Support For Removing The Bereavement Exclusion

These mood episodes include the manic episodes and the depressive episodes. The mood changes of mania include a long period of an overly happy mood and irritability; the behavioral changes are talking quickly, having racing thoughts, being distracted, increasing of activities, being restless, getting little or no sleep, being impulsive, and engaging in high-risk, pleasurable activities or behaviors (NIMH, 2015). The mood changes of the depressive episodes are loss of interest in activities that were once enjoyed and a long period of sadness; the behavioral changes are feeling very tired, having trouble with decision making and problem solving, being irritable, changing normal habits, and negative thinking (NIMH, 2015). Sometimes symptoms from both episodes can be present in a person’s current mood episode. This is called a mixed state. In the mixed state, a person can feel agitated, have a change in eating habits, and have suicidal thoughts; they also feel very hopeless and very energized at the same time (NIMH, 2015). About ten percent of people have at least four mood episodes every year which is called rapid cycling bipolar disorder (Schacter el at.,

Death is a part of life and eventually everyone on this earth will experience it. Nurses play an important role in death. Mourning the death of a loved one is something that almost everyone will experience in this lifetime because it is a natural response to death. Bereavement, grief and mourning are all effected by one’s culture, religion, the relationship with the deceased, personality, and how the person died.

The purpose of this essay is to discuss the clinical differences in the diagnosis of both Major Depressive Disorder (Unipolar depression) and Bipolar Depression can be made on the basis of characteristics of a Major Depressive Episode (MDE). That is, can an MDE in patients with Major Depressive Disorder be differentiated from a MDE in patients with Bipolar Disorder? Firstly, the extremes in mood, Major Depressive Episode and mania/hypomania will be defined and it will be explained how they contribute to a diagnosis of MDD or Bipolar Disorder based on the diagnostic criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Secondly, the importance of differentiating the two disorders based on MDE characteristics will be explained. Thirdly, the literature on the clinical characteristics of MDE in Bipolar and Unipolar Depression will be reviewed. Lastly, this essay will touch on what this means for clinicians in their decisions in diagnosing patients with Major Depressive Disorder or Bipolar disorder.

A mixed episode, also known as a dysphoric manic episode, is a combination of depressive and manic symptoms, such as agitation, change in appetite, difficulty sleeping, and suicidal thinking. Severe depression or agitation in this state can also be accompanied by symptoms of psychosis. These symptoms include delusions and hallucinations. Bipolar individuals often describe these episodes as ‘sad mania.' This episode is the one most commonly seen in children. Though not uncommon, mixed episodes are not widely recognized. Studies show that only 40 percent of people who have both manic symptoms and a sufficient number of depressive symptoms are diagnosed as being in a mixed depressive and manic state. Studies have also shown that suicidal thoughts are greatly increased in people while in a mixed state. Its treatment has not been

Major Depression Disorder has been a constant struggle for human beings with the first appearance dating all the way back to the second millennium B.C. This disorder was formerly known as “melancholia” and looked to as a spiritual illness where demons and evil spirits would possess the body. It wasn’t until the late 19th and early 20th century when melancholia took on a new name and idea, depression. Psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin became an advocate for the change of title and his influence has led to the increased understanding of mental illness (Bar). In order to be diagnosed with MDD, within a two-week period five or more of the following symptoms must be present: depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, significant weight loss or

296.32 (F33.1) Major Depressive Disorder, recurrent episode, moderate severity, with anxious distress. Ms. Client meets eight of the nine diagnostic criteria for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Specifically, during several periods of time she experienced depressed mood, diminished interest in things she enjoyed to do, hypersomnia, psychomotor agitation, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness, decreased concentration, and suicidal thoughts without intent. Additionally, as Ms. Client expressed, these symptoms are source of continuing distress and interfere with her academics and social functioning. Also, her symptoms started four years prior to the psychological assessment and persisted intermittently since then, lasting for several weeks to several months, with the most recent period of extended length (enduring two weeks) approximately one year ago. Since the last episode she has experienced these symptoms for two to three days at a time. Although the last episode that met the criterion of two weeks duration occurred approximately a year ago, the symptoms have not disappeared, but they occur periodically since then and when they do, they cause considerable distress and impairment in functioning. Thus, the disorder cannot be coded as ‘in partial or full remission’. The specifier ‘with anxious distress’ was given, because Ms. Client reports feelings of difficulty in concentration because of worry and restlessness.

Everyday, people are diagnosed with different type of disorders as listed in the DSM-5. Their disorder may be on the spectrum of mild to severely debilitating; either way in most cases, they will have to deal with the disorder throughout their lifetime. Throughout the history of psychology, there have been many theoretical perspectives developed that sought to explain why these disorders occur and how these disorders can be treated. Most treatments are synergistic meaning that multiple treatments are often used to help individuals with different disorders because some forms of treatment are not effective against the patient’s disorder or patients are unresponsive to the treatment. This paper focuses on describing and analyzing one of the disorders listed in the Diagnostics manual. In the course of the discussion, there will be detailed

Jordan is a 36-year-old man with a diagnosis of depression. Depression is a broad diagnosis which the ICD-10 classification system requires the patient to present with at least four out of the ten depressive symptoms to be formally diagnosed (NICE 2009, World Health Organisation 2010). For a formal diagnosis of depression, the DSM-V system requires five or more of the nine possible

DSM-IV manages the problems by allowing professionals to put patients into broad categories such as the Not Otherwise Specified categories to allow for co-existence of various diagnoses in the same patient (Vieta & Phillips, 2007). However, there is still the problem of comorbidity, where a patient has two disorders (Vieta & Phillips, 2007). In addition, the validity of

Agitated Depression – Kind of major depressive disorder which is characterized by agitation such as physical and emotional restlessness, irritability and insomnia, which is the opposite of many depressed individuals who have low energy and feel slowed down physically and

Sometimes a mood episode includes symptoms of both manic and depressive symptoms. This is called an episode with mixed features. People experiencing an episode with mixed features may feel very

visual flashback memories of the violence may dominate the person's mind. They may be taken up

Losing a loved one can be a traumatic situation in anyone’s life. The bereavement process can take a tremendous toll on a person. There is no gender, age, sex, color or religion specifics that dictate the length of grievance, it all depends on the individual. The loss of loved one brings grim magnitudes for the bodily and the emotional state of a person and can sometimes be so extreme that it can alter the health of a human being. Grief counseling eases the bereavement process by providing patients countless methods that will assist in dealing with the pain throughout their life. In multiculturalism people deal with the loss of a love one in many forms, what may seem barbaric for one culture is normal in another and what a counselor may suggest

Major Depressive Disorder is marked by sadness and any four of the following seven criteria: weight loss or weight gain, insomnia or hypersomnia, motor slowing or agitation, fatigue, worthlessness or guilt, impaired concentration, and thoughts of suicide or suicide attempt. Those with Major Depressive Disorder have never had mania or hypomania and may also have anxiety symptoms. When the Major Depressive Disorder is combined with melancholic features, then the person has a “loss of pleasure in all, or almost all, activities [and has a] lack of reactivity to usually pleasurable stimuli (does not feel better, even temporarily, when something good happens” (American Psychiatric Association, p. 185). Observations made by others, such as being tearful, is also a criterion of this disorder (American