Walden University - SOCW 6090 Week 6 Diagnosing Depressive and Bipolar Disorders

Walden University – SOCW 6090 Week 6 Diagnosing Depressive and Bipolar Disorders essay assignment

5 credits

Students in this course are prepared to identify mental disorders and to understand the necessary professional evaluations needed to formulate a DSM-5 diagnosis in a culturally sensitive and ethical manner. Students are sensitized to the risks and benefits of using diagnosis, with an emphasis on minimizing stigma.

Throughout this course, students learn about the most common DSM-5 diagnoses and integrate that knowledge with the use of established diagnostic procedures. In developing a “working diagnosis,” students learn to consider differential diagnosis, individualize and capture missing dimensions of an illness (mental status, severity, cultural idioms, and other details) as well as adapting interventions to various ages, races, genders, and cultures. Students learn how to incorporate DSM-5 requirements into a holistic biopsychosocial approach that includes the use of evidence-based assessments to systematically resolve ambiguities in diagnosis and strengthen diagnostic accuracy. Students also practice communicating and coding DSM-5 diagnoses and their supporting evidence to peers. The course uses case materials for direct skill-building.

Prerequisites

SOCW 6111

Diagnosing a depression is one of the most common—and yet most complex—differential diagnoses a social worker may make. The word itself covers a wide range of variations of the illness from normal sadness to serious clinical depressions that might not present the same way. Clinical depression disorders can look agitated or leaden even within the same specific form of the illness. They can be persistent depressions, mild and adjustment related, or caused by particular life events as in postpartum depressions.

Social workers need to know how to differentiate among types of depressions. They also need to know how to find the overlaps that depression has with other illnesses such as anxiety and trauma disorders.

Get solution to your nursing paper SOCW 6090 Week 6 Diagnosing Depressive and Bipolar Disorders

This week you observe a case of unipolar depression and then apply your diagnostic decision-making process to a case study. You also consider how to differentiate among disorders on these two spectrums and the importance of validating a diagnosis over time.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

Analyze a case study focused on a depressive disorder or bipolar disorder utilizing steps of differential diagnosis
Analyze lived experiences of depression
Evaluate cases to determine accurate mood disorder diagnosis

Diagnosing Depressive and Bipolar Disorders Learning Resources

Required Readings

Morrison, J. (2014). Diagnosis made easier (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Chapter 11, “Diagnosing Depression and Mania” (pp. 129–166)

American Psychiatric Association. (2013e). Depressive disorders. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: Author. doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596.dsm04

American Psychiatric Association. (2013c). Bipolar and related disorders. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: Author. doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596.dsm03

Jain, R., Maletic, V., & McIntyre, R. S. (2017). Diagnosing and treating patients with mixed features. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 78(8), 1091–1102. doi:10.4088/JCP.su17009ah1c
Diagnosing and Treating Patients with Mixed Features by Jain, R.; Maletic, V.; McIntyre, R., in Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Vol. 78/Issue 8. Copyright 2017 by Physicians Postgraduate Press. Reprinted by permission of Physicians Postgraduate Press via the Copyright Clearance Center.

Walton, Q. L., & Payne, J. S. (2016). Missing the mark: Cultural expressions of depressive symptoms among African-American women and men. Social Work in Mental Health, 14(6), 637–657. doi:10.1080/15332985.2015.1133470

Required Media

TED Conferences, LLC (Producer). (2013). Depression, the secret we share [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_solomon_depression_the_secret_we_share

TEDx Talks. (2013a, May 23). Depression is a disease of civilization: Stephen Ilardi at TedxEmory [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/drv3BP0Fdi8

Diagnosing Depressive and Bipolar Disorders Optional Resources

American Psychiatric Association. (2013b). Assessment measures. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: Author. doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596.AssessmentMeasures

Santiago-Rivera, A. L., Benson-Flórez, G., Santos, M. M., & Lopez, M. (2015). Latinos and depression: Measurement issues and assessment. In K. F. Geisinger (Ed.), Psychological testing of Hispanics: Clinical, cultural, and intellectual issues (2nd ed., pp. 255–271). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/14668-014

Thase, M. E., Weisler, R. H., Trivedi, M. H., & Manning, J. S. (2017). Utilizing the DSM-5 Anxious Distress specifier to develop treatment strategies for patients with major depressive disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 78(9), 1351–1362. doi:10.4088/JCP.ot17015ah1
Utilizing the DSM-5 Anxious Distress Specifier to Develop Treatment Strategies for Patients with Major Depressive Disorder by Thase, M.; Weisler, R.; Trivedi, M.; Manning, J., in Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Vol. 78/Issue 9. Copyright 2017 by Physicians Postgraduate Press. Reprinted by permission of Physicians Postgraduate Press via the Copyright Clearance Center.

Document: Suggested Further Reading for SOCW 6090 (PDF)

Note: This is the same document introduced in Week 1.

Discussion: Applying Differential Diagnosis to Depressive and Bipolar Disorders

What is it truly like to have a mental illness? By considering clients’ lived experiences, a social worker becomes more empathetic and therefore better equipped to treat them. In this Discussion, you analyze a case study focused on a depressive disorder or bipolar disorder using the steps of differential diagnosis.

Walden University – SOCW 6090 Week 6 Diagnosing Depressive and Bipolar Disorders