Discussion: Adult Psychiatric Disorders

Discussion: Adult Psychiatric Disorders

Week 6 discussion This week’s content discussed common psychiatric disorders in the Adult and Older Adult client. Often times a secondary diagnosis is masked due to their psychiatric disorder. Review the following case study and answer the following questions. Mr. White is a 72-year-old man, with a history of hypertension, COPD and moderate dementia, who presents with 4 days of increased confusion, nighttime restlessness, visual hallucinations, and urinary incontinence. His physical exam is unremarkable except for tachypnea, a mildly enlarged prostate, inattentiveness, and a worsening of his MMSE score from a baseline of 18 to 12 today. Mr. White’s presentation is most consistent with an acute delirium (acute change in cognition, perceptual derangement, waxing and waning consciousness, and inattention). What is the most likely diagnosis to frequently cause acute delirium in patients with dementia? What additional testing should you consider if any? What are treatment options to consider with this patient? Submission Details: Post your response to the Discussion Area by the due date assigned. Respond to at least two posts by the end of the week.
Mental disorders are characterized by problems that people experience with their mind (thoughts) and their mood (feelings). They are not well understood in terms of their causes, but the symptoms of mental illness are scientifically valid and well known. Treatment — usually involving both psychotherapy and medication — for most types of mental illness and mental health concerns is readily available and, eventually, effective for most people.

The diagnostic criteria for mental disorders (also known as “mental illness”) are composed of symptom checklists that primarily are focused on a person’s behaviors and thoughts. These lists of symptoms have been summarized from current diagnostic criteria commonly used in the United States by mental health professionals (the ). We’ve divided the disorders into three broad categories below: , , and  disorders; some disorders may fall under more than one category.

These disorder lists are in the process of being updated to reflect the changes from the latest edition of the diagnosis manual, the DSM-5.