Bipolar Disorder and Anticonvulsant/Mood Stabilizing Medications
For this Discussion, review the Learning Resources. Create a case study of a client with the selected disorder. Include the client’s age, gender, major presenting factors (including losses and symptom manifestation), when symptoms emerged, and any other pertinent information.
Consider possible medical treatments that a psychiatrist might prescribe for the hypothetical client and the role of the counselor in these treatment cases. Be creative in your description, but also be as realistic as possible. Use the DSM-5 and your other texts to construct the background story for your hypothetical client’s presentation.
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Preston, J. D., O’Neal, J. H., & Talaga, M. C. (2017). Handbook of clinical psychopharmacology for therapists (8th ed.). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.
Lichtblau, L. (2011). Psychopharmacology demystified. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar, Cengage Learning.
National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.) Bipolar disorder among adults. Retrieved September 4, 2012, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder-in-adults/index.shtml?rf=
Preston, J., & Johnson, J. (2011). Clinical psychopharmacology made ridiculously simple (7th ed.).Miami, FL: MedMaster, Inc.
Bipolar Disorder and Anticonvulsant Bipolar I disorder
The client is a 24year old Caucasian female named Gina, which her symptoms point to depression. She has been feeling guilty, difficulty remembering, fatigue, sleep disturbance and weight gain. She finds herself lying awake at night, unable to sleep and worrying about everything. Her main worry stems from losing her job and afraid of how she will take care of her family since the loss of her husband. She worries her children will see her as weak and a problem due to not keeping a job and raising them alone. During the first appointment and intake interview, she noted that she never feels like herself. She finds herself crying and feeling down. She misses her husband, and everything was better and together when he was alive. She admitted to wanting to run away from everything and just hide, however she knows deep down she cannot because she is all the children have. Gina realizes and understands how her life is currently being affected in many ways and needs help to learn how to cope with it all.
The role of the counselors is to supply the emotional and lifestyle keys to help the client/s manage and decrease their mood changes. Finding the right medication for her will take some trial and error. If one does not work well for her at first, then there are others we can try. The first thing Gina will need to realize is that being diagnosed with Bipolar means this is not a quick fix and requires lifelong treatment. Starting medication at once will help balance her moods. Gina does not need to be hospitalized at this time. She will receive help from the day treatment programs where she will have the support needed to get the symptoms under control. I would like to start the medication lithium as it is the most effective in preventing bipolar episodes. However, to help manage and control the depression starting a low dose of Lexapro as it has minimal interaction with other medications.
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