Mood and Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents

School and going out with my friends used to be fun, but not anymore. Mom keeps telling me just to go out and have fun, but I don’t see the point of trying. All my friends are better than I am. I keep having these headaches and just feel worthless. I used to get As and Bs in school, but not anymore. I can’t concentrate at school. I would rather be at home sleeping.
—Madison, age 16
Mood and anxiety disorders can be particularly challenging to address in childhood and adolescence for many reasons. Children may not be able to fully express or understand their feelings and behaviors. Parents may misattribute or not recognize signs and symptoms. The symptoms of disorders also vary when present in children as opposed to adults. The PMHNP needs to know how to diagnose these conditions and must understand the importance of integrating medication management strategies with both individual and family therapy to optimize treatment outcomes.
Assignment: Patient Education for Children and Adolescents
Patient education is an effective tool in supporting compliance and treatment for a diagnosis. It is important to consider effective ways to educate patients and their families about a diagnosis—such as coaching, brochures, or videos—and to recognize that the efficacy of any materials may differ based on the needs and learning preferences of a particular patient. Because patients or their families may be overwhelmed with a new diagnosis, it is important that materials provided by the practitioner clearly outline the information that patients need to know.

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For this Assignment, you will pretend that you are a contributing writer to a health blog. You are tasked with explaining important information about an assigned mental health disorder in language appropriate for child/adolescent patients and/or their caregivers.
To Prepare
• Please complete your assignment Bipolar Disorder Depressed
• Research signs and symptoms for your diagnosis, pharmacological treatments, nonpharmacological treatments, and appropriate community resources and referrals.
The Assignment
In a 300- to 500-word blog post written for a patient and/or caregiver audience, explain signs and symptoms for your diagnosis, pharmacological treatments, nonpharmacological treatments, and appropriate community resources and referrals.