Depression Health, Medicine, Nursing Essay Research

Instruction:

Depression is a common psychiatric disorder in children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly. Primary care providers, not mental health professionals, treat the majority of patients with symptoms of depression. Persons who are depressed have feelings of sadness, loneliness, irritability, worthlessness, hopelessness, agitation, and guilt that may be accompanied by an array of physical symptoms as well as substance abuse. Identifying patients with depression and substance abuse can be difficult in busy primary care settings where time is limited, but certain depression/substance abuse screening tools may help diagnose the disorder.

Discuss a screening tool that can be used in the primary care setting that can help with the identification of patients with depression and or substance abuse. What is your responsibility as a primary care provider to this patient once a disorder has been identified?

Web Resources

National Institutes of Health. (2015). Women and mental health. Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/women-and-mental-health/index.shtml

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (2011, reaffirmed 2016). Committee

Opinion: Sexual assault. Retrieved from: https://www.acog.org/Resources-And-Publications/Committee-Opinion/Committee-on-Health-Care-for-Underserved-Women/Sexual-Assault

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (July 2013, reassessed 2016). Vital signs: Prescription painkiller overdoses. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/prescriptionpainkilleroverdoses/index.html

Required: 1 page, APA format 6^th edition. Must be 3 references within 3 years and in US ONLY.