SELF-CONCEPT THROUGHOUT

THE LIFE SPAN, SEXUALITY,

SPIRITUAL HEALTH

SELF-CONCEPT IS

an individual’s perception of self, including self-esteem, body image, and ideal self

THE BASIC COMPONENTS OF SELF-CONCEPT ARE

ideal self public self the real self

THE IDEAL SELFIS the person the client would like to be, such as a good, moral, and well-

respected person. Sometimes, this ideal view of how a client would like to be conflicts with the real self (how the client really thinks about oneself, such as “I try to be good and do what’s right, but I’m not well respected”).

This conflict can motivate a client to make changes toward becoming the idealself. However, the view of the ideal self needs to be realistic and obtainable, or the client may experience anxiety or be at risk for alterations in self-concept.

Public self is what the client thinks others think of him and influences the ideal and real self.

Positive self-concept and good mental health results when all three components are compatible.

A positive self-concept is an important part of a client’s happiness and success. Individuals with a positive self concept have self-confidence and set goals they

can achieve.

Achieving their goals reinforces their positive self-concept. A client with a positive self-concept is more likely to change unhealthy habits (such as sedentary lifestyle and smoking) to promote health than a client with a negative self-concept.

A person’s self-concept is composed of evolving subjective conscious and unconscious self-assessments. Physical attributes, occupation, knowledge, and abilities of the person will change throughout the life span, contributing to changes in one’s selfconcept.

DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-CONCEPT

Various psychosocial theories have been developed to explain the development of self-concept.

A discussion of Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development related to self-concept follows. Erikson’s Theory Erikson’s (1963) psychosocial theory states that an individual’s development proceeds throughout life. Each of his eight developmental stages includes psychosocial tasks that need to be mastered

ERIK ERIKSON DESCRIBED DEVELOPMENT THAT OCCURS THROUGHOUT THE LIFESPAN.

Erikson's stages of psychosocial development

Stage 1 - Basic Trust vs. Mistrust Developing trust is the first task of the

ego, and it is never complete. The child will let mother out of sight

without anxiety and rage because she has become an inner certainty as well as an outer predictability.

The balance of trust with mistrust depends largely on the quality of maternal relationship.

STAGE 2 - AUTONOMY VS. SHAME AND DOUBT

If denied autonomy, the child will turn against him/herself urges to manipulate and discriminate.

Shame develops with the child's self-consciousness. Doubt has to do with having a front and back -- a

"behind" subject to its own rules. Left over doubt may become paranoia.

The sense of autonomy fostered in the child and modified as life progresses serves the preservation in economic and political life of a sense of justice.

STAGE 3 - INITIATIVE VS. GUILT Initiative adds to autonomy the quality of undertaking,

planning, and attacking a task for the sake of being active and on the move.

The child feels guilt over the goals contemplated and the acts initiated in exuberant enjoyment of new locomoter and mental powers.

The castration complex occuring in this stage is due to the child's erotic fantasies.

A residual conflict over initiative may be expressed as hysterical denial, which may cause the repression of the wish or the abrogation of the child's ego: paralysis and inhibition, or overcompensation and showing off.

The Oedipal stage results not only in oppressive establishment of a moral sense restricting the horizon of the permissible, but also sets the direction towards the possible and the tangible which permits dreams of early childhood to be attached to goals of an active adult life.

After Stage 3, one may use the whole repetoire of previous modalities, modes, and zones for industrious, identity-maintaining, intimate, legacy-producing, dispair-countering purposes.

STAGE 4 - INDUSTRY VS. INFERIORITY

To bring a productive situation to completion is an aim which gradually supersedes the whims and wishes of play.

The fundamentals of technology are developed To lose the hope of such "industrious" association may

pull the child back to the more isolated, less conscious familial rivalry of the Oedipal time

The child can become a conformist and thoughtless slave whom others exploit.

STAGE 5 - IDENTITY VS. ROLE CONFUSION (OR "DIFFUSION")

The adolescent is newly concerned with how they appear to others.

Ego identity is the accrued confidence that the inner sameness and continuity prepared in the past are matched by the sameness and continuity of one's meaning for others, as evidenced in the promise of a career.

The inability to settle on a school or occupational identity is disturbing.

STAGE 6 - INTIMACY VS. ISOLATION

Body and ego must be masters of organ modes and of the other nuclear conflicts in order to face the fear of ego loss in situations which call for self-abandon.

The avoidance of these experiences leads to isolation and self-absorption.

The counterpart of intimacy is distantiation, which is the readiness to isolate and destroy forces and people whose essence seems dangerous to one's own.

Now true genitality can fully develop. The danger at this stage is isolation which can lead to

sever character problems.

Erikson's listed criteria for "genital utopia" illustrate his insistence on the role of many modes and modalities in harmony:

mutuality of orgasm with a loved partner of opposite sex with whom one is willing and able to share a trust, and with whom one is willing and able to regulate the cycles of

work, procreation, and recreation so as to secure to the offspring all the stages of satisfactory

development

STAGE 7 - GENERATIVITY VS. STAGNATION

Generativity is the concern in establishing and guiding the next generation.

Simply having or wanting children doesn't achieve generativity.

Socially-valued work and disciples are also expressions of generativity.

STAGE 8 - EGO INTEGRITY VS. DESPAIR

Ego integrity is the ego's accumulated assurance of its capacity for order and meaning.

Despair is signified by a fear of one's own death, as well as the loss of self-sufficiency, and of loved partners and friends.

Healthy children, Erikson tells us, won't fear life if their elders have integrity enough not to fear death.

FACTORS AFFECTING SELF-CONCEPT

Self-concept can be affected by an individual’s life experences, heredity and culture, stress and coping, health status, and developmental stage. The nurse needs to evaluate each of these factors and the influence each has on the client’s achievement of a healthy self-concept

A positive self-concept is important in achieving • Body image continuously changes throughout an happiness, success, and a healthy self-identity. individual’s growth and developmental life stages.

• The four main components of self-concept are • Self-esteem is shaped by relationships with others, identity, body image, self-esteem, and role experiences, and accomplishments in life.

• A variety of factors affecting self-concept include life

SPIRITUAL HEALTH IS ONE OF THE COMPONENTS OF HEALTH. IN HOLISTIC TERMS, HEALTH INCLUDES THE COMPONENTS OF: Physical Health   Emotional Health Intellectual Health Social Health Occupational Health and Safety Spiritual Health All of these components are interrelated and influence each

other. Only a balance among them could lead to personal feeling of wellness and happiness. The Spiritual Health is often the most neglected part of health, and in many cases is the underlying reason for anomalies in the physical, emotional, intellectual and social aspects of health.

ATTRIBUTES OF GOOD SPIRITUAL HEALTH:

Awareness of something greater than self Feeling of love, joy, peace, hope and fulfillment Regular personal relationship and experience with a higher

power or larger reality Sense of connectedness with everything else Sense of life purpose and ultimate meaning

HOW TO ACHIEVE AND MAINTAIN GOOD SPIRITUAL HEALTH?

everyone’s path to achieving good spiritual health could be different and evolve with time. However, the ultimate destination is the same for everyone.

SOME COMMON IDEAS DISCUSSED IN MANY OF THE TEACHINGS INCLUDE: Everyone is given an incredible creative power The Source of this Power is within us Our thoughts and words have creative power The reality we are experiencing at present is defined by the

thoughts we’d had in the past The past and future are only thought forms. The only reality is

the endless present NOW moment

The thoughts we have at the present will define the reality we are going to experience in the future.  Hence, the importance of positive thinking, which is also the way to manifest our deepest desires while connected to the Source within.

Nothing in Life happens by coincidence. Life guides you – pay attention to the NOW moment and the synchronicity signals that Life provides.

We can unleash our powers by being connected with the SOURCE within us

The Source is always open to us. We are the only ones who can block the connection.

SEXUALITY

Sexual health has been defined as ‘the enjoyment of the sexual activit y of one’s choice without suffering physical or mental harm.

Practice nurses have a key role in the provision of sexual health services in general practice. They may offer familyplanning advice, do cervical smears and be the first point of contact of women with genito-urinary symptoms. They may also run travel, teenage and well-person clinics.

In these settings the ability to take a sexual history and offer appropriate advice is important. Practice nurses may be better placed to discuss sexual health with patients than GPs,given their established role in health promotion and longer consultation time

It is, however, likely that barriers exist to dealing with sexual health issues in practice nurse consultations. Such barriers include lack of time, lack of knowledge, embarrassment and poor communication skills.