Pediatric depression

She has had no medication or any type of management during this period. The patient's history of presenting illness indicates a possibility of different diagnosis which forms the differential diagnoses. A definitive diagnosis for the patient (depression) and theories to guide in the management of the patient are described clearly as well as the ethical considerations in the assessment and care of the patient. A 17-year-old is brought to the clinic with a history of loss of interest and depressed mood that occurred following the loss of her best friend. She presents with other symptoms that mimic depression. Her mother had a short episode of post-partum depression following the birth of their last-born child. No other significant family medical history is indicated.

Family social history indicates that she lives with her mother and siblings at their home, her father passed on following an unresolved murder three years back, she was the last person to speak to him before he was murdered. The family strongly believes and professes the Christian Catholics faith; however, they still have strong ties to their traditional Chines culture having been a second-generation family of Chines immigrant. The subjective patient information is a strong indicator of the risk factors for developing depression in the patient. Vulser et al. , (2016), identified through research that there was a strong association between anemia and depression, however, there was no explanation of the reason for this association between anemia and depression in patients. The patient's full blood count indicated normal ranges for all blood cell counts ruling out anemia as the cause for anemia.

Other laboratory tests done were electrolyte tests. Liver and kidney profiles which were normal. The patient presents with similar symptoms which are indicative of the depressive phase of Bipolar disorder, however bipolar is ruled out as the patient does not present with any mania phase during a 2-week period. Mood disorder due to a medical cause refers toan underlying pathophysiology as being the primary cause of the depression experienced by the patient. The possible medical causes for the patient’s mood disorder are anemia or hypothyroidism which are associated with the occurrence of depression. The diagnosis of mood disorder associated with medical causes is ruled out by the results of the laboratory tests which indicate the patient’s blood cells and thyroxine hormone to be within normal ranges hence ruling out hypothyroidism and anemia.

Depression is described by the DSM-V as a condition that is characterized by the occurrence of five or more symptoms within a 2-week period one of which must include either depressed mood or loss of interest (Tolentino & Schmidt, 2018). According to the model, a human has five dimensions which include psychological, physiological, cultural, spiritual and developmental (Ahmadi & Sadeghi, 2017). This model of care stresses the importance of holistic patient care tat addresses all the human dimensions to re-establish an equilibrium so as to enable the patient to function effectively and respond to stressors. In the patient’s case of depression, the patient’s first line of defense and the interlinks between various factors enabled the patient to survive the initial episodes of loss and once the line of defense is overwhelmed the patient presents with depression as characterized by symptoms such as loss of interest and depressed mood.

In the initial traumatic experience, the nursing care and support provided at the time and continued support from family and significant others catered for the patient’s psychological dimension enabling to survive the onslaught. Primary care interventions in mental health such as counselling are imperative to prevent the occurrence of fully blown mental illness. Confidentiality in managing this patient is critical to promote better nurse-patient rapport as Chinese patients may be less outcoming with information due to the social stigma associated with mental illness in their culture (Yang et al. In summary, mental health care starts with a correct diagnosis which involves incorporation and analysis of both objective and subjective data. Other critical considerations include the patient's social-cultural perspectives and the ethical-legal aspects of the patient's management.