Mental Health and Wellness in Clinical Practice: A Case Study Analysis

This case study presents a narrative of a 12-year-old girl exhibiting symptoms of clinical depression, sleep disorders, and irregular eating patterns. The essay details the child's background, presenting problems, and pertinent bio-psycho-social factors, including the impact of family dynamics. It outlines the diagnostic process, including the use of the Zung self-rating depression scale, and identifies the health professionals involved. The case study explores the key factors leading to the diagnosis, such as lack of concentration and negative survey responses, and provides recommendations for treatment, including medication and talk therapy, while emphasizing the importance of parental support. The assignment concludes by highlighting the treatability of mental illness with proper care and family support, drawing on the bio-psycho-social model to emphasize the interconnectedness of biological, psychological, and social influences on health and illness. This case study is a valuable resource for students and professionals interested in mental health and wellness within clinical practice, offering a detailed analysis of a complex case and practical treatment approaches.

Running Head: MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS IN CLINICAL PRACTICE
MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS IN CLINICAL PRACTICE
Name of the Student:
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1MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS IN CLINICAL PRACTICE
Mental illness is also known as the mental health disorder. It refers to a wide range of the
conditions of the mental state. It includes the disorders that tend to affect the mood, thinking as
well as the behavioural pattern of an individual. The various examples of mental illness are of
depression, issues of anxiety, schizophrenia, disorders in eating and various addictive form of
disorders (Abuse, 2013). This essay will be focusing on the experience of clinically treating the
child who is suffering from a mental disorder. The parents of the child claim that the child is
suffering from some form of depression. Additionally, she does not sleep in the night and likes
being alone rather than socially mixing with anybody.
The child is a twelve-year-old who has come with her mother to take help from the
clinical professionals. According to the mother, the child tends to suffer from some mental
illness as most of the time; she child tends to feel depressed. She does not like going to school.
She likes distancing herself from the rest of the people. Thus, it can be said that she is more of an
isolated kind of an individual and she also tends to suffer from some form of sleep disorder as
she does not take proper eight of sleep per day (Boyd, 2014). Additionally, the pattern of food
intake, which she follows is not appropriate as per her age. She is a twelve-year-old girl, and her
mother claims that she does not have the characteristics of a “normal” child and neither she
normally performs which are being expected from the child of her age. She tends to belong to a
normal middle-class family.
The mental health disorder which is marked by the consistent rate of depressed mood or
even the loss of interest in several activities and which leads to the origin of the significant
impairment in the activities of the daily life is called the clinical depression. The twelve-year girl
tends to suffer from clinical depression from the last six to seven months (Corrigan, Druss&
Perlick, 2014). She hardly likes to interact, nor she likes to go to school. Unlike the children of

2MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS IN CLINICAL PRACTICE
her age, she tends to have no internet in games or outdoor activities. She prefers to stay alone.
Apart from this, she tends to feel very sad always and shows no sign to live happily. The parents
complain that the child prefers to die rather than to live. Additionally, the parent complains that
the child hardly sleeps (Dieterich, et al., 2017). The pattern of her sleep has changed. She tends
to mostly stay awake. Apart from this, she does not tend to have eight hours of sleep daily, which
ultimately affects her health. It is because of her lack of sleep, she does not get energy, and she
feels lethargic on a daily basis. Apart from this, the child also tends to avoid eating. She does not
wish to eat her regular meal. It is because of the lack of nutrients in her body; she is very much
weak and becomes sick very often. Suffering from all the problems from the last six to seven
months have made her academic result suffer to a great extent. However, the current that she
might face is that if this tends to continue, she might lead to committing suicide as there is a
higher tendency of it. She has visited a doctor before, and the doctor has given her certain
sleeping pills to get sleep in the night and various other medicines in order to come out of the
mental illness and the problems from which she is tending to suffer. However, none of the
medicines tends to work for her, and she tends to suffer more in the meantime.
The bio-psycho-social model tends to view the health and illness behaviour as the
product as the illness of the biological feature like that of the genes and behavioural factors like
the lifestyle, stress and health (Drake & Whitley, 2014). However, the social conditions tend to
include the influences of the culture, family relationships and support. In this context, it is to be
noted that the lifestyle that is being led by the parents tends to have a great impact on the child
which leads the child to suffer from mental illness like that of the depression, sleeping disorders
and irregular eating pattern. It is because of the heavy schedule of work; the family members fail
to spend time with the child and give her the proper time that she requires as a child from her

3MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS IN CLINICAL PRACTICE
parents. This tends to create stress in her life, and she tends to feel very much unwanted and
lonely. On the other hand, it is to be noted that the almost broken relationship between the
mother and the father also tends to create a form of pressure and stress in the mind of the child
for which he child does not feel the world to be a happier place to live in. It is to be noted that the
children are mostly the sufferer when it comes to the broken relationship between a mother and a
father.
The key factors that were being gathered, which lead to the diagnosis in the long run for
the patient is that the patient tends to suffer from a lack of concentration. When she was being
asked to colour a book, she failed to complete because of lack of interest. Apart from this, when
she was being asked to sit for a while, she had unwanted thoughts over her min (Wedding &
Niemiec, 2014). Additionally, when she was being taken to a different room away from her
parents, she started to worry a lot as a result of which she started to tremble. A survey form was
being given to her to fill up. In the survey form, all the answers were very much negative which
indicated the fact that she was very much suffering from depression. Apart from this, the zung
scale screening tool is being utilized to access the level of depression in the child (Hansson et
al.,2013).
Psychiatrist and a therapist are the professionals who are included in the treatment of the
child. Psychiatry is a specialist in the medical science who is devoted to the diagnosis,
prevention and even to the treatment of the mental disorders. A therapist tends to give medical
treatment to the problem of health, usually after following the method of diagnosis.
The zung scale is being used for the purpose of diagnosing the level of depression that the
child tends to grow through. It is to be noted that the Zung self-rating depression scale is a self-
report questionnaire consisting of twenty items that is being highly utilized as the screening tool.

4MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS IN CLINICAL PRACTICE
It tends to cover all the sentimental, emotional and somatic symptoms which are very much
connected to the depression. Majority of the people who completes this assessment test gets a
score of 50 to 59 (Tucker et al., 2013). On the other hand, a person who tends to score more than
70 tends to suffer from an extreme level of depression. In this situation, the child tends to suffer
from the extreme level of severe depression because the child tends to get more than 70 in the
assessment test and any person as indicated before tends to get a score of 70 or above is highly
subjected to severe form of depression (Henderson, Evans-Lacko & Thornicroft, 2013).
The score scored by the patient is very much more than 70, which tends to indicate the
fact that the child is suffering from an extreme level of depression. The fact that the child ends to
stay lonely and hates socializing with others is one of the symptoms of depression. Apart from
this, the child tends to remain very much isolated, hates going to school and even feels unwanted
is a typical sign of depression which the child tends to suffer from as indicated by the test. Apart
from this, the child fails to sleep and thus have sleeping disorders. The symptoms of the sleeping
disorder are very much connected to the depression which the child tends to suffer from
tremendously (Swanson et al., 2015). The fact that she hates to eat or is least interested over any
useful or interacting activity is also very much connected to the mental illness which she tends to
suffer from, as indicated in the assessment test.
After analyzing her situation and the diagnosis of the state of her mental illness, several
recommendations are being given which the child must follow. However, it is the duty of the
parents to ensure that the child is following all that is being recommended to her. Medication is
one of the best ways to overcome depression. If it is being followed regularly, the child will
benefit from it tremendously (Kingdon, 2013). However, talk therapy is another form of
medication treatment that is being referred for the child. It is a form of treatment where the

5MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS IN CLINICAL PRACTICE
therapist or a counsellor tends to have individual sessions with the patient. It makes the patient
feel light and good. However, it is recommended to the parents to spend a good amount of time
with the child as well so that the child feels loved and tends to enjoy life and recover by herself.
However, since the child is suffering from an extreme form of depression as it is being denoted
in the test, there is a certain form of medicines which are being prescribed so that the child can
recover faster (Metzl & MacLeish, 2015). The medicines which are being prescribed for the
child are Citalopram (Celexa), Escitalopram (Lexapro) and Paroxetine (Paxil, Pexeva). On the
other hand, it is recommended to the parents that the parents must highly appreciate the child
whenever she does anything good. Additionally, it may be said that parents must give rewards to
the child. It will ultimately encourage the child to do more better things in life and ultimately
recover in the long run. However, a routine setup is being created for the child which the child
must follow. However, it is the role of the parents to ensure that the child follows and works as
per the routine that is being prescribed for her (Schwab, 2013). Though sleeping drugs are not
being prescribed to the child generally, antihistamines like diphenhydramine and others like
nytol, Sominex, Benadryl allergy are being suggested (Skeem et al., 2014). However, hypnotic
sleep aids such as zolpidem like Ambien and generic are being suggested (Nestler et al., 2016).
These medicines are being subscribed because the patient is suffering from a huge form of
depression.
However, the patient is recovering. She tends to talk with her parents and interact with
others. The medication has helped her to calm down internally, and she is showing signs of
recovering. Her sleeping patterns have also changed, she tends to sleep on time, and her pattern
of eating is also changing. She is eating her regular meal.

6MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS IN CLINICAL PRACTICE
The conclusion that can be derived from the study is that mental illness tends to occur
because of various reasons. The fact that the mental illness cannot be treated is a myth. Like the
other parts of the body can be treated when it tend to suffer from some form of the issues or
diseases, the brain must be equally be treated when it tend to go ill. It is our brain which make
the other parts of our body work or function. So if our mind is not well, it must not be ignored
and treatment must be taken immediately. However, the perfect treatment and the support from
the family can help the patient to recover soon.

7MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS IN CLINICAL PRACTICE
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