This document discusses effective psychosocial communication. It defines communication and interpersonal communication, and explains their importance for mental health management and well-being. Effective communication skills are key to forming relationships and partnerships. Psychological barriers like lack of attention, distrust, emotions, and premature evaluation can interfere with communication. The document provides guidelines for supportive communication during crises, like maintaining one's own health, helping people access support, and supporting those who are grieving.
2. Introduction
• Communication is critical in many elements
of mental health management. Our mental
well-being includes the emotional,
psychological, and social components of our
lives.
• Most of what we know about
communication and individual well-being is
focused on the importance of interpersonal
interaction in determining quality of life.
Effective interpersonal skills are the key to
forming and fostering enduring friendships
and partnerships.
3. Definition
• Communication is the act of creating,
transmitting, and interpreting
messages. Interpersonal
communication refers to the sharing of
information between two people.
4. Importance of
psychosocial
communication
satisfactory communication results in better care.
enhances treatment and improve adherence and
better health outcomes.
improving the well-being of patients and their
families.
providing healthcare worker with valuable
communication resources may prevent burn out.
Provide clarity and empathy in communication
skills according to patients’ psychosocial needs.
5.
6. Psychological Barriers
of communication
• Definition:- The psychological
barrier of communication is the
influence of psychological state
of the communicators (sender
and receiver) which creates an
obstacle for effective
communication.
7. Causes of
Psychological
Barriers
Lack of Attention Poor Retention
Distrust and
Defensiveness
Perception,Viewp
oint, Attitudes
and Opinions
Emotions
Closed Mind and
Filtering
Premature
Evaluation
8. Lack of Attention
• When a person’s mind is distracted or
preoccupied with other things, the person is not able
to form proper messages, listen to what others tell
him/her, interpret the message as required and give
proper feedback. The communication will face
problems and becomes ineffective.
Examples:
• 1) A person in tragedy, for instance, does not want to
listen to other people giving advice.
• 2) A person might be preoccupied by the problems of
his/her professional life or personal life, which affects
both.
9. Poor Retention
• Retention of information is the capacity
of the memory of the brain to store
information. The Brain does not store all
the information it comes across, but only
the ones it deems useful for future. So,
half the information is lost in the
retention process.
• Similarly, brain also loses information that
is old and not taken as useful with
time. Extracting the information is also a
process in the formation of
message. Here, the brain tries to
remember the required information, the
fragments of which have already been
lost.
10. Distrust and Defensiveness
• Communication is successful when the
communicators trust each other. Lack of trust makes
them derive negative meaning of the message and
they ignore the message. When a person tries to
force his/her own ideas and opinions, then receiver
does not listen.
11. Perception, Viewpoint, Attitudes
and Opinions
• Perception is the mindset using which people judge, understand
and interpret everything. Each person has his/he own perception
of reality which is shaped from mental and sensory experiences.
• Sender might have a particular viewpoint that is not shared by the
receiver. The sender does not explain the viewpoint but takes the
viewpoint as granted. The message is not understood by the
receiver as must have been understood, creating a barrier to
effective communication.
12. Anyone who isn’t in a good mood is likely to talk less or talk negatively. A
preoccupied mind is not good at communicating.
For example, when a person is angry, he/she might say things they regret later.
Even when listening to someone else speak, an angry person might easily
misinterpret the message.
13. Closed Mind and Filtering
This sometimes leads people to
filter information that someone is
trying to convey to them. This
might be due to mistrust,
competition, jealousy, or the view
that the message is insignificant.
For example, a sexist person does
not accept the suggestions of a
female colleague in a meeting that
affects the communication flow in
the meeting. It is difficult to argue
with such close-minded people and
give proper information.
14. Premature Evaluation
• Some people are always in a hurry by habit.
These kinds of people most likely make
quick judgments and jump into
conclusions. They do not consider all
aspects of the information such as social,
cultural, economic, etc., and often end up
taking quick and wrong decisions.
• For example, a person who is in a hurry
and is talking on the phone does not listen
to half the message and makes the decision
which is wrong in the situation.
16. Guideline for
effective
psychosocial
communication
taking care of and maintaining one’s own health and
well-being.
supportive communication in everyday interactions
helping people to help themselves regain control of the
situation, access practical support and manage their
problems better.
supporting people who are experiencing stress to
identify when to call specialized service providers.
helping in specific situations such as working in care
homes, law enforcement, displacement or refugee
situations, and supporting those who are grieving.
17. References
• World Health Organization (WHO). Mental Health and
Psychosocial Considerations during the COVID-19 Outbreak—
18 March 2020. Available online:
https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/331490/WHO-
2019-nCoV-MentalHealth- 2020.1-eng.pdf (accessed on 2
November 2020).
• Warwick Medical School. WEMWBS. Available online:
https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/med/research/platform/wemwbs/usi
ng/ register/resources (accessed on 5 March 2020).
• Berger, K., Röttger, U., Vogel, L., Wiencierz, C., & Wiesenberg,
M. (2016). Wohin geht die Reise? Der digitale Wandel der
Unternehmenskommunikation. Communication Insights, Issue
4, Leipzig: Akademische Gesellschaft für Unternehmensführung
& Kommunikation.
• Campbell, A. G., Holz, T., Cosgrove, J., Harlick, M., &
