why i wouldn't be a good mental health nurse.

i'm too trusting.  i will believe just about anything that i am told. 

i listened to multiple different stories yesterday during clinical and i became empathetic, then in shock, then i wanted to laugh, and then i was concerned.  when i approached my instructor about it, she laughed and told me that they were testing me.  

after said first encounters, i found it difficult to believe them.  i felt like i had been played for a fool.  that led to me questioning every little thing that they told me.  this roller-coaster- thought process was making me start to feel as if i was the one with a personality disorder. 

it also opened my eyes to the reality of mental illness.   mental illness has to do with an imbalanced amount of neurotransmitters. their brains do not produce the same signals as that of a mentally healthy individual.  in learning that, this class and clinical experience is helping to reveal why people function the way that they do. 

have you ever heard someone blatantly blame another for an action that they committed? it could be an unconscious way of protecting themselves.  maybe they aren't a jerk...maybe they were abused in the past.  have you ever watched someone isolate themselves to their room when others were around?  it could be another protective measure.  maybe they aren't weird or a loner, maybe they've just been rejected one too many times.

whatever the case, this is still a person who desperately needs jesus.  romans 3:23 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (NIV, emphasis added)

do i stop trusting?  no!  what i want to take away from this is that i need to be more aware.  i do not know everyone's intentions, nor can i relate to everyone.  but what i can do is love them the way that jesus would.