General Nursing©

DEPRESSION

In a patient with depression, nurses should provide him with structured routine, including noncompetitive activities to build his self-confidence. He should be asked if he thinks of death or suicide. Such thoughts signal an immediate need for consultation and assessment. Before each ECT treatment, he should be given a sedative, and insert a nasal or oral airway. Vital signs are regularly monitored. After ECT therapy, he maybe drowsy and have transient amnesia, but he should be alert with a good memory, within 30 minutes (or, at latest, five to eight hours).

Depression is a common psychiatric disorder characterized by intense feelings of sadness, pessimism, and an overall loss of interest in life. Practically all people go through periods of depression of a normal reaction to an unhappy event (e.g., death of a family member or close friends, loss of a job.) But such phases do not necessarily constitute a mental illness. The problem arises when the depression drags on an on, deepens or sets in for no apparent reasons, and the person is unable to get over the condition by himself.

Symptoms:

Mild depression

• Anxiety.
• Varying moods that occur without any apparent cause (e.g., crying spells).

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