Clinical Psychology: Severe Depression - Case Study Example

 Case Study #1 Clinical Psychology: Severe Depression Introduction From the case, Joe suffers from severe depression. Major depression, also known as major depressive disorder or clinical depression is a psychological disorder characterized by low self-esteem, persistent and pervasive low mood and lack of interest in otherwise pleasurable activities. As the disorder deteriorates, those suffering from severe depression develop suicidal thoughts depending on their backgrounds. Clinical psychology is an area in psychology that deals with the use of clinical knowledge, science and theory handle psychological discomforts including severe depression. From the case, Joe requires effective clinical psychology skills to diagnose his condition and offer him appropriate treatment. Effective clinical psychological operations should succeed in saving Joe’s life by eliminating his suicidal thoughts thereby enabling him to regain his health and mental stability (Knaus, 2006). Joe’s behavior exhibits the symptoms of severe depression. Analysis of the symptoms portrayed by a patient is among the preliminary and surest way of diagnosing any disease. Major depression among other types of depression affects the attitudes, emotions and behaviors of an individual a feature that makes the analysis of behavior an appropriate method of diagnosis. Joe has lost interest in numerous activities and things that once brought him pleasure. He has a persistent feeling of fatigue, hopelessness and worthlessness. Additionally, he has impaired concentration and a feeling of guilt, which has since initiated feelings and thoughts of suicide. Such symptoms are some of the major indicators that Joe suffers from major depression. He therefore requires the implementation of appropriate therapies including cognitive behavioral therapy and electroencephalogram among others to treat his condition in order to save his life. Applied behavioral science: Clinical Psychology is the most applicable behavioral science in this case. Applying clinical psychology in the case can help reverse Joe’s condition thereby stabilizing his life. Clinical psychology is a branch of psychology that utilizes conventional nursing skills, science and theories to prevent and relieve psychological disorders such as major depression. Major depression is a disease like any other. A patient like Joe requires effective attention from clinical psychologists who must diagnose and treat his condition by employing appropriate techniques. Clinical psychology provides the most appropriate techniques employable in diagnosing and treating his condition with cognitive behavior therapy serving as the most effective technique employable in the case. A psychologist will analyze Joe’s personality and behavior by observing the changes he experiences. Through such, the psychologist will make appropriate diagnosis and an equally effective treatment plan to help relieve his current condition and prevent the recurrence of the disease even after the current treatment. Causes of Joe’s severe depression Joe suffers from severe depression. He has begun harboring suicidal thoughts. A series of occurrences including his separation from his wife and termination of employment are some of the occurrences that initiated the depression. His condition has deteriorated with every day that he spends stressed and depressed. His family had a history with both depression and suicide. His father and great grandfather both suffered from severe depression. Additionally, one of his relatives carried out a suicide after suffering from severe depression. The history makes his condition miserable as he thinks that he should suffer the same fate. Both his environment and family history aggravates his condition as his depression worsens. Joe began by suffering from stress soon after he lost his job (Persson, Rivano-Fischer & Eklun, 2004). The stress deteriorated to depression soon after he lost his family too and therefore began spending most of his time in solitary thinking about the unfortunate events. His family history enhanced the depression and introduced the suicidal thoughts. Everyone has the potential of suffering from major depression. Joe was neither a special nor an isolated case his lifestyle had instead made him susceptible to suffer from the psychological disease. A series of unfortunate events in Joe’s life served as the triggers of the disease. Among such were grief, social isolation, major changes in his life and personal conflicts in his relationships with other people in his close circle. Losing his wife and family caused him immense grief. Furthermore, he had lost his job thereby losing his senses of self-worth. Losing both his wife and job caused him social isolation. Joe felt unwanted and unappreciated. By losing his job, he felt worthless and unproductive. The resultant social isolation enhanced his stress thereby causing a major emotional depreciation resulting in major depression. Psychological theory The theory of integration in clinical psychological just as the name suggests vouches for the incorporation of numerous therapeutic and medical approaches when addressing a case. The therapeutic approaches include spiritual, environmental, sexual and cultural among many others. Joe’s case is unique and therefore requires a combination of the approaches. Firstly, Joe lost his wife. This implies that he lives a solitary life. In addressing his sexual orientation, a clinical psychologist should help Joe overcome the thoughts of loneliness and encourage him to interact with women once again in order to improve his self-esteem. Through effective therapy, Joe would accept the divorce and possibly fall in love again a feature that would revitalize his hopes in life (Plante, 2013). Spiritual therapy includes the use of Joe’s religion to discourage against suicide and to encourage him to accept the situation. A clinical psychologist must investigate Joe’s history and alienate Joe’s case from the gory history characterized by severe depression and suicides arising from the same as his past relatives did. The theory of integration promises holistic and effective therapy for Joe’s unique case. By analyzing his sexual, cultural, environmental and cultural factors, a psychologist would address the possible stressors in Joe’s life thereby enhancing his recovery process. Scientific research The treatment of major depressive disorder is difficult given the fact that most of the medications in the market providing a partial relief. As such, scientists and psychologists have enhanced interest in researching the appropriate treatment methods that can yield the best results. Electroencephalogram (EEG) is an area of scientific research that promises to help clinical psychologists to select optimal medications for the disease especially in earlier stages. The use of antidepressants in treating mental disorders such as severe depression is appropriate with every type of antidepressant promising varying success. In prescribing an antidepressant, clinical psychologists must consider the state of a patient in order to determine the most appropriate antidepressant. Electroencephalogram promises to make the process easier by measure a patient’s avoidance behavior or internal withdrawal thereby easing the process of diagnosis. Besides the technique, clinical psychologists must employ a number of other therapies including cognitive behavior therapy. According to the therapy, the cognitions, behavior and emotions of Joe, the patient, interact and have a close relation. The therapy therefore encourages the rehabilitation of the behavior of the patient by pacifying his emotions and thoughts. The scientific research proposes the use of electroencephalogram to determine the most appropriate antidepressant for his case to help improve his moods and emotions and numerous other therapies such as the cognitive behavior therapy. The use of cognitive behavior therapy is yet another major scientific research issue in Joe’s case. As stated earlier, Joe requires a combination of factors to treat his condition. The therapy strives to influence the thoughts, feelings and behavior of a patient by discouraging the recurrence of the suicidal among other negative thoughts responsible for the condition. The therapy will strive to influence Joe’s emotions with the view to stabilizing them. Emotions, behaviors and cognition have a relation and often interact. Cognitive behavior therapy strives to regulate the three thereby making Joe a stable individual capable of realizing both the relation and interaction of the three. This way, Joe will learn to react appropriately to particular thoughts especially the thoughts of some of the occurrences that caused him pain. Effective application of the therapy coupled with the use of appropriate antidepressants should make Joe resist the suicidal thoughts and put his mind in regaining both his health and place in the society as a cordial and productive member of the society. Pros and cons Cognitive behavior therapy is holistic. The therapy includes the analysis of the most sensitive issues in a patient’s life thereby encouraging a holistic recovery process. By addressing cognition, emotions and behaviors, the therapy investigates the three most important factors that increase the susceptibility of an individual. Furthermore, the therapy teaches the patients how to manage the three thereby developing strong individuals capable of controlling their thoughts, emotions and behaviors thereby avoiding the recurrence of the depression and the suicidal thoughts. The therapy will train Joe to resist suicidal thoughts by making it possible for the patient to address such sensitive issues as his divorce and loss of job without plummeting back to depression. The holistic therapy encourages the development of strong and holistic individuals capable of controlling their thoughts, emotions and behaviors (Knaus, 2006). Despite its holistic nature, the procedure has a number of pitfalls key among which is its time consuming nature. As holistic as it sounds, the therapy requires adequate time to assess and train the patient to train his thoughts and emotions. Some patients may always experience relapses a feature that delays the treatment process. The fact that the therapy trains the management of emotions makes it an emotional process. The revocation of some of the torturous thoughts may always necessitate relapse of the patients’ conditions. Building a rapport Carrying out a scientific research with a sample of depressed people is a challenging process that requires the researcher to observe various ethical provisions and carry himself with adequate etiquette. Building a rapport with Joe is the first stage in treating his condition. The process begins with observing appropriate etiquette in greetings and introductions. Respect will make Joe feel important. Showing respect to the patient makes him open up thus share his experiences. The success of a therapy relies on the cooperation of the patient. The psychologist must ensure that Joe cooperates and provides adequate information to enable his treatment. Wining his trust in order to make him open up requires adequate respect. The psychologist must encourage Joe to share his experiences and promise to protect his interests. Doing this makes it possible for the psychologist to win Joe’s trust (Baker, McFall & Shoham, 2009). Encouraging Joe to talk more about his experiences and thoughts is appropriate since it enables the psychologist to understand both his state and emotional stability. As a psychologist, I will appear both apologetic and understanding. I will therefore reassure him and encourage him to keep talking. Showing empathy and encouraging a patient builds the trust thereby encouraging them to open up and provide adequate information to enable the diagnosis and treatment process. Ethical consideration Among the ethical factors I will consider when handling Joe include maintaining confidentiality. The encounter with Joe is serious medical encounter that involves a mentally unstable individual. He will provide personal and sensitive information that I must use only for the purposes of his treatment. I must promise not to share his medical report with any third party not related to the treatment. Other ethical considerations will include integrity by ensuring that I employ clinically proven therapies and medications in the treatment. I will maintain beneficence and make sure that I take responsibility for both the patient and the entire case. I will care for the outcome and strive to uphold the professional integrity (McIntyre & Nathanson, 2010). Handling Joe and numerous other patients with major depression is a subtle process. A psychologist must therefore adhere to the conventional nursing and research ethics. The major issues that necessitate ethical considerations when handling such patients are honesty, competence and obedience. As a psychologist, I must uphold competence to address the situation. I must internalize the observations I make and utilize existing theories, science and knowledge to relieve Joe from his condition. Furthermore, I should portrayed competence in upholding other ethical provisions such as confidentiality, integrity and respect for the patient. Honesty and obedience are equally significant since they prove the adherence to the conventional ways of handling patients and the utilization of existing knowledge in handling the patients. While handling the patients carefully, a psychologist must uphold a degree of honesty and inform the patients appropriately whenever they make new discoveries and in updating the patients on their conditions and progress. References Baker, T., McFall, R. & Shoham, V. (2009). Current Status and Future Prospects of Clinical Psycholog: Toward a Scientifically Principled Approach to Mental and Behavioral Health Care. Psychol Sci Public Interest. 9(2):67-103. Knaus, W. J. (2006). The cognitive behavioral workbook for depression: A step-by-step program. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications. McIntyre, R. S., & Nathanson, J. (2010). Severe depression. 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