Nursing Care for Patients with Depressive and Eating Disorders

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering key definitions, theories, clinical criteria, diagnostic tools, and nursing interventions for depressive disorders, suicide risk assessment, and eating disorders.

Mood

A pervasive and sustained emotion that influences one's perception of the world and how one functions.

Affect

The outward emotional expression that provides clues to a person's underlying mood.

Depression

A common mental state characterized by sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy, and poor concentration.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

A mood disorder diagnosed when one or more depressed moods persist for at least $2$\,weeks accompanied by at least $4$ of $7$ key additional symptoms, such as sleep disruption, appetite changes, or suicidal ideation.

Monoamine Hypothesis

A biological theory proposing that major depressive disorder is caused by decreased brain levels of norepinephrine and serotonin.

Beck's Cognitive Model

A psychological model of depression centered on a triad of negative thoughts about oneself, one's world, and one's future, alongside distorted information processing.

Acute Phase of MDD

The initial treatment phase lasting $6$\,to\,$12$\,weeks focused on reducing severe depressive manifestations, assessing suicide risk, and implementing safety precautions.

Continuation Phase of MDD

The treatment phase lasting $4$\,to\,$9$\,months aimed at relapse prevention through client education, medication adherence, and psychotherapy as functional ability improves.

Maintenance Phase of MDD

The ongoing phase of depression care focused on preventing future depressive episodes during symptom remission, which can last for years.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

A form of depression triggered by seasonal changes and lack of sunlight, primarily treated with light therapy using a $10{,}000\text{-lux}$ box for $30$\,minutes daily to inhibit nocturnal melatonin secretion.

Postpartum Depression

A major depressive episode beginning within $4$\,weeks of childbirth that may include psychotic delusions putting the newborn at risk of harm.

Persistent Depressive Disorder (Dysthymia)

A chronic depressed mood lasting most of the day for at least $2$\,years in adults (at least $1$\,year in children/adolescents), during which the patient is not symptom-free for more than $2$\,months at a time.

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD)

A severe form of PMS affecting $3\text{--}8\%$ of women, characterized by severe premenstrual mood disturbance, irritability, or mood reactivity occurring $1\text{--}2$\,weeks before period onset.

Substance-Induced Depressive Disorder

Depressive symptoms identical to major depressive disorder that occur as a direct result of drug abuse, medication, or toxin exposure.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

A psychotherapeutic approach that helps patients identify and change negative behavior and thought patterns.

Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)

A psychotherapeutic approach encouraging patients to focus on personal relationships that contribute to their depressive disorder.

Tyramine Diet Restriction

A dietary instruction for patients on MAOIs to prevent hypertensive crisis by avoiding high-tyramine foods such as ripe avocados, figs, fermented/smoked meats, liver, most cheeses, and certain beers and wines.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

A non-sedating electromagnetic brain stimulation procedure for mild treatment-resistant depression consisting of $20\text{--}30$\,sessions lasting $37$\,minutes each over $4\text{--}6$\,weeks.

IS PATH WARM

A mnemonic tool for suicide case finding representing Ideation, Substance abuse, Purposelessness, Anxiety, Trapped, Hopelessness, Withdrawal, Anger, Recklessness, and Mood change.

SADPERSONS Scale

A clinical assessment tool that scores suicide risk based on ten factors: Sex (male), Age (

Interpersonal Psychological Theory of Suicidal Behavior (IPTS)

An ideation-to-action suicide theory proposing that suicide attempts occur when a person experiences thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and acquired capability.

Three-Step Theory (3ST)

An ideation-to-action suicide model outlining three progression steps: (1) emotional pain, (2) thoughts of suicide, and (3) actual attempt.

Primary Suicide Interventions

Nursing interventions focusing on suicide prevention through community education and screenings to identify individuals at risk.

Secondary Suicide Interventions

Nursing interventions focusing on suicide prevention and safety precautions for an individual client experiencing an acute suicidal crisis.

Tertiary Suicide Interventions

Nursing interventions focusing on providing support and assistance to the survivors of a client who completed suicide.

PICA

An eating disorder characterized by the persistent eating of nonnutritive, nonfood substances.

Rumination Disorder

An eating disorder characterized by the repeated regurgitation of food.

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder

An eating disorder characterized by food avoidance or a persistent lack of interest in eating food.

Anorexia Nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by intake restriction leading to significantly low body weight, intense fear of gaining weight, and distorted body image.

Refeeding

The protocol of re-establishing nutritional balance in severe starvation, starting with a low-calorie diet ($1500$\,calories) and advancing to at least $3500$\,calories per day to restore somatic stability.

Bulimia Nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating and compensatory behaviors (purging or non-purging) occurring at least once a week for $3$\,months.

Binge-Eating Disorder (BED)

An eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of consuming large amounts of food in a short time with a sense of lost control and distress, without compensatory purging behaviors.

Purging Disorder

An eating disorder characterized by diet restriction and purging after eating normal meals without binge episodes, driven by an intense fear of weight gain.

Night Eating Syndrome

A condition characterized by excessive food consumption after the evening meal or upon awakening from sleep, accompanied by awareness, distress, sleep fragmentation, and morning anorexia.