Editing Mental Health and Psychosocial Nursing (section)

=== Across the Lifespan ===
* '''Children''': express distress somatically and behaviorally (abdominal pain, headaches, regression, school refusal, irritability rather than sadness). Use play and drawing to assess. Explain procedures in developmentally appropriate terms and permit parental presence. Screen for abuse when the injury does not match the history or the developmental stage.
* '''Adolescents''': identity, autonomy, and peer belonging dominate. Screen for depression, self-harm, disordered eating, substance use, bullying and cyberbullying, and suicidal ideation. Interview privately without the parent for part of the visit. Explain confidentiality and its limits explicitly.
* '''Adults''': role strain, caregiving burden, occupational stress, intimate partner violence. Screen for intimate partner violence privately, never with the partner in the room, and never using a family member as interpreter.
* '''Older adults''': loss accumulation, retirement, sensory decline, functional dependence, relocation stress, elder mistreatment, and polypharmacy. Depression in older adults frequently presents as somatic complaint or cognitive slowing ("pseudodementia") rather than reported sadness. Older adults have high suicide completion rates and often have contact with a primary care provider shortly before death, making routine screening essential. Assess for '''relocation stress syndrome''' after a move to long-term care and mitigate it with familiar objects, choice, and orientation.