16yo Girl Experiences Anxiety, Fear, Excessive Guilt, Sleepiness, Eating Changes - Free Essay

The patient was a 16-year-old girl who complained of anxiety, unfounded fear, and a continued feeling of guilt. The patient also complained of feelings of excessive feelings of guilt and regret for things that they did not feel they deserved to feel guilty of. Upon inquiry, they explained that they had been experiencing excessive sleepiness than usual, a change in their eating patterns and habits, whereby they would eat excessively in some instances and, in other times, experience a drastic drop in their appetite levels. Additionally, the patient admitted to negative behavioral changes, with the use of drugs and alcohol, and the inclination towards risky behaviors being among the changes that they had experienced. The changes experienced to show the existence of depression in the girl, with the most probable reason behind the symptoms displayed being the existence of the bodily, mental, and emotional changes due to the adolescence that they were undergoing (Kieling et al., 2019). Additionally, the patient had a family history of bipolar disease, and this may have also played a role in the symptoms of depression seen in the patient.

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Depression in adolescents is brought forth by the existence of the changes in their bodily, mental, and emotional status, which in turn causes them to undergo depression because of their inability to explain the feelings that they are experiencing and the lack of a way through which they can express themselves. Additionally, depression may emanate from the existence of pressure from their academics, family life, and social life (Twenge, 2020). Adolescents have to keep up with the demands of the different changes they experience in their lives, and they may suffer from anxiety because of their inability to keep up with the demands of the different sides of their lives. Additionally, the hormonal changes in the adolescents also play a role in the existence of the symptoms of depression, since these are new feelings that they are experiencing and they, therefore, feel anxious and confused over the feelings that they are experiencing. In the case of the patient in question, there is also the possibility of them experiencing depression as a result of having inherited the condition from either of their parents who had the genes which lead to bipolar disease.

Environmental stress may have also played a role in the depression, with the areas where the patient lives playing a role in the development of the depression. For example, the conditions at home may play a role in the development of depression, with hostile situations and the lack of love at home, mostly playing a role in the development of depression (Kwong et al., 2019). Additionally, the patient may also have developed depression and other mental health complications from the existence of excessive pressure to perform and keep up with their peers on the different circles of interaction that they interact in, also leading to the possibility of depression developing in the teenage patient.

There are legal and ethical situations that I was faced with when dealing with the teenage patient. First, the basic requirements of ethics and legality of counseling had to be fulfilled. The identity of my patient had to be protected at all times, hence creating a feeling of safety and protection in the patient at all times. When patients feel that the information they provide is safe, they will be likelier to open up to the counselor compared to if they feel that the information they divulge may be used to stigmatize them. Additionally, they may also feel the need to withhold information if they feel that providing the information will lead to them being victimized by the different people whom they interact with daily (Cerkez et al., 2018). Additionally, the patients must have the legal, informed consent of an adult in charge of them or a court of law to attend the counseling session since, without it, the sessions would violate the need for the provision of informed consent, and this may result in me being sued for inappropriate conduct in my workplace. There is a legal condition that obligates me to inform the relevant authorities of the possibility of the patient posing a threat to themselves or others on account of their mental conditions.

The duty to warn clause in counseling requires that any counselor who feels that their patient poses an imminent threat to the people around them or themselves, then the counselor must report the issues to the people concerned so that the possibility of harm befalling the patient may be averted. When this happens, then the patient’s life and those who may have been affected by their actions too will be saved (Cerkez et al., 2018). There is also a need for me to keep a professional distance between the patient and me so that I do not get too involved with the patient and lose objectivity of the role that I have to play in the patient’s journey to wellbeing. Losing objectivity through not keeping a professional distance may result in the patient influencing my decision-making capabilities, hence making me unprofessional and incapable of performing my duties effectively.

References

Çerkez, Y., Manyeruke, G., Oduwaye, O., & Shimave, S. (2018). Ethical issues in counseling: a trend analysis. Quality & Quantity, 52(1), 223-233.

Kieling, C., Adewuya, A., Fisher, H. L., Karmacharya, R., Kohrt, B. A., Swartz, J. R., & Mondelli, V. (2019). Identifying depression early in adolescence. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 3(4), 211-213.

Kwong, A. S., López-López, J. A., Hammerton, G., Manley, D., Timpson, N. J., Leckie, G., & Pearson, R. M. (2019). Genetic and Environmental Risk Factors Associated With Trajectories of Depression Symptoms From Adolescence to Young Adulthood. JAMA Network Open, 2(6), e196587-e196587.

Twenge, J. M. (2020). Why increases in adolescent depression may be linked to the technological environment. Current opinion in psychology, 32, 89-94.