Question

SUBJECT : SPECIAL NEEDS 2 (CONTINUE CARE ASSISTANT)

Que 1. Describe Care of the Client with Anxiety Disorders. Provide at least 8 ways that you can support someone with anxiety.

Que 2. Discuss depression in the senior population. What are some ways to support and care for a person with depression?

Que 3. How can you respond to someone who indicates they are thinking of suicide? Describe 3 steps that people can take to help?

Answer 1

Q. 1 and 2.

ANXIETY is a vague feeling of dread or apprehension (uneasiness); it is the activation of the autonomic nervous system in response to an external or internal stimuli that can have behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and physical symptoms.

*Care of patients with anxiety and ways to support

Nurses encounter anxious clients in a variety of situations.

The nurse must first assess the person’s anxiety level because this determines what interventions are likely to be effective.

Treatment of anxiety disorders usually involves medication and therapy. A combination of both produces better results than either one alone.

.Maintain a calm, non threatening manner while working with the client.

.Move the client to a quiet area with minimal stimuli such as a small room or seclusion area (dim lighting, few people, and so on.

.Remain with the client at all times when levels of anxiety are high (severe or panic); reassure client of his or her safety and security

.Maintain calmness in your approach to the client.

.Educate the patient and/or SO that anxiety disorders are treatable

. Encourage the client’s participation in relaxation exercises such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, meditation and so forth.

. Administer SSRIs as ordered.

. Cognitive-behavioral therapy;

. Positive reframing :Turning negative messages into positive ones.

. Decatastrophizing: It involves the therapist’s use of questions to more realistically appraise the situation. It is also called the “what if” technique because the worst case scenario is confronted by asking a “what if” question

. Assertiveness training: Helps the person take more control over life situations. These techniques help the person negotiate interpersonal situations and foster self-assurance.

.When level of anxiety has been reduced, explore with the client the possible reasons for occurrence.

.Encourage client to talk about traumatic experience under nonthreatening conditions. Help client work through feelings of guilt related to the traumatic event. Help client understand that this was an event to which most people would have responded in like manner. Support client during flashbacks of the experience.

Q3.

*DEPRESSION IN SENIOR POPULATION

let's see the causes;

. a fear of death or dying

.anxiety over financial problems or health issues.

.Recent bereavements.

.The death of friends, family members, and pets, or the loss of a spouse or partner.

Let's discuss how depression in elderly is differ from adult depression,

.Depression is less prevalent among older adults than among younger adults but can have serious consequences.

.Depressed older adults are less likely to endorse affective symptoms and more likely to display cognitive changes, somatic symptoms, and loss of interest than are younger adults.

Depression in elderly people should be treated well because,

.Research shows that elderly depression can double the risk of cardiac disease and increase the risk of developing other serious health conditions.

.In studies where nursing home patients with physical illnesses were examined, the advent of depression significantly increased the chance of death from those illnesses.

.In addition, non-depressed elders are more likely to recover from a heart attack, while depressed seniors have a greater chance of dying after a cardiac incident.

Q4.

*Care and ways to support

Each patient is different and requires a customized treatment approach to his or her unique needs and circumstances.

Since aging is a normal and fundamental part of life,Providing nursing care for elderly clients should not only be isolated to one field but is best given through a collaborative effort which includes their family, community, and other health care team.

Through this, nurses may be able to use the expertise and resources of each team to improve and maintain the quality of life of the elderly.

First of all nurses should be aware about the warning signs,

.Irritability

. Loss of Self-Regard

. Social Withdrawal

. Increased Pain

. Recent Illness or Surgery

. Recent Loss

.Encourage clients to express feelings (anger, sadness, guilt) and come up with alternative ways to handle feelings of anger and frustration.

Medications

. antidepressants influence the functioning of certain neurotransmitters in the brain.

.selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (or SSRIs) such as Prozac are generally preferred over older medications such as tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), because they are known to have fewer and less severe potential side effects.

Therapy

. For severe cases of depression that do not respond to medication, or where the depression is accompanied by schizophrenia or psychosis, there is the option of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).