DEPRESSION

Answer

Depression Case Analysis

                Depression is one of the common mental health concerns, also known as an affective disorder. The depression case can range from mild to severe depending of the type of signs and symptoms depicted by the patient. Severe cases of depression are featured by symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions and can also result to death if not addressed in a timely manner (Bhowmik, Kumar, Srivastava, Paswan & Dutta, 2012). This primary focus of this paper is to explore a depression case study while outlining aspects such as differential diagnosis, medications and prescriptions.

Differential Diagnosis

                Obstructive sleep apnea is one of the medical differential diagnoses which can be considered in this case. Two psychiatric disorders which can be considered in this case include anxiety disorder and manic disorder (Halverson, Bhalla, & Moraille-Bhalla, 2019).

Natalee’s Diagnosis

                I would diagnose Natalee with depression. This is based on the fact that the patient represents several symptoms such as increased irritability, changes in mood, and increased isolation. According to Bhowmik et al. (2012) some of the common symptoms of depression include increased irritability or frustration even in the events of small issues. Additionally, excessive sleep or insomnia is a sign depicting depression alongside changes in appetite which can result to either weight gain or weight loss (Bhowmik et al., 2012).

Medications

                Different medications can be described for a patient with depression. For instance, Prozac, also known by its generic name fluoxetine Prozac, can be administered to the patient to counteract the symptoms of depression (Yan & Goldman, 2019). Fluoxetine is known to have a high efficacy level in comparison to other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. The benefits of the intake of this medication will be seen after a period of 2 weeks of administration at the dose of 20mg daily for the next 8 weeks (Yan & Goldman, 2019). The proposed medication is focused on counteracting the symptoms of the patient such as the case of increased irritability.

Patient Education

                The patient’s mother will be educated about medication effectiveness through a one-on-one interaction. In this case, the nurse will inform Natalee’s mother of the expected side-effects of the medication. Moreover, the patient’s mother will also be educated on the importance of following the proposed medication intake schedule for it to be effective in counteracting the depression symptoms (Bowen, Rotz, Patterson & Sen, 2017). After the short education process, I will encourage Natalie to ask question involving the use of the medication to ensure that she understood all the aspects taught about the medication’s effectiveness.

Expected Side Effects

                Taking advantage of the training session, I will also educate Natalie of the expected side effects of the medications alongside the serious adverse effects, especially that the medicines will be administered to a 10 year old child. I will ensure that the mother is aware that the child is likely to experience diarrhea, dry mouth, indigestion, loss of appetite and strange dreams among others. Despite the fact that the patient’s mother will be informed of the fact that the side effects are common, she will also be informed that she should report back to the health care institution for advice if the patient should continue with the medication or have the current combination changed.