NURS 6521 – Pathophysiology of Depression

NURS 6521 – Pathophysiology of Depression

NURS 6521 – Pathophysiology of Depression

Depression is considered to be one of the most common mental disorders in the United States with an estimated 6.7% off all US adults and 12.8% of adolescents having at least one occurrence of depression in the last year with that number expected to increase with each coming year (National Institute of Mental Health, 2017). Advanced practice nurses must be able to recognize the signs of depression in their patients and understand how to select the most appropriate drug for them to use for treating each patient since there are so many different options on the market today for treating depression.

Although the pathophysiology of depression is not fully understood, the majority of theories focus on a deficiency or dysfunction of the neurotransmitters serotonin, norepinephrine, or both (Arcangelo, Peterson, Wilbur, & Reinhold, 2017). Multiple scales and diagnostic criteria are available for nurse practitioners to utilize in order to help with the diagnosis of depression in patients such as the DSM-5, the Hamilton Depression Scale, and the Beck Depression Inventory (Arcangelo et al., 2017).

The nurse practitioner must also investigate where the depression is coming from and then use this information along with the severity of the depression to determine the best treatment plan for the patient. When patients are started on a new drug therapy it is essential that they are monitored closely for side effects and proper drug adherence. …

NURS 6521 – Pathophysiology of Depression

Assignment Details

For this Assignment, you are going to write a paper explaining how you developed your theory through the four stages (theorizing, syntax, theory testing, and evaluation). Your paper must be 3 to 5 pages, not including the title and reference pages.

To view the Grading Rubric for this Assignment, please visit the Grading Rubrics section of the Course Resources.

Assignment Requirements

Before finalizing your work, you should:

• Minimum requirement of at least 5 sources of support
• be sure to read the Assignment description carefully (as displayed above);
• consult the Grading Rubric (under the Course Resources) to make sure you have included everything necessary; and
• utilize spelling and grammar check to minimize errors.