucinations refuse to take food by order of "voices";

• Patients with delusional ideas of self-blame refuse to eat, because they consider themselves unworthy of the care that is given to them;they claim that they do not have the right to eat;

• Others do not eat because of the opposition that they give to everything that they are offered.

In such cases, the patient is urged to eat. This requires persistence and patience, and therefore you need to find out the reason for refusing food. It is useful to offer the patient food, which does not get "poison"( eggs in the shell) - then such a patient sometimes takes and eats it. It is possible in front of the patients to try his food for medical staff, sometimes it helps too. If during opposition no persuasion works, then the food is left and gone. Making sure that they do not pay attention to him, the patient begins to eat. Another, indifferent to all the patient, does not eat on his own, but from the hands of the nurse will be, sometimes submissively, sometimes with compulsion.

Some patients are given a nourishing enema, or a 20% caffeine solution is prescribed for awakening the appetite - 1 ml subcutaneously, then after 5 minutes 5% solution of amital sodium is injected intravenously( 2-3).At the ready there should be 20 ml of 40% glucose solution, because if you can not feed the patient, you should enter glucose intravenously. If the patient persistently refuses food, feed through the probe. The probe is injected through the nose, previously lubricated with glycerin. Enter to the mark indicated on the probe, put the funnel on the outer end and lift it up;before introducing the nutritional mixture, make sure that the probe is in the stomach, and not in the trachea( the patient breathes freely, the face is of normal color, there is no cough).When you introduce air into the stomach, there will be a characteristic rumbling. After that, pour the mixture into the stomach with a small trickle. The mixture includes milk, broth, egg yolks, butter, sugar, salt and other nutrients. Usually inject up to 1 liter of the mixture when fed 1-2 times. To feed through the probe proceed on the third day, if the patient refuses to eat. If the probe can not be inserted through the nose, enter through the mouth, but before that remove the removable teeth.