Answer to Question 1
How many hours is she sleeping at night?
Are her thoughts racing?
What kinds of activities is she involved in?
Have other people made any comments about her behavior?
Obtain collaborating information from S.T.'s husband. Be cautious about violating the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA); you can obtain information from the
husband only if he is present during the interview or if you receive the patient's permission to talk
to her husband regarding her care. Check your facility policy, state laws, health advocacy laws,
power of attorney laws, and durable power of attorney laws.
Assess body language, eye movements, and nonverbal communication.
Have her keep a 24-hour food diary.
Inflated self-esteem or delusions of grandeur (belief that the individual has special powers or
abilities)
Decreased need for sleep
More talkative than usual
Pressure to keep talking
Flight of ideas or reported racing thoughts
Distractibility
Increase in goal-directed activity
Agitation, excessive moodiness, or irritability
Excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high potential for painful consequences
(impulsive or reckless behavior)
Mania symptoms cause significant impairment in social or occupational functioning. Symptoms
last at least 1 week. Patients experiencing mania might require hospitalization to protect the
patients from harm to themselves or others.
Hypomanic symptoms do not cause significant impairment in social or occupational functioning
or include psychosis, but are associated with a change in behavior that is uncharacteristic
of that person and is observable to others. Symptoms last at least 4 days but do not require
hospitalization.
Answer to Question 2
As the medication starts to work and the depression lessens, the patient's energy level improves and
the suicide potential increases. It is important to monitor him closely during this time. She needs
to check on him (watch his mood, level of interest, appearance, behavior, and speech pattern) and
ensure that he keeps his therapy appointments. He needs to continue to take the medication on a
regular schedule and not stop taking it abruptly. If he has problems with the medication's adverse
effects, the medication dose will need to be tapered down before being discontinued. This needs to
be done under the supervision of a health care provider; it must not be performed without notifying
the provider.