How to Deal With a Mentally Incapacitated Individual

Mental illness impacts how an individual behaves and interferes with a person's ability to control his emotions, language and actions. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, tens of millions of Americans suffer from mental illness each year. As someone who has to deal with a mentally incapacitated individual, it is critical to understand how to interact with him in a way that does not set off his emotional triggers. If the person you are dealing with is a loved one, learning how to cope with mental illness can help you get through the hurt of seeing your loved one in such a serious condition.

Instructions

• 1

  Identify the type of mental illness the person you are dealing with is suffering from. Mental illnesses are categorized by disorders, such as anxiety, mood, psychotic, addiction and personality disorders. Each of them impacts the mind and body differently. For instance, anxiety disorders are characterized by the person's displaying panicky or obsessive-compulsive behaviors, while mood disorders have to do with mood swings and imbalances between feeling manic and depressed.

• 2

  Provide a comfortable environment for the individual who is mentally incapacitated. Keeping the person calm and relaxed is important to managing mood swings and triggers. For instance, if you know that the person becomes anxious and goes into a panic when he is around bright lights, keep the room dim and dark. Or, if loud noises are the trigger, keep soft, mellow music playing for the person in the background.

• 3

  Exercise patience with the individual. Understand that when you talk to a mentally incapacitated individual you will not get the same logical responses that you get when you speak to someone with a clear mind. However, you can still talk to the person about how he is feeling, asking if he'd like to go for a walk outside or whether he wants to watch some television.

• 4

  Look for potentially dangerous objects in the individual's room or environment. When it comes to dealing with a mentally incapacitated individual it is your job to keep the person safe. Remove any items in the person's room that could be used as weapons to hurt others or himself. Some mentally incapacitated individuals must be monitored around the clock to ensure they do not partake in dangerous behaviors.

• 5

  Develop an emergency plan in case the person becomes aggressive and his mentally ill behavior escalates. Write down how you intend to respond to the individual when he gets worked up, make a list of methods that will be used to deescalate him and clearly establish how to know when police backup must be contacted to help handle the crisis. Come up with the emergency response items in terms of priorities and last resorts. For instance, physical or chemical restraints should always be reserved as a last resort in case other methods for deescalation fail.

• 6

  Administer medications to the mentally incapacitated individual according to the attending psychiatrist's orders. Do not attempt to change or alter the prescription, dosage or frequency, even if you think that the person is becoming better or more stable. Changing or stopping medications suddenly can cause the individual to suffer from withdrawal symptoms. For instance, according to HelpGuide, stopping antidepressants abruptly leads to mood swings, crying spells, dizziness, body aches and pains and fatigue.

• 7

  Join a support group with others who are dealing with mentally incapacitated individuals. Ask them for help, or simply express your feelings and experiences to those with an open ear to help you cope with the challenges. Another, more private, expressive alternative is to write in a journal.