Assessing and Treating Clients with With Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a unique disorder that causes shifts in mood and energy, which results in depression and mania for clients. Proper diagnosis of this disorder is often a challenge for two reasons: 1) clients often present as depressive or manic, but may have both; and 2) many symptoms of bipolar disorder are similar to other disorders. Misdiagnosis is common, making it essential for you to have a deep understanding of the disorder’s pathophysiology. For this Assignment, as you examine the client case study in this week’s Learning Resources, consider how you might assess and treat clients presenting with bipolar disorder.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

Assess client factors and history to develop personalized plans of bipolar therapy for clients
Analyze factors that influence pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes in clients requiring bipolar therapy
Evaluate efficacy of treatment plans
Analyze ethical and legal implications related to prescribing bipolar therapy to clients across the lifespan Assessing and Treating Clients with With Bipolar Disorder

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Note: All Stahl resources can be accessed through this link provided.

Assessing and Treating Clients with With Bipolar Disorder

Stahl, S. M. (2013). Stahl’s essential psychopharmacology: Neuroscientific basis and practical applications (4th ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

To access the following chapters, click on the Essential Psychopharmacology, 4th ed tab on the Stahl Online website and select the appropriate chapter. Be sure to read all sections on the left navigation bar for each chapter.

Chapter 6, “Mood Disorders”
Chapter 8, “Mood Stabilizers”

Stahl, S. M., & Ball, S. (2009b). Stahl’s illustrated mood stabilizers. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Assessing and Treating Clients with With Bipolar Disorder

To access the following chapters, click on the Illustrated Guides tab and then the Mood Stabilizers tab.

Chapter 4, “Lithium and Various Anticonvulsants as Mood Stabilizers for Bipolar Disorder”
Chapter 5, “Atypical Antipsychotics as Mood Stabilizers for Bipolar Disorder”

Vitiello, B. (2013). How effective are the current treatments for children diagnosed with manic/mixed bipolar disorder? CNS Drugs, 27(5), 331-333. doi:10.1007/s40263-013-0060-3

Chen, R., Wang, H., Shi, J., Shen, K., & Hu, P. (2015). Cytochrome P450 2D6 genotype affects the pharmacokinetics of controlled-release paroxetine in healthy Chinese subjects: comparison of traditional phenotype and activity score systems. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 71(7), 835-841. doi:10.1007/s00228-015-1855-6

Assessing and Treating Clients with With Bipolar Disorder

Required Media

Laureate Education. (2016f). Case study: An Asian American woman with bipolar disorder [Interactive media file]. Baltimore, MD: Author

Note: This case study will serve as the foundation for this week’s Assignment.

Assessing and Treating Clients with With Bipolar Disorder

Optional Resources

Mostafavi, A., Solhi, M., Mohammadi, M., Hamedi, M., Keshavarzi, M., & Akhondzadeh, S. (2014). Melatonin decreases olanzapine induced metabolic side-effects in adolescents with bipolar disorder: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Acta Medica Iranica, 52(10), 734-739.
Retrieved from http://acta.tums.ac.ir/index.php/acta

To prepare for this Assignment:

Review this week’s Learning Resources. Consider how to assess and treat clients requiring bipolar therapy.

The Assignment

Examine Case Study: An Asian American Woman With Bipolar Disorder. You will be asked to make three decisions concerning the medication to prescribe to this client. Be sure to consider factors that might impact the client’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes.

At each decision point stop to complete the following:

Decision #1
- Which decision did you select?
- Why did you select this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
- What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources. Assessing and Treating Clients with With Bipolar Disorder
- Explain any difference between what you expected to achieve with Decision #1 and the results of the decision. Why were they different?
Decision #2
- Why did you select this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
- What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
- Explain any difference between what you expected to achieve with Decision #2 and the results of the decision. Why were they different? Assessing and Treating Clients with With Bipolar Disorder
Decision #3
- Why did you select this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
- What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources.
- Explain any difference between what you expected to achieve with Decision #3 and the results of the decision. Why were they different?

Also include how ethical considerations might impact your treatment plan and communication with clients.

Note: Support your rationale with a minimum of three academic resources. While you may use the course text to support your rationale, it will not count toward the resource requirement. Assessing and Treating Clients with With Bipolar Disorder

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

Save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK4Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
Click on the Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
Click on the Week 4 Assignment Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computerbutton. Find the document you saved as “WK4Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click on Open.
If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click in the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database. Assessing and Treating Clients with With Bipolar Disorder

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 4 Assignment Rubric

Check Your Assignment Draft for Authenticity

To check your Assignment draft for authenticity:

Submit your Week 4 Assignment draft and review the originality report.

Assessing and Treating Clients with With Bipolar Disorder

Submit Your Assignment by Day 7

To submit your Assignment:

Week 4 Assignment

Making Connections

Now that you have:

Assessed clients presenting with bipolar disorder
Developed personalized plans of bipolar therapy for clients
Examined factors that influence pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes in clients requiring bipolar therapy
Explored ethical and legal implications of prescribing bipolar therapy to clients Assessing and Treating Clients with With Bipolar Disorder

Next week, you will build on your assessment and treatment skills as you examine clients presenting for anxiolytic therapy and PTSD treatment.

Assessing and Treating Clients with With Bipolar Disorder