Case Scenario
Care Plan for Moderate Depression
Risks and Comorbidities
The patient shows low suicide risk. He also portrays reliance on marijuana as a coping mechanism for his condition. The patient is diagnosed with moderate depression (Colledge et al., 2020). He presents issues with agitation, irritability, and depression. Picker’s principles of care require medical personnel to respect for patients’ expressed needs, preferences, and values, as part of patient-centred care (Maharaj et al., 2019).
Mental Care
Australian mental health patients have previously expressed concerns that they were not fully informed of their condition (Fisher et al., 2020). Anxiety assessment tools identify the exact type of anxiety based on a patient’s symptoms (Moses et al., 2020). Extending the knowledge of his condition will build an effective therapeutic relationship.
Communication and Intervention
Communication on the patient’s diagnosis and possible intervention will be done on a one-on-one basis. There is no need for a translator as the patient speaks fluent English. Any support for a mental health patient must be sensitive of their needs based on background, education, ethnicity, and age (Ogbo et al., 2018). Therefore, communication will be age specific whenever a child is involved with the patient in any capacity.
Assessment and Medication
Patient needs daily 30-minute walks. He will have to reduce marijuana intake to at least two marijuana-free days. I would prescribe anti-depressants including Cannabinoids to manage depression and stress (Black et al, 2019). The patient needs information on improving sleep and healthy eating.
Mind Map
The patient needs start doing the things he can and that suit him. This would take their mind off stressful thoughts (Stormon et al., 2019). There is also need to maintain proper balance in life and managing stress levels.
References
Black, N., Stockings, E., Campbell, G., Tran, L. T., Zagic, D., Hall, W. D., … & Degenhardt, L. (2019). Cannabinoids for the treatment of mental disorders and symptoms of mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Psychiatry, 6(12), 995-1010.
Colledge, S., Larney, S., Peacock, A., Leung, J., Hickman, M., Grebely, J., … & Degenhardt, L. (2020). Depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidality and self-harm among people who inject drugs: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Drug and alcohol dependence, 207, 107793.
Fisher, J. R., Tran, T. D., Hammarberg, K., Sastry, J., Nguyen, H., Rowe, H., … & Kirkman, M. (2020). Mental health of people in Australia in the first month of COVID‐19 restrictions: a national survey. Medical journal of Australia, 213(10), 458-464.
Maharaj, S., Lees, T., & Lal, S. (2019). Prevalence and risk factors of depression, anxiety, and stress in a cohort of Australian nurses. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(1), 61.
Moses, K., Gayed, M., Chuah, S., & Wootton, B. M. (2020). The use of evidence-based assessment for anxiety disorders in an Australian sample. Journal of anxiety disorders, 75, 102279.
Ogbo, F. A., Eastwood, J., Hendry, A., Jalaludin, B., Agho, K. E., Barnett, B., & Page, A. (2018). Determinants of antenatal depression and postnatal depression in Australia. BMC psychiatry, 18(1),
1-11.
Stormon, N., Ford, P. J., Kisely, S., Bartle, E., & Eley, D. S. (2019). Depression, anxiety and stress in a cohort of Australian dentistry students. European Journal of Dental Education, 23(4),
507-514.
Discussion Paper 3
In his research, Freud noted that people have unique ways of averting anxiety. He named these mechanisms ego defenses, noting that they help shun anxiety from unacceptable thoughts and feelings. In the New York Times article “77Days: Trump’s Campaign to Subvert the Election,” Jim Rutenberg et al. (2021) depict denial as a defense mechanism applied by President Trump in response to losing the election.
Denial and disavowal are typic defense mechanisms that people use frequently when faced with situations that cause anxiety. The Freudian concept implies an individual refuses to experience a situation by blocking external events from awareness (Hall & Pick, 2017). Denial can manifest in the short or long term, depending on how willing the individual is to let go and experience the situation at hand. Rutenberg et al. (2021) depict President Trump’s denial of the election outcomes in 2020. From the account, President Trump responded to the news of losing to his competitor, President Biden, with accusations of election fraud. Trump assembled legal teams in multiple states to contest the outcomes and persists even after members of his legal teams notify him that they lack substantial evidence to push the suit (Rutenberg et al., 2021). In Freud’s psychoanalytic hypothesis, President Trump’s action depicts that he refused to experience the defeat, which would have evoked anxiety. This is an outright demonstration of denial.
Overall, Rutenberg et al. (2021) article demonstrate how denial can apply in political realms. President Trump uses this mechanism to refrain from experiencing defeat in the 2020 election. Events following the announcement of results to the handing over depict long-term denial as President Trump compiled several legal teams attempting to contest the outcomes.
References
Hall, C., & Pick, D. (2017). Thinking About Denial. History Workshop Journal, 84, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1093/hwj/dbx040
Rutenberg, J., Becker, J., Lipton, E., Haberman, M., Martin, J., Rosenberg, M., & Schmidt, M. (2021). 77 Days: Trump’s Campaign to Subvert the Election. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 24 March 2021, from
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/31/us/trump-election-lie.html.