Assignment: Assessing, Diagnosing, and Treating Adults With Mood Disorders
Assignment: Assessing, Diagnosing, and Treating Adults With Mood Disorders
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It is important for the PMHNP to have a comprehensive understanding of mood disorders in order to assess and accurately formulate a diagnosis and treatment plan for patients presenting with these disorders. Mood disorders may be diagnosed when a patient’s emotional state meets the diagnostic criteria for severity, functional impact, and length of time. Those with a mood disorder may find that their emotions interfere with work, relationships, or other parts of their lives that impact daily functioning. Mood disorders may also lead to substance abuse or suicidal thoughts or behaviors, and although they are not likely to go away on their own, they can be managed with an effective treatment plan and understanding of how to manage symptoms.
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In this Assignment you will assess, diagnose, and devise a treatment plan for a patient in a case study who is presenting with a mood disorder.
To Prepare
- Review this week’s Learning Resources. Consider the insights they provide about assessing, diagnosing, and treating mood disorders.
- Review the Focused SOAP Note template, which you will use to complete this Assignment. There is also a Focused SOAP Note Exemplar provided as a guide for Assignment expectations.
- Review the video, Case Study: Petunia Park. You will use this case as the basis of this Assignment. In this video, a Walden faculty member is assessing a mock patient. The patient will be represented onscreen as an avatar.
- Consider what history would be necessary to collect from this patient.
- Consider what interview questions you would need to ask this patient.
The Assignment
Develop a Focused SOAP Note, including your differential diagnosis and critical-thinking process to formulate a primary diagnosis. Incorporate the following into your responses in the template:
- Subjective: What details did the patient provide regarding their chief complaint and symptomatology to derive your differential diagnosis? What is the duration and severity of their symptoms? How are their symptoms impacting their functioning in life?
- Objective: What observations did you make during the psychiatric assessment?
- Assessment: Discuss the patient’s mental status examination results. What were your differential diagnoses? Provide a minimum of three possible diagnoses with supporting evidence, listed in order from highest to lowest priority. Compare the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for each differential diagnosis and explain what DSM-5 criteria rules out the differential diagnosis to find an accurate diagnosis. Explain the critical-thinking process that led you to the primary diagnosis you selected. Include pertinent positives and pertinent negatives for the specific patient case.
- Plan: What is your plan for psychotherapy? What is your plan for treatment and management, including alternative therapies? Include pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatments, alternative therapies, and follow-up parameters as well as a rationale for this treatment and management plan. Also incorporate one health promotion activity and one patient education strategy.
- Reflection notes: What would you do differently with this client if you could conduct the session again? Discuss what your next intervention would be if you were able to follow up with this patient. Also include in your reflection a discussion related to legal/ethical considerations (demonstrate critical thinking beyond confidentiality and consent for treatment!), health promotion, and disease prevention that takes into consideration patient factors (such as age, ethnic group, etc.), PMH, and other risk factors (e.g., socioeconomic, cultural background, etc.).
By Day 7 of Week 4
Submit your Focused SOAP Note.
Submission and Grading Information
To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:
- Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK4Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
- Click the Week 4 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
- Click the Week 4 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
- Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK4Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
- If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
- Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.
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.
Submit Your Assignment by Day 7 of Week 4
NRNP – 6665 Week 4: Mood Disorders in Adults
I am finally doing everything right. I stayed up all night studying for my final exams and even managed to clean out my closet and order a whole new bedroom from the internet. I know I will ace all my exams. Nothing can go wrong like they did a few months ago. I was so low and was sleeping all the time. I did not think I would ever be happy again, but now I know I can do anything.
—Jessica, age 22
Patients presenting with mood disorders may find that their moods impact their ability to function or that their moods are not consistent with their circumstances. Bipolar and related disorders are one category of mood disorders. They affect nearly 3% of the U.S. population each year (Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, n.d.). Although being relatively rare in terms of lifetime prevalence, bipolar disorder is burdensome to the individual and health care system because of its early onset, severity, and chronic nature. The average age of onset is around 25 and it affects men and women equally.
The importance of evidence-based intervention for treatment in persons with mood disorders cannot be underestimated. Unstable moods can result in repeat chronic hospitalizations and profound life disruption. Mood disorders are a leading cause of disability worldwide and can contribute to suicide (World Health Organization, 2020). Practitioners should understand that developing a good rapport and relationship with the patient can make a significant difference in the course, symptom management, and stability of the patient.
This week, you will assess, diagnose, and develop appropriate treatment plans for adults presenting with mood disorders.
Reference:
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. (n.d.). Bipolar disorder statistics. https://www.dbsalliance.org/education/bipolar-disorder/bipolar-disorder-statistics/#
World Health Organization. (2020). Depression. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression
Learning Objectives
Students will:
- Assess adults presenting with mood disorders
- Develop differential diagnoses for adult patients with mood disorders
- Develop appropriate treatment plans for adult patients with mood disorders
- Advocate health promotion and patient education strategies for adult patients with mood disorders
Learning Resources
Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)
Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P. (2015). Kaplan & Sadock’s synopsis of psychiatry (11th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
- Chapter 8, “Mood Disorders”
Zakhari, R. (2020). The psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner certification review manual. Springer.
- Chapter 11, “Mood Disorders”
Document: Focused SOAP Note Template
Document: Focused SOAP Note Exemplar
Required Media (click to expand/reduce)
Walden University. (2021). Case study: Petunia Park. Walden University Blackboard. https://class.waldenu.edu
Accessible player –Downloads– Download Video w/CC Download Audio Download Transcript
Medication Review
Review the FDA approved use of the following medicines related to treating mood disorders.
| Depression | Premenstrual dysphoric disorder | Seasonal affective disorder (MDD with Seasonal Variation) | |||
| agomelatine amitriptyline amoxapine aripiprazole (adjunct) brexpiprazole (adjunct)bupropion citalopram clomipramine cyamemazine desipramine desvenlafaxine dothiepindoxepin duloxetine escitalopram fluoxetine fluvoxamine iloperidone imipramine isocarboxazid ketamine lithium (adjunct) l-methylfolate (adjunct) |
lofepramine maprotiline mianserin milnacipran mirtazapine moclobemide nefazodone nortriptyline paroxetine phenelzine protriptyline quetiapine (adjunct) reboxetine selegiline sertindole sertraline sulpiride tianeptine tranylcypromine trazodone trimipramine venlafaxine vilazodone vortioxetine |
citalopram desvenlafaxine duloxetin eescitalopram fluoxetin eparoxetine pepexev sarafe, sertraline venlafaxine |
Bupropion HCL extended-release | ||
| Bipolar depression | Bipolar disorder (mixed Mania/Depression | Bipolar maintenance | Mania | ||
| lithium (used with lurasidone) lurasidone olanzapine-fluoxetine combination (symbyax) quetiapine valproate (divalproex) (used with lurasidone) |
aripiprazole asenapine carbamazepine |
olanzapine ziprasidone |
aripiprazole
lamotrigine |
aripiprazole asenapine carbamazepine lithium olanzapine quetiapine risperidonevalproate (divalproex) ziprasidone |
|
NRNP – 6665 Week 4: Mood Disorders in Adults
Assignment: Assessing, Diagnosing, and Treating Adults With Mood Disorders