Treatment Plan for Depression

Treatment plan

Introduction

Coping with depression has a lot more meaning than just finding the right medication. Since depression can be as a result of social, emotional and physical problems, a treatment that will be considered complete will have to take all these causes into account. Two people with depression are not the same in terms of the way they react to it. What works well for one person may not work well for the other. The best treatment plan involves lifestyle changes, self help and professional help. Depression may be resulted by chemical imbalance in one's brain called neurotransmitters. If someone's depression has a medical cause, there are numerous reasons why a health doctor is the right expert to help them overcome depression. For instance in this case, the patient is experiencing anxiety and depression as a result of an accident that made him loose his daughter. Apart from that he is also experiencing severe headaches which could be as a result of the accident.

Description of the treatment

The treatment plan that I would propose for this client is a treatment plan that involves medication, exercise and psychotherapy. Medicines will help control the symptoms of depression but the client also needs to come up with ways that will help him cope with his depression. Psychotherapy will also help manage his depression. Research has shown that a combination of psychotherapy and medicines is the most effective treatment for depression (American psychological association, 2010). Exercising has been shown to help relieve stress and helps one to relax. The medication will involve administering of antidepressants. Antidepressants will take a period of two to four weeks to start having an effect on the client and about six to twelve weeks for them to have a full effect on him.

Psychotherapy will also be important for this client as Psychological stress has also been known in many cases to be a contributor of depression. Mr. McCune has experienced stressful events in his life of relationship problems, loss of a loved one and a severe accident. These contribute to psychological stress which can prompt a severe depression. The client will be under a therapist who could be a psychologist, psychiatrist, or other psychological health professional who will help him with conquer his depression. The treatment plan will also involve the client carrying out regular physical activity as it is a big way to keep on fit and battle depression. He should look out activities that he enjoys and that he can share with others. He should also give himself consent to take time for leisure. He should Learn and apply relaxation strategies often. He can also relax by just creating time to do things he enjoys.

How the treatment plan will be presented to the client

The treatment plan should be presented gradually to the client in order to avoid overwhelming him which could lead to him becoming more depressed. It is important to first meet with the client and discuss the treatment plan with him so that he will be having an idea of what is expected of him at what time. This familiarization of the plan with the client prior to its implementation will go a long way in effecting his recovery. First, the treatment of the depression and any other disease will be carried out in order to ensure there is no underlying cause to his depression as depression may be resulted or worsened by other diseases. Other medications that a patient may be taking may also bear side effects that operate like depression. Before moving on to any treatment depression of Mr. McCune's, he needs a good