Depression in Palliative Care - Coursework Example

It is imperative that health professionals dealing with patients in terminal stage illnesses  in end-of-life situations must also take care of emotional, psychosocial and spiritual aspects of not only the patient but also the family and caregivers. in the end-stage of life, a time when the patient and his dear ones know about the proximity to death, certain feelings and emotions like denial, envy, rage, sadness, depression, bargaining, and acceptance evoke (Aranda, 2008). these and other feelings are a part of the adjustment to the forthcoming loss.

Thus patients in end-of-life situations must be provided holistic care keeping in mind the feelings that evoke in them and in their family members. Such a care is known as palliative care which is “an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual" (WHO, 2009).

In this essay, one of the distressing problem in end-life-situation, depression, will be discussed. The discussion will first include a basic definition of depression, this will be followed by depression in the end-of-life situation, impact on caregivers and holistic care that can be provided for these patients. The discussion will be based on a literature review and critical analysis of various studies performed in this regard.Major depression disorder or MDD is a common mental illness that falls into the category of mood disorders.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV, 2000, diagnosis of MDD is made as in table-1.