Understanding Depression as a Caregiver

What Should We As Caregivers Understand About Depression?

Depression is when one feels sad or irritable with certain symptoms being present daily for a minimum of 2 consecutive weeks.  These symptoms can be depressed mood, sleeping too little or too much, weight gain or weight loss, low energy or fatigue, feelings of guilt, poor concentration, loss of pleasure in activities that were once found pleasurable, agitation, and thoughts of death or suicide.

What effects can depression have on a patient short term and long term?

The short term effects of depression can affect both the mind and body.  There can be changes in weight, appetite, sleep, and concentration.  Depression can affect one at work due to lack of concentration.  Depression can also affect personal relationships because there are feelings of guilt and loss off pleasure in previous activities that one enjoyed.  The long term effects of depression can be death from suicide that’s why it is very early to catch it and treat it early on.

Best practices for treating depression?

The best treatment depends on the individual and how severe the depression is.  The mainstay is usually antidepressants which usually take a few weeks to work and are very effective.  There are different classes of these medications and there is no one standard treatment.  Counseling is another effective tool in treatment and when used in combination with medications it can have a great outcome.  For refractory depression that does not respond to counseling and medication there is also ECT which is electroconvulsive therapy.  These matters should all be handled by the appropriate healthcare professional such as a Psychiatrist.

What to be prepared for when dealing with a patient with depression?

The patient with depression may have a hard time communicating his or her feelings.  They may feel embarrassed or ashamed and may be difficult to deal with because they may be very irritable instead of sad.  It is best to be very understanding and nonjudgmental of patients dealing with depression.  Being supportive and opening the lines of communication can be very helpful.  Also making sure the patient is not severely depressed and suicidal is crucial to prevent death or a suicide attempt.

Best practices for making the depressed patient as comfortable as possible

The best way to make the depressed patient as comfortable as possible is to keep the lines of communication open.  Making sure the patient is receiving the proper counseling can help comfort the patient and help get him or her slowly out of depression.

Checklist for patient safety and comfort for depression sufferers-

• Make sure there is nothing in the patient’s room that the patient can use to harm themselves
• Make sure the patient is eating appropriately
• Make sure the patient is sleeping appropriately
• Make sure the patient has visited a physician and had appropriate lab work drawn that can contribute to feelings of depression such as thyroid, B12, Folate, Liver function tests, etc.
• Review the medications the patient is on and check for medication side effects
• Monitor the patient’s alcohol use because alcohol is a depressant and can be causing or making the depression worse
• Make sure the patient is receiving the appropriate medication for depression and is being compliant
• Make sure the patient is receiving the appropriate counseling