I remember a situation when I handled an elderly depressed patient. She complained of lack of sleep and loss of appetite while experiencing feelings of anxiety. Her daughter who had accompanied her emphasized that she gets irritated and angry with other people frequently, a character she never had before. The daughter revealed that her mother has lost interest in engaging in activities that she used to enjoy explaining that she spends most of her time in her room alone. She narrated that this started a few weeks after she lost her mobility which made her feel embarrassed and less confident to relate with other people as well as engage in her hobbies.
I engaged in a talk with the patient empathizing with her which assisted in building trust whereby she felt comfortable expressing her fears and worries including anger guilt and sadness. I gave her a shoulder to lean on sympathizing and encouraging her to know that she is not alone in this. According to (Arthur et. al, 2020), sympathizing with depressed patients help them know that the healthcare provider understands what they are going through eliminating feelings of worthlessness.
Additionally, I assessed her coping abilities to assist her to overcome the situation and embrace her new lifestyle that limited her mobility. I connected her with various support groups whose members suffered the same fate as hers which made her extremely happy to realize that she could share her challenges with people going through the same hardship. Following the conduct of a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation on the patient, I offered her depression treatments assuring her of their effectiveness to retain her health. Among the treatment strategies that I utilized was arranging for her weekly counseling sessions that helped her find purpose and new meaning in life. Counseling assists patients to process challenging emotions and cope up with stressful situations (Li et. al, 2021). Even after the sessions were over she still came to the health facility to have a chat with me resulting in our long-lasting friendship. I utilized the friendship in ensuring she continued to practice self-care and maintain her mental health.
References
Arthur, A., Savva, G. M., Barnes, L. E., Borjian-Boroojeny, A., Dening, T., Jagger, C., … & Brayne, C. (2020). Changing prevalence and treatment of depression among older people over two decades. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 216(1), 49-54.
Li, W., Zhao, N., Yan, X., Zou, S., Wang, H., Li, Y., … & Xiang, Y. T. (2021). The prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms and their associations with quality of life among clinically stable older patients with psychiatric disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Translational psychiatry, 11(1), 1-8.
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