MS is a 26 year old female diagnosed with major depressive disorder, anxiety and type II diabetes mellitus. The chief complaint that led to the current admission was suicidal ideation with a plan. MS stated upon admission that she wanted “everything to end.” MS confirmed having “lot of anxiety” and stress. MS experienced financial, medical, social and work related stressors. MS had purchased a car that did not work well and the replacement did not work either. Her boyfriend had quit his job “leaving her to pay for everything” now she works “too many hours.” She works 60 hours. These stressors contributed to the worsening of her depression and her other chronic co-morbidities.
During admission, MS stated that her diabetes …show more content…
Based on observations MS’s physical appearance could be a sign of negligence, however, more information is needed to see if this is how she routinely appears. The defining characteristics of poor household appearance could not be identified. Information regarding her living environment was not discussed, but should have been elaborated on for a proper assessment of self-neglect.
In addition, MS had multiple life stressors that led up to her admission and self-neglect. MS seemed overwhelmed by the stress. Based on her statement regarding wanting “everything to end,” this statement may infer that MS did not know how to properly cope with her stress. According to Gibbons (2009), major life stressors have been considered to contribute or precede self-neglecting behaviors.
In regards to intentional or non-intentional self-neglect, MS primarily demonstrated non-intentional self-neglect. MS’s self-neglect is considered unintentional due to her psychiatric disorder of major depression as well as her chronic condition of diabetes mellitus and major life stressors. Some may argue that MS recognizing her diabetes was out of control yet failed to seek medical attention could have been a choice inferring it is intentional. However, her psychiatric disorder impairs her judgment and decision making ability (Varcarolis & Halter,