Mental Health Assessment, Stress, and Recovery: A Case Study Analysis

This essay presents a comprehensive analysis of a mental health case study involving a 22-year-old woman named Lucinda, who is facing mental health challenges following childbirth and a subsequent pregnancy. The essay explores the importance of mental status assessment, utilizing the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) to diagnose potential conditions like depressive disorder and trauma-related disorders. It examines the stress-vulnerability model, identifying stress and past trauma as key contributing factors to Lucinda's mental state. The essay then proposes recovery-oriented practices, such as showing respect, empowerment, and instilling hope, as effective strategies to improve Lucinda's mental wellbeing. It emphasizes the significance of family support and motivational approaches in her recovery process, offering a detailed perspective on how to address and support individuals experiencing similar mental health issues.

RUNNING HEAD: MENTAL HEALTH 0
Mental Health
September 7
2019
Student’s Details-

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Question 1
This essay is based on the case study of Lucinda who is 22 years old women gave birth to
a daughter 8 months ago and had faced difficulties during her delivery and she is stressed about
her unborn baby as she gets pregnant again. Therefore, the mental status of Lucinda is crucial for
a nurse. Mental Status Assessment is concerned with the examination examining of attributes of
the patient such as appearance, insight, behavior and mood, level of consciousness and cognitive
component of the patient (Asghar-Ali & Boyle, 2018). Similarly, when examining the mental
status of Lucinda it is crucial to determine the components of MSE. First component that could
be taken for the assessment could be the appearance. Appearance relates how a person looks and
the ability of that person for taking care of own self (Reis, Wheeler, Spiegel, Kernis, & Nezlek,
2018). However, the appearance of Lucinda is quite well as she was well groomed when she
entered into the perinatal health service center. For making further diagnosis, nurse clarifies the
symptoms of Lucinda using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM-5)
which is used as a guidebook for the evaluation and determinations of treatments given to the
patients (American Psyciatric Association, 2013). Through, it can be analyzed that the condition
of Lucinda falls under the criteria ‘depressive disorder’ which is determined by the examination
of behavior, mood and attitude of Lucinda. Thereafter, the condition is matched with the score of
PROMIS and if the score is higher, then it is determined that Lucinda’s mental status has the
presence of depressive disorder and suitable diagnosis can be given as per the treatment of
depressive disorder.
Further, second component that needs to be evaluated to determine the mental status of
Lucinda is behavior and mood. Behavior of the person is determined by the facial expressions,
ability to create engagement and the actions and thoughts. However, the behavior of Lucinda is
determined by the fact that she was unable to make eye contact with the nurse as she was
continuously staring at the floor. Further, Lucinda prefers to be along and does not make
interactions with others (Pollard, 2018). Further, the second criterion for the mental status
Lucinda under DSM-5 is ‘trauma and stress related disorder’ which can be assessed from the fact
that she has been gone through stress in the past where she had suffered a lot due to painful
delivery and often face difficulties in bringing up her daughter. Moreover, DSM-5 is the

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collection of mental disorders along with their symptoms (Cherry, 2019). It helps nurse to
understand the diagnosis by comparing it with the symptoms and helps in the right treatment of
the patient (Evans, Nizette, & O'Brien, 2016). However, in the past, Lucinda has a painful
delivery and also has a doubt that she is unable to undertake proper care of her daughter.
However, she often gets more stressed when she gets pregnant again. She is unable to sleep and
feel unmotivated. Therefore, the mental status of Lucinda has prevalence of trauma and stress
related disorder and the diagnosis can be given according to her condition.
Question 2
Stress-Vulnerability model describes the effects or causes of the mental disorder and how
a person’s wellbeing deteriorates by the time (Calvete, Orue, & Hankin, 2015). In this, two
factors are considered stress and vulnerability which describes how a person gets vulnerable to
the mental illness. In this model, stress is described as the outcome of the challenges or problems
in the routine activities (Fisher, 2015). Biological vulnerability is the second aspect in this model
which is described as the outcome to be achieved or attained through the early life experiences
that a person faces. Similarly, the first contributing factor in the mental status of Lucinda is the
stress. Stress is concerned with the inner feeling that is developed as a result of the hardships or
challenges that are faced during the daily life activities of an individual (Janis, 2016). As a result,
the person suffering from stress loses meaning in life and often feels anxious in living his daily
life and subsequently suffering from depression. Similarly, stress as a contributing factor for the
mental condition of Lucinda has arose due to the fact that she had a baby with 9 months and
simultaneously she gets pregnant again which led her to the stress. She is feeling anxious
because she had been in trouble while the upbringing of Emily who is her 9 months old daughter.
She fears about the delivery of unborn baby. Due to this, she is suffering from sleepless nights,
lack of involvement and has lost meaning in life.
Further, trauma is considered to be another contributing factor leading to the mental
illness of Lucinda. Trauma is expected to be occurred due to life event stressors and is generally
the result of past negative experiences and factors such as previous anxiety, history of trauma
and other painful incidences are the leading factors in the trauma (Caruth, 2016). Similarly,
Lucinda has been traumatized for the early life events that occurred with respect to her daughter.

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As Lucinda has faced troubles while giving birth to Emily, she had gone through complications
in her pregnancy as her daughter was born through forceps extraction. That experience of her life
was painful and she had been in trauma since she gave birth to Emily. Thus, it can be said that
her difficult experiences led her to trauma. Because of this, she feels that she is not taking care of
her daughter like the way she should. Also, Lucinda has a negative feeling about unborn baby
that she is already facing hurdles in the upbringing of Emily how would she manage with another
baby. However, her mental condition is not a medicinal disorder, thus motivation factor can
work for Lucinda in coping up with the challenges.
Question 3
For the recovery of mental condition of Lucinda recovery-oriented practice can work.
Mental recovery is concerned with taking steps for the improvements in the mental condition of
the patient (Davidson, 2016). This is widely concerned with gaining hope for the moving ahead
in life by finding purpose and meaning in life. However, this practice proves to be helpful for the
treatment and improvement in the mental condition of Lucinda. It refers to the successful
implementation of hope, empowerment and respect which can make her feel involved and often
assist her in finding purpose for living her life (Dixon, Holoshitz, & Nossel, 2016). Firstly,
respect can be used by nurse for healing the pain of Lucinda. Respect is the act of being
courteous, showing honest opinions and demonstrating a positive acceptance towards the values,
beliefs and morals of the other person. Similarly, showing respect to Lucinda can help her feel
engaged. Thus, nurse should endorse the abilities of Lucinda in order make her feel involved and
showing her positive side of life. If Lucinda is getting acceptance on her perceptions or thoughts
then she is more likely to be recovered earlier. Specifically, respecting her feelings and decisions
can make her feel involved and this will also motivate her to take step ahead by forgetting the
past
Further, empowerment can be used for the promotion of mental wellbeing of Lucinda.
Empowerment is concerned with the demonstration of skills, abilities and strengths to the other
person for the purpose of motivating and developing a confidence in the other person. Similarly,
for dealing with the mental condition of Lucinda, it can be noted that empowerment can help her
in realizing her own ability and moving ahead in life with new objective. As Lucinda has been

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bearing hardship in her life and often feels disheartened, showing her empowerment can help in
the analyzing her own strengths and providing her the right path so that she could feel motivated
to fight with the problems and feeling confident for the capabilities that she already has in order
to be dedicated towards the purpose in life. Empowerment is the remedy for exploring purpose
and developing a dedication for the achievement of the goal in life (Ehrmantrout, 2014).
Similarly, empowerment can be recovery factor for Lucinda in finding a hope and meaning in
life in order to be motivated and focused.
For the perspective of mental recovery of an individual, retaining hope can be suitable
practice to be used against the treatment of mental illness. However, hope can help Lucinda to
find purpose in life. Moreover, for her enhanced recovery, family support can help her in
regaining hope and face the difficulties in her life. Also, hope will provide motivational guideline
for Lucinda for developing better future and overcoming the obstacles in her life. Additionally,
giving motivational speeches and showing her the positive side of life will help her in her
recovery process and also providing her the required strength to keep moving forward and
looking back.

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References
American Psyciatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM–5). Retrieved from American Psyciatric Association:
https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/dsm
Asghar-Ali, A., & Boyle, L. (2018). Mental Status Examination. In Psychiatric Disorders Late in
Life (pp. 75-77). Springer.
Calvete, E., Orue, I., & Hankin, B. (2015). A longitudinal test of the vulnerability-stress model
with early maladaptive schemas for depressive and social anxiety symptoms in
adolescents. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 37(1), 85-99.
Caruth, C. (2016). Unclaimed experience: Trauma, narrative, and history. JHU Press.
Cherry, K. (2019, August 27). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) Overview. Retrieved
August 31, 2019, from Verwell Mind: https://www.verywellmind.com/the-diagnostic-
and-statistical-manual-dsm-2795758
Davidson, L. (2016). The recovery movement: Implications for mental health care and enabling
people to participate fully in life. Health Affairs, 35(6), 1091-1097.
Dixon, L. B., Holoshitz, Y., & Nossel, I. (2016). Treatment engagement of individuals
experiencing mental illness: review and update. World Psychiatry, 15(1), 13-20.
doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20306
Ehrmantrout, M. (2014, May 28). Hope - the Foundation of Mental Health Recovery. Retrieved
September 5, 2019, from Healthy Place:
https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/recoveringfrommentalillness/2014/05/hope-the-
foundation-of-mental-health-recovery
Evans, K., Nizette, D., & O'Brien, A. (2016). Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing 4th Edition.
Elsevier.
Fisher, S. (2015). Stress and Strategy. Routledge.

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Janis, I. (2016). Psychological stress: Psychoanalytic and behavioral studies of surgical patients.
Academic Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.in/books?
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+Psychoanalytic+and+behavioral+studies+of+surgical+patients.&ots=SPL4khD285&sig
=Nv1XVSLG_VoNEjXRVvykVoIO-9A#v=onepage&q=Psychological%20stress%3A
%20Psychoanal
Pollard, C. (2018). Fundamentals of the Psychiatric Mental Status Examination: A Workbook.
Canadian Scholars.
Reis, H., Wheeler, L., Spiegel, N., Kernis, M., & Nezlek, J. (2018). Physical attractiveness in
social interaction, II: Why does appearance affect social experience? In Relationships,
Well-Being and Behaviour (pp. 272-299). Routledge. Retrieved from
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780203732496/chapters/10.4324/978020373249
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