Write about a situation that you felt you handled well.

Write about a situation that you felt you handled well. What did you do? Provide
justification and reasoning for your actions. This commentary should include reference to
relevant course content or research.
Below is an example of what I am looking for. instead of using bipolar, you can depression

During the week, I encountered a patient with bipolar disorder. This was a 16-year old African
American male who was brought to the facility exhibiting several symptoms of bipolar disorder.
The first major symptom, as narrated by the patent’s parents was lack of concentration which had
caused a significant decline in his school performance. The patient also had a short temper,
which, according to his parents, was negatively affecting his relationship with friends and family.
Moreover, the patient exhibited other signs of bipolar disorder, including insomnia, impulsive
and risky behaviours, and some depressive episodes. For these reasons, it was important to put
the patient under the right treatment and medications to alleviate his condition and return him
back to his normal happy life.
Diagnosis is one of the important things that I believe I performed well in this particular case. As
stated by Mayo Clinic (2019), ‘it may be more challenging for a doctor to diagnose bipolar
disorder in teens than in adults, and this process may take some time.” Given that there aren’t
blood tests or brain scans that could be used in confirming bipolar disorder, I began by first
asking the patient ad his parents about the medical history before progressing to asking him to
describe his feelings and moods. From his medical history, it was established that bipolar runs in
the patient’s family with two of his siblings and cousins suffering the same. Research has
established that individuals with relatives in the nuclear family with bipolar disorder are usually
at a higher risk of for the same. The next step of my diagnoses was mental health evaluation, and it involved asking the patient to
describe his moods, feelings and emotions. This included questions such as: how the bipolar
symptoms had occurred, how they have disrupted his life, his treatment goals, among others.
In order to be exact with my diagnosis, I employed the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders (DSM) to obtain a technical as well as a detailed description of bipolar
disorder. The reason why I believe I performed well in the diagnosis is that I followed all the
established guidelines for diagnosing bipolar disorder, including mental health evaluation and
DSM criteria.
The second thing that I believe I performed well is treatment. While there is no known cure for
bipolar disorder, research has developed new strategies for patients to manage their symptoms
through a combination of medications, therapy as well as lifestyle changes. For this particular
patient, prescribed Aripiprazole (Abilify, Abilify Discmelt) (2 mg once daily can be increased to
5 mg. This is an atypical antipsychotic medication that has been approved for the treatment of a
number of disorders, including bipolar disorder (Medscape 2019). In order to increase the
effectiveness of the treatment, I coupled the medications with cognitive behavioural therapy
(CBT). According to America Psychological Association (2019) “psychotherapy is more
effective than medications, and that adding medications does not significantly improve outcomes
from psychotherapy alone.” Also, I prescribed day treatment programs to help provide the
patient with support and counselling as part of the strategies to manage bipolar disorder

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