Assessing and Treating Pediatric Patients With Mood Disorders

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Week 4: Therapy for Patients With Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

Mood disorders can impact every facet of a human being’s life, making the most basic activities difficult for patients and their families. This was the case for 13-year-old Jeanette, who was struggling at home and at school. For more than 8 years, Jeanette suffered from temper tantrums, impulsiveness, inappropriate behavior, difficulty in judgment, and sleep issues. As a PNP working with pediatric patients, you must be able to assess whether these symptoms are caused by psychological, social, or underlying growth and development issues. You must then be able recommend appropriate therapies. This week, as you examine antidepressant therapies, you explore the assessment and treatment of three populations: pediatrics, adults, and geriatrics. The focus of your assessment tool, a decision tree, will specifically center on one of the most vulnerable populations, pediatrics. Please remember, you must also consider the ethical and legal implications of these therapies. You will also complete a Quiz on the concepts addressed throughout this module. Learning Objectives Students will:

• Assess patient factors and history to develop personalized plans of antidepressant therapy across the lifespan

• Analyze factors that influence pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes in pediatric, adult, and geriatric patients requiring antidepressant therapy