NU-664C-02-23PCS3 FamilyPsychiatric Ment.Hlth I
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- Week 10: Depression and Somatization Disorders
- Week 10: Group-Facilitated Discussion 1 – Group 1
Week 10: Group-Facilitated Discussion 1 – Group 1
To do: Make forum posts: 1
Value: 100 points
Due: Facilitating group to post by Day 1; all other students post to facilitating group discussion prompt by Day 4 and reply to at least two other peer posts by Day 7
Grading Category: Group Facilitated Discussions
Initial Post: Created by Facilitating Group
This is a student-led discussion.
- Please review the Week 7 Get Started: Group-Facilitated Communication Board and Instructions for assignment guidelines for this discussion to ensure that you have met all the criteria.
- The facilitating group should choose one member from their group who will be responsible for the initial post.
- On Day 1 of this week, the chosen group member will create an initial post that is to include the group’s discussion prompts, resources, and the instructions for what your classmates are to do with the resources.
- During this week, each member of your group is to participate in the facilitation of the discussion. This means making certain that everyone is engaged, questions from students are being answered, and the discussion is expanding.
- It is the expectation that the facilitating group will address all initial peer response posts by Day 7.
Reply Posts: Non-Facilitating Students
- If you are not a member of the facilitating group, you are to post a discussion prompt response according to the facilitating group’s instructions by Day 4. Your reply posts should include substantive reflection directed to the presenters.
- You are also expected to respond to at least two other peers’ initial discussion prompt posts.
- Pick out an idea from your peers’ initial post that you find most interesting and tell how you use this information in practice.
Please refer to the Grading Rubric for details on how this activity will be graded. The described expectations meet the passing level of 80%. Students are directed to review the Discussion Grading Rubric for criteria which exceed expectations.
I am replying to my peer’s post
by Cindy Faraguna – Tuesday, 4 July 2023, 4:00 PM
What are some pharmacological and non-pharmacological evidence-based treatment options for a child or adolescent diagnosed with a depressive disorder?Children and adolescents have been on the rise. Addressing depression as early as possible is essential for optimal overall health. Early detection and treatment of depression in children and adolescents is the key to preventing long-lasting unfavorable psychological and physiological conditions, preventing poor function, and decreasing the risk of suicide (Viswanathan et al., 2020). Pharmacological treatment is limited to the child and adolescent population. There are only two selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat depression in this population. The FDA approves fluoxetine for children 8 years old and older and escitalopram for ages 12 to 17 years old (Viswanathan et al., 2020). Pharmacological treatment is not the only option to treat depression. Psychotherapy plays a significant role in treating depression across the lifespan. American Psychological Association (APA) recommends two psychotherapy interventions, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and interpersonal psychotherapy for adolescents (IPT-A), for the treatment of depression for patients under 18 years old (APA, 2019). Depending on the severity of the depression, psychotherapy can be the sole treatment or implemented in conjunction with medication.What is the FDA black-box warning on antidepressant medications? Does this warning automatically disqualify children and adolescents from being prescribed these medications for depression? Are there any FDA-approved medications for depression for the child/adolescent population?The FDA-approved pharmacological treatments for depression do come with risks. The FDA does require a black box warning requiring close monitoring of the increased risk of suicidal ideation, worsening of depression, and increased agitation or withdrawal (Viswanathan et al., 2020). These black box warnings do not disqualify children and adolescents from treatment but require close monitoring. Education is important to the patient and the parents to detect adverse reactions to medication. Instruct the family to notify the child’s provider if the child/adolescent starts to act differently, is unusually active, experiences problems with sleeping, becomes violent or abnormally angry, becomes agitated/can’t sit still, and/or talks about dying (FDA, 2019). The FDA only approved fluoxetine (Prozac) for children with depression and fluoxetine (Prozac) and escitalopram (Lexapro) for adolescents with depression (FDA, 2019).How does somatization disorder differ from other medical conditions and why is it often challenging to diagnose?Somatization disorder can be difficult to treat because the patient is truly feeling physiological symptoms without a diagnostic explanation. For example, the patient may have frequent stomach pains, but labs and other diagnostic test results are normal. The challenge is how to treat symptoms without a definitive cause. The condition is not solely diagnosed because a medical condition has not been determined for the patient’s physical symptoms, but on the extent to which the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to the illness are excessive or out of proportion (APA, 2023). Somatization disorder’s key difference from other disorders is the symptoms the patient is experiencing the physical symptoms may or may not be associated with a diagnosed medical condition; furthermore, the symptoms are real, and the patient is not faking it (APA, 2023)What are some common misconceptions or stigma surrounding somatization disorder and how can providers work to overcome them?The most common misconception surrounding somatization disorder is that the patient is faking the symptoms. In children, this can be interpreted as attention-seeking behavior (Srivastava et al., 2019). It is important to not disregard the patient’s complaint of symptoms and to treat immediately to prevent habitual and future complications which can become debilitating (Srivastava et al., 2019). To overcome stigmatizing attitudes and behaviors toward mental disorders, such as somatization disorder, mental health providers will benefit from continuous throughout their professional careers as part of their continuing professional development (Solvhoj et al. 2021).
References
American Psychological Association. (2019, August). Depression treatments for children and adolescents. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/depression-guideline/children-and-adolescentsAmerican Psychiatric Association. (2023). Somatic symptom disorder. Psychiatry.org. https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/somatic-symptom-disorder#:~:text=A%20person%20is%20not%20diagnosed,excessive%20or%20out%20of%20proportion.Food and Drug Administration. (2019, November 18). Depression medicines. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/consumers/free-publications-women/depression-medicines#:~:text=Prozac%20(fluoxetine)%20and%20Lexapro%20(,medicines%20for%20teens%20with%20depression.Solvhoj, I. N., Kusier, A. O., Pedersen, P. V., & Nielsen, M. B. (2021). Somatic health care professionals’ stigmatization of patients with mental disorder: A scoping review. BMC Psychiatry, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-021-03415-8Srivastava, C., Agarwal, V., & Sitholey, P. (2019). Clinical practice guidelines for the management of somatoform disorders in children and adolescents. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 61(8), 241. https://doi.org/10.4103/psychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_494_18Viswanathan, M., Kennedy, S., & McKeeman, J. (2020, April). Treatment of depression in children and adolescents: A systematic review. National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK555846/
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