Assessing and Treating Clients With Psychosis and Schizophrenia
Walden University
NURS -6630, Psychopharmacologic Approaches to Treatment of Psychopathology
January , 2020
Introduction
Psychosis according to National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH]
(2016), is used to describe conditions that affect the mind, where the
individual has some loss of contact with reality. Psychosis is a symptom, not
an illness, and in the U.S., approximately 100,000 young people experience
psychosis each year.A person who is in a psychotic episode may experience
depression, anxiety, sleep problems, social withdrawal, lack of motivation,
and difficulty functioning overall (NIMH, 2016).Psychosis includes a range of
symptoms but typically involves one of these two, hallucinations and
delusions and treatment may involvepsychotherapy and medication.
Psychosis also can be related to several mental health conditions such as
, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and substance
abuse (National Alliance on Mental Illness [NAMI], 2019). Schizophrenia is a
serious mental illness that affectsa person’s ability to think clearly, manage
emotions, make decisions and relate to others; hence, it is a complex, long-
term medical illness, affecting about 1% of Americans (NAMI, 2019).
In the case study for this assignment, a 34-year-old woman from
Pakistan presents with a diagnosis of “brief psychotic disorder” following 21
days of hospitalization. After a week of taking the medication Risperdal
prescribed to her, she reports to have stopped because of her delusional
thinking that her husband is going to poison her. The client has been
experiencing delusional and paranoid thoughts such as having visions of
Allah, believing she was Prophet Mohammad, and that she would deliver the
world from sin (Laureate Education, 2016j). The Positive and Negative
Syndrome Scale (PANSS) is administered to the client and her scores reveals
a diagnosis of schizophrenia, paranoid type (Laureate Education, 2016j).
PANSS is a standardized, clinical interview that rates the presence and
severity of positive and negative symptoms, as well as general
psychopathology for people with schizophrenia (Depp, Loughran, Vahia, &
Molinari, 2010). The purpose of this paper is to show how to assess and treat clients requiring
antipsychotic therapy based on the decision concerning the medication to prescribe to a 34-
year-old woman from Pakistan with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, influence of
pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic, and including ethical considerations might impact the
treatment plan and communication with clients.
Walden University
NURS -6630, Psychopharmacologic Approaches to Treatment of Psychopathology
January , 2020
Introduction
Psychosis according to National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH]
(2016), is used to describe conditions that affect the mind, where the
individual has some loss of contact with reality. Psychosis is a symptom, not
an illness, and in the U.S., approximately 100,000 young people experience
psychosis each year.A person who is in a psychotic episode may experience
depression, anxiety, sleep problems, social withdrawal, lack of motivation,
and difficulty functioning overall (NIMH, 2016).Psychosis includes a range of
symptoms but typically involves one of these two, hallucinations and
delusions and treatment may involvepsychotherapy and medication.
Psychosis also can be related to several mental health conditions such as
, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and substance
abuse (National Alliance on Mental Illness [NAMI], 2019). Schizophrenia is a
serious mental illness that affectsa person’s ability to think clearly, manage
emotions, make decisions and relate to others; hence, it is a complex, long-
term medical illness, affecting about 1% of Americans (NAMI, 2019).
In the case study for this assignment, a 34-year-old woman from
Pakistan presents with a diagnosis of “brief psychotic disorder” following 21
days of hospitalization. After a week of taking the medication Risperdal
prescribed to her, she reports to have stopped because of her delusional
thinking that her husband is going to poison her. The client has been
experiencing delusional and paranoid thoughts such as having visions of
Allah, believing she was Prophet Mohammad, and that she would deliver the
world from sin (Laureate Education, 2016j). The Positive and Negative
Syndrome Scale (PANSS) is administered to the client and her scores reveals
a diagnosis of schizophrenia, paranoid type (Laureate Education, 2016j).
PANSS is a standardized, clinical interview that rates the presence and
severity of positive and negative symptoms, as well as general
psychopathology for people with schizophrenia (Depp, Loughran, Vahia, &
Molinari, 2010). The purpose of this paper is to show how to assess and treat clients requiring
antipsychotic therapy based on the decision concerning the medication to prescribe to a 34-
year-old woman from Pakistan with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, influence of
pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic, and including ethical considerations might impact the
treatment plan and communication with clients.
