Assessment Of Roberta: Key Issues, Diagnostic Impressions, And Treatment Recommendations

CON 321 Health Related Research

1. The main issue facing Roberta is depression which is as a result of key issues.

Some of key issues faced by Roberta in order of priority of importance includes; Depression, Physical abuse, Cigarette smoking, Erratic behavior and her social life.

1. Depression is one of the main issues that the client is facing. Her past family history has caused all these problems. Firstly of all, I will assess her family history. This will help me establish the main causes of her depression. This will also help with some knowledge on the issues she is facing in her life and provide the right medication together with good guidance and counseling for her (De Hert et al., 2011).
2. The client might list a different order of priority of key issues. This is because she is confused as she is undergoing a lot of stress in her life.
3. If I had the chance to acquire more information from the client, I will ask her whether she has an appetite. This is because the loss of appetite can increase depression thus leading to suicide. This will give me a chance to advise her best food that she can eat to help reduce her depressive disorder. Also, I will need to know her sleeping habit as depression disorders sometimes disrupt sleeping habits which may result in being unable to sleep or staying asleep. The third important information that I will require is from the client is whether she has fatigue or loss of energy. This is because depression disorder mostly causes patients to feel fatigue.

Mental disorders are generally categorized by issues associated with people’s mind and moods. They are not well understood in regards to their causes but the signs and symptoms of mental disorders are scientifically well known via DSM.

As per the current version of DSM, Roberta might be suffering from bipolar disorder which can be characterized by shifts in mood or changes in activity and energy level. There are two types of bipolar depression which includes mania and depressive episodes. The client might be suffering from the depressive episode which is characterized by changes in feeling like the feeling of guilt, irritability and sadness. Individuals with this type of bipolar depression also may lose interest in activities they previously enjoyed doing such as their jobs and also have thoughts of suicide (Cuijpers, Hofmann & Andersson, 2010).

This is supported by the case study that Roberta who is gifted in sales has struggled to maintain her working performance as she has been too erratic. Her employer has warned her several times otherwise she might be fired. This is as a result of effects of depressive episode bipolar which has made Roberta lose interests in her talented sales jobs. The other supportive point from the case study is that Roberta threatens people that she wants to die with no reasons why she wants to die. This is as a result of the effects of depressive episode bipolar which is characterized by thoughts of suicide.

Another disorder that Roberta might be suffering is the social anxiety disorder, which involves an irrational fear of being judged. The anxiety that results from the disorder can have negative effects on an individual’s life and make it hard for them to do their activities. This can be supported by the fact that the client has had an unsuccessful marriage where she has been married two times. The client also has no moods for her sales job.

• Support- living with depression disorder can be challenging and with good support in place can play a critical role in the treatment of the disorder. The client can get support from her family, friends and even doctors.
• Education- managing symptoms associated with depression is complicated thus the client needs education on how she can avoid problems and deal with the effects of bipolar disorder.
• Medication- medication is the best treatment of healing bipolar disorder. Recommending mood stabilizers can play a crucial role in the treatment of bipolar disorder (Southwick, & Charney, 2012).
• Substance abuse therapy- the client smokes a cigarette and has been diagnosed with congestive heart failure. As a result, providing the client with guidance and counseling to avoid smoking and giving her medication can play a significant role in the treatment of depression (Hollon et al., 2001).
• Guidance and the counseling-The client is being stressed with different issues in her life such as being single and her daughter having anti-social behavior and thus requires counseling on how she can deal with the situation thereby playing part in her depression therapy.

References

Cuijpers, P., Li, J., Hofmann, S. G., & Andersson, G. (2010). Self-reported versus clinician-rated symptoms of depression as outcome measures in psychotherapy research on depression: a meta-analysis. Clinical psychology review, 30(6), 768-778.

De Hert, M., Correll, C. U., Bobes, J., Cetkovich?Bakmas, M. A. R. C. E. L. O., Cohen, D. A. N., Asai, I., … & Newcomer, J. W. (2011). Physical illness in patients with severe mental disorders. I. Prevalence, impact of medications and disparities in health care. World psychiatry, 10(1), 52-77.

Hollon, S. D., Muñoz, R. F., Barlow, D. H., Beardslee, W. R., Bell, C. C., Bernal, G., … & Linehan, M. M. (2002). Psychosocial intervention development for the prevention and treatment of depression: promoting innovation and increasing access. Biological psychiatry, 52(6), 610-630.

Southwick, S. M., & Charney, D. S. (2012). The science of resilience: implications for the prevention and treatment of depression. Science, 338(6103), 79.