Mental Health: Nursing Interventions for Depression and Suicide Risk

This article discusses nursing interventions for depression and suicide risk in mental health patients. It includes non-pharmacological interventions like psychosocial support and social support intervention. The article also highlights ethical issues that nurses must consider while working with mental health patients.

Running head: MENTAL HEALTH
Mental health
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

1MENTAL HEALTH
Based on analysis of the case study of Munny Kaew, one urgent risk area identified
for the client is the risk of self harm or suicide. This is said because of Munny’s withdrawal
from work routine and his children and staying isolated most of the time. Munny’s response
to the question whether life was worth living also shows that he may commit suicide in the
future. This conclusion has been made because social isolation is a major risk factor of
suicide and Calati et al. (2019) shows that loneliness and social isolation is one of the major
risk factors of suicidal outcomes.
One immediate nursing intervention that can be implemented to the address the risk of
suicide ideation includes social support intervention. This would involve providing
supervision to Munny at all times and restricts access to objects that can harm him (Simpson-
Southward, Waller & Hardy, 2016). Nurse must also engage in communication to him social
skills like interacting with other people and spending time with children. This intervention
can be implemented by nurse in collaboration with psychiatrist and social workers.
Gustavson et al. (2016) give the evidence regarding the use of positive social support as a
protective factor against suicide. Presence of a social support system is critical to reduce risk
and assessment of patient’s support network is important to reengage client in social
interaction.
Based on the review of Munny, the main health concern identified for him is the
presence of depression symptoms. The main rationale for this is that his symptoms are similar
to that of depressive client. He has lost interest in his work, has no interest in food, has lost
weight. He is not communicating and suffers from lack of attention too. Patients are
identified to be at risk of depressive disorder if they experience symptoms of hopelessness,
diminished interest in activities of daily living, weight loss, loss of appetite, fatigue and poor
concentration for more than two weeks (Tolentino & Schmidt, 2018).

2MENTAL HEALTH
One nursing intervention that can be implemented to treat depressive symptoms of
Munny includes use of non pharmacological intervention of psychosocial support.
Psychosocial interventions are goal directed therapy focuses on behavioural change and
reframing of patient attitudes. This intervention can be implemented in collaboration with a
mental health counsellor and Munny can be given education regarding the way to adapt
positive coping styles to deal with stressors in life. Pascoe et al. (2017) gives the evidence
regarding the effectiveness of psychosocial intervention in addressing depression and anxiety
symptoms in patient.
Two ethical issues that a nurse must consider while working with Munny include
taking care to respect the dignity of patient and respecting patient autonomy during the care
process. Maintaining dignity is important as part of ethical care responsibility and this can be
done by ensuring that patient is not marginalized or differently treated because of his illness.
To treatment someone with dignity implies respecting self worth of patient and this is one of
the fundamental principles of mental health care (Saxena & Hanna, 2015). In addition,
autonomy is an ethical responsibility for nurse as patients have the right to make autonomous
decisions about their care (Gibert, DeGrazia & Danis, 2017).

3MENTAL HEALTH
References:
Calati, R., Ferrari, C., Brittner, M., Oasi, O., Olié, E., Carvalho, A. F., & Courtet, P. (2018).
Suicidal thoughts and behaviors and social isolation: A narrative review of the
literature. Journal of affective disorders. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2018.11.022.
Gibert, S. H., DeGrazia, D., & Danis, M. (2017). Ethics of patient activation: exploring its
relation to personal responsibility, autonomy and health disparities. Journal of
medical ethics, 43(10), 670-675. DOI:10.1136/medethics-2017-104260
Gustavson, K. A., Alexopoulos, G. S., Niu, G. C., McCulloch, C., Meade, T., & Areán, P. A.
(2016). Problem-solving therapy reduces suicidal ideation in depressed older adults
with executive dysfunction. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24(1), 11-
17. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2015.07.010
Pascoe, M. C., Thompson, D. R., Castle, D. J., McEvedy, S. M., & Ski, C. F. (2017).
Psychosocial interventions for depressive and anxiety symptoms in individuals with
chronic kidney disease: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in
psychology, 8, 992. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00992
Saxena, S., & Hanna, F. (2015). Dignity--a fundamental principle of mental health care. The
Indian journal of medical research, 142(4), 355–358. doi:10.4103/0971-5916.169184
Simpson-Southward, C., Waller, G., & Hardy, G. E. (2016). Supervision for treatment of
depression: an experimental study of the role of therapist gender and
anxiety. Behaviour research and therapy, 77, 17-22.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2015.11.013

4MENTAL HEALTH
Tolentino, J. C., & Schmidt, S. L. (2018). DSM-5 Criteria and Depression Severity:
Implications for Clinical Practice. Frontiers in psychiatry, 9, 450.
doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00450