Putting it all together: dealing with complexity in the understanding of the human condition

In this paper, two mental health nurses who have experienced long academic careers reflect on the way their own thinking and teaching about the human condition has changed over the course of their careers. Three major paradigms that have attempted to explain the human condition, the biological sciences, psychodynamic theory, and socio-cultural theory, are discussed. It is argued that no single approach is sufficient to address the complexities of providing care within psychiatric and mental health nursing. It is further argued that the integration of these perspectives has not been well considered or articulated in practice. The authors conclude that the arguments presented in this paper are likely to challenge people's loyalties to a particular perspective of the human condition.