Editing Mental Health and Psychosocial Nursing (section)

=== Body Image, Role Change, and Chronic Illness ===
Amputation, mastectomy, ostomy, burns, stroke, and disfiguring surgery all provoke grief for the lost body and lost role. Assess whether the client looks at, touches, or names the affected part. Do not force viewing; offer opportunities and allow refusal. Involve the client in self-care gradually, use peer visitors from ostomy or amputee programs, and include partners in teaching about sexuality, which nurses commonly omit.

Chronic illness care includes managing uncertainty, regimen fatigue, stigma, and the emotional consequences of dependency. Screen routinely for depression in chronic illness; comorbid depression worsens adherence, function, and mortality.