Editing Mental Health and Psychosocial Nursing – RN Flashcards (section)

== Mood Disorders ==

;When is suicide risk highest in a client being treated for major depression?
:As psychomotor retardation lifts and energy and initiative return before mood fully improves, typically in the first days to weeks of antidepressant therapy, and again in the weeks immediately after psychiatric discharge. A sudden unexplained calm in a previously despondent client is a red flag.

;Why do clients in acute mania need finger foods and a low-stimulation environment?
:They cannot sit still long enough to eat, and exhaustion and dehydration are the leading physical dangers of untreated mania. Portable high-calorie, high-protein foods and fluids meet nutritional needs without a power struggle, while low stimulation and noncompetitive solitary activity such as walking reduce escalation.

;Postpartum blues versus postpartum depression versus postpartum psychosis
:Blues are self-limited tearfulness around days 3 to 10 without functional loss. Depression is persistent and impairing and requires treatment. Psychosis is a psychiatric emergency, often with delusions centered on the infant; do not leave the parent alone with the infant.