Assessment of Depression

Assessment of Depression

Assessment of Depression

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Although there has recently been a deluge of media highlighting various prescription drugs for treatment of depression and anxiety, there remains a lack of understanding about mental health, in general. Further, stigma often is attached to seeking professional help for mental health issues.

Depression is a disorder that people often do not realize they are experiencing. The symptoms of depression can vary from person to person (i.e., weight gain vs. weight loss, loss of sleep vs. increased sleep), which can also make it difficult to diagnose. Many people experience times of sadness, including waking up feeling down for no apparent reason. These feelings are not unusual and come with the ups and downs of life.

As a professional, understanding the criteria for depression and comorbid diseases is part of a comprehensive assessment. Depression and anxiety can precede other mental health and physical issues and can also be a result of those issues. Clarifying the progression of the presenting problem will enable you to establish a well-informed treatment plan and intervention.

For this Discussion, review the course-specific case study for Miranda in this week’s resources. As you review and analyze this case, remind yourself of the need for a comprehensive assessment that does not focus on the perceived deficits. You will read and then consider the responses of the professionals involved in the case. While reviewing their varied responses, consider their possible biases and how they have chosen to focus on the presenting problem and the client’s situation.

· Post the depression scale you located, summarize how it is used, and describe the target population. 

· Describe how you might apply this assessment to the course-specific case study of Miranda and include any additional questions you would ask Miranda to assess her level of depression. 

· Then, identify the red flags that might cause concern and/or indicate significant depression. 

· Finally, identify a scale that can be used to assess risk for suicide.

References (use 2 or more)

Congress, E. (2013). Assessment of adults. In M. Holosko, C. Dulmus, & K. Sowers (Eds.), Social work practice with individuals and families: Evidence-informed assessments and interventions (pp. 125–145). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Cowger, C. D. (1994). Assessing client strengths: Clinical assessment for client empowerment. Social Work, 39(3), 262–268.

Mental Measurements Yearbook. (n.d.). Lincoln, NE: Buros Institute of Mental Measurements.

Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen, S. M. (Eds.). (2014b). Social work case studies: Concentration year. Baltimore, MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader].

· Mental Health Diagnosis in Social Work: The Case of Miranda (pp. 7–9)

Note: Depending on your concentration, you may not receive a case study book until a later term. Therefore, if you did not receive a copy of Social Work Case Studies: Concentration Year in your previous course, use the linked PDF provided here. If you did receive the book referenced above, you may find the cases there or use the PDF.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

Assessment of Depression

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

Assessment of Depression