Mental Health Assessment Essay

Words: 2690
Pages: 11

Assessment Questions
Some questions I would ask Mary during my assessment are:
1. “Have you now or in the past ever taken any medication for depression, anxiety, or other mental disorders?” This would set a baseline for her as far as what meds have worked and which haven’t, as well as find out if she had any type of adverse reactions or side effects to any medications in the past. We would be able to narrow down the right drugs to prescribe that will have the best therapeutic effects to help her diagnosis. We also want to know if she’s still taking any medications that may cause a drug-drug reaction with the new medications prescribed.
2. “Have you had any thoughts of harming yourself (suicide) or harming others?” We want to make sure Mary
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The first and foremost intervention is to establish trust with Mary. Trust helps clients explore new ways of coping and produce a rapport so they are more likely to open up about his/her feelings and anxieties. Interventions must ensure the safety of the patient, as well as others, so I would try to get Mary to sign a contract to refrain from hurting herself and others for the duration of her therapy. Another intervention would be to help Mary identify areas of strength and limitations in social interactions. She has been fearful about going out and decreased her social activities not only for her, but her kids, so this intervention would be a positive reinforcement that encourages appropriate actions. The first step in changing behaviors is identifying them. Giving positive feedback for attempts to reduce her fear, depression, and anxiety in certain situations and discussions will also give her motivation that she may need that she is on the right track to success. One small success builds on another when recognized. We would also want to monitor for therapeutic response, as well as adverse reactions/side effects of the Paxil (paroxetine). This drug has several severe side effects that can be harmful and disturbing for Mary, so we want to monitor her and emphasize the important of her follow-up exams (1,