Mental Health Medication Samples for Students †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Mental Health Medication. Answer: 1. PRN which refers to pro re nata medications is normally given to patients under dementia care. This medication is being administered to Mr. Lusk because it will help reduce his agitation. Normally patients suffering from dementia have difficulties of expressing themselves hence cannot be able to explain themselves when they are undergoing pain thus this medication helps them to reduce distress and engaging in a violent outburst. In the case of Mr. Lusk who becomes violent when he feels threatened through a persons tone in speech or body language, it will help him avoid this by making him cool down and experience less anxiety (Newcomer, Pikalov, Zheng, Cucchiaro Loebel, 2016). In addition, Mrs. Lusk can effectively communicate with him by speaking slowly and clearly to him in sentences that are short and simple to comprehend. She needs to make an eye contact when talking to him so that he can remain calm as this will help him communicate with ease. She also needs to keep her tone of voice friendly and positive as a way of showing respect and avoiding intimidating him. She can also communicate to him by holding his hand or patting him gently on shoulders to make him feel safe and comfortable when communicating (Katz, Mintzer, Clyde, Napolitano Brecher, 2015). This will eventually help reduce Mr. Lusks agitation. 2. Risperidone is a classification of an atypical antipsychotic drug. The drug is used for the management of psychotic symptoms like dementia. In this case, to relieve Philip from these symptoms, he should be administered 1 mg of risperidone twice as a starting dose. The dosage of the drug should be increased steadily until a dosage of 3 mg twice daily is realized. Depending on the patients response to the drug, a single dosage of 6 mg risperidone can be given once a day. According to Bishara and Harwood (2014), there is no clinical evidence that an increase in the dosage of the drug offers additional benefit but it contributes to the side effects. One of the common side effects of the drug is the decrease in the blood pressure when the patient is standing up a condition known as orthostatic hypotension, this can lead to fainting or dizziness. Another side effect of the drug includes agitation, insomnia, headache, and anxiety. In addition, during the commencement of the treatment, the patient might experience an inability to perform tasks or think clearly in situations that need alertness. Therefore, it is important to observe dosage especially to patients with kidney problems and low blood pressure in order to ease the side effects that relate to the use of the drug (Marder, Davis Chouinard, 2017). References Bishara D. and Harwood D. (2014). Safe prescribing of physical health medication in patients with dementia. International Journal Geriatric Psychiatry, 29, 1230 1241. Katz, I. R., Jeste, D. V., Mintzer, J. E., Clyde, C., Napolitano, J., Brecher, M. (2015). Comparison of risperidone and placebo for psychosis and behavioral disturbances associated with dementia: a randomized, double-blind trial.Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Marder, S. R., Davis, J. M., Chouinard, G. (2017). The effects of risperidone on the five dimensions of schizophrenia derived by factor analysis: combined results of the North American trials.The Journal of clinical psychiatry. Newcomer, J., Tocco, M., Pikalov, A., Zheng, H., Cucchiaro, J., Loebel, A. (2016). Metabolic syndrome in patients with schizophrenia receiving long-term treatment risperidone.European Neuropsychopharmacology,26, S564.