Running Head: DEPRESSION WITH PSYCHOTIC FEATURES 1
SOAP Note: 48-year-old Hispanic Female with Depression with Psychotic Features
Roxana Orta
Florida Atlantic University
DEPRESSION WITH PSYCHOTIC FEATURES 2
SOAP Note: 48-year-old Hispanic Female with Depression with Psychotic Features
IDENTIFYING DATA
MM is a 48-year-old, divorced, a Hispanic female who was brought to the clinic by her son after
been discharge two days ago from a crisis unit after an episode of psychosis.
CHIEF COMPLAINT
“Feeling that the FBI is following me, and my parents want to poison me.”
FAMILY HISTORY
Patient reports that her 67-year-old mother was born in Cuba, she emigrated to the United States
a year ago with her father. Her mother completed high school, and is not currently working; she
does not speak English and relies solely on the patient’s income for support. Mother does have a
history of hypertension and rheumatoid arthritis, also reports a history of depression, which the
patient’s called “un Estado de nervios.” Patient’s 69-year-old father completed high school and
worked as a mechanic in his native country, and he is not currently working because he is
waiting for his work permit. He has a medical history of hypertension, obesity, and benign
prostate hypertrophy. Patient’s father does not have an account of substance or mental health
problems. However, he smokes a pack of cigarettes daily. A patient has one sibling, a younger
sister who was still living in Cuba; her sister is healthy and has no history of substance abuse or
mental health problems. The patient also reports that in her mother side, two of her aunts
suffered from postpartum depression, as well as one of her cousins. She also states that two of
her uncles were alcoholic. In her father side, the patient reports a history of substance abuse by
two of her paternal uncles.
DEPRESSION WITH PSYCHOTIC FEATURES 3
PERSONAL HISTORY
Patient reports having no birth issues, she was born a standard delivery, full term, and with no
complications. The patient also reports completing all the milestones, doing well in school. She
states that the only issues growing up were her father incarceration for ten years as a political
prisoner, which was very traumatic, and she became very fearful after that. Since that time, she
has never been able to speak up her mind. She states,” I rather don’t say anything, even when I
know it is not right.”
MEDICAL HISTORY
The patient does not have health insurance, and the last time she saw a physician was when she
did physical for her employment. Her immunizations are up to date, and she does not have either
a food or medication allergy. She has a history of endometriosis, what she states, “it resolved in
her mid-thirties.” She also injured her back a year ago, and she said that she received injections,
but she does not know the name of the medication. She denies any other problems, except for
occasional cold and sore throat. Which is treated with over the counter medications. Otherwise,
she has never hospitalized, except during childbirth, which was standard delivery. Currently, the
patient is taking multivitamins and sleepy time tea. She has not had a mammography or PAP
smear in the last five years. Her laboratory results show microcity anemia and slightly elevated
LDL. Laboratory results on admission to her hospitalization included thyroid-stimulating
hormone, and thyroxine were all within reasonable limits. Her blood pressure and weight are
within normal limits.
DEPRESSION WITH PSYCHOTIC FEATURES 4
SOCIAL HISTORY
Patient shares a two-bedroom apartment with her mother and father. She reports been married for
two years to the father of her son. Since that time, she has not had any romantic relationships or
sexual relationships because her life was dedicated to her son. She has no friends currently, only
some coworkers whom she frequents. Patient states, “I work from 7 AM to 11 PM, I have to
support my family, I have no time for friends”, She denies having any hobbies or interest. She
enjoys watching Spanish television. She does not smoke, drinks alcohol, or consume any illegal
substances. Patient denies any history of legal problems. Patient only son is a 19-year-old college
student who accompanies the patient to this evaluation. She reports having a great relationship
with her son and that his living to school has been very hard on her.
OCCUPATIONAL HISTORY
The patient is a high school graduated, with no history of military service, and has a nursing
assistant certificate. She has two jobs, and she states,” the situations are very demanding, I have
two expend most of the time bathing patients and feeding them.” I have been working steadily
for the past two years without a vacation or a weekend off”. Patient reports that due to her recent
hospitalization, she has reduced her work hours to 40 hours a week.
PAST PSYCHIATRIC HISTORY
Patient denies any history of outpatient or psychiatric hospitalization before the admission
described above. She was discharged two days ago from the crisis unit. She was started in
Risperdal 2 mg. At bedtime, Trazodone 100 mg PO HS, and citalopram 20 mg. In the AM.
Patient reports having an episode of depression right after the birth of her son, she denies having
any treatment or follows up for the incident. She states” after giving birth to my son, I felt sad,
DEPRESSION WITH PSYCHOTIC FEATURES 5
tired and had weird thoughts, for months I did not feel any happiness, it lasted about two years,
then it went away.” No history of suicidal or assaultive behavior.
HISTORY Of PRESENT ILLNESS
Patient reports feeling nervous since her son left for college back six months ago. In the last three
months, her sleep deteriorates to the point that she was only sleeping for two or three hours at
night.Two weeks ago, after working in the night shift, she thought that people were following
her, she saw lights everywhere and became very frightened. She also reports at that time starting
hearing voices telling her that the FBI was after her. The patient also has lost about 10 pounds,
because she believed that her parents want to poison her. She states,” I was so scared that I
decided to drive my car against a tree.” Patient reports that the symptoms were so frightening
that she stopped her car in the middle of the road and asked a policeman for help. Son says that
his mother has been experiencing lack of sleep and mood swings since moving to the United
States about five years ago. Son reports his mother works all the time, and that at times she
becomes irritable and distant. PHQ-9 was administered, and her score was 25, which indicates
“severe depression.”
PSYCHIATRIC REVIEW OF SYSTEM:
a) Anxiety: Anxious, worried, feeling restless, and experiencing muscle tension.
b) Mania: Patient denies periods of increased energy. However, she reports feeling irritable
most of the time.
c) Depression: Reports feeling of sadness and loneliness, unable to concentrate, with lack of
appetitive, sleepless, and with no motivation of joy about anything, she states feeling guilty
about getting sick, she is worried about her parents and son, no pleasure in activities, having
DEPRESSION WITH PSYCHOTIC FEATURES 6
problems with sleep and having issues with eating. Trouble is concentrating most of the days
and having suicidal thoughts. She reports feeling hopeless.
d) Schizophrenia: patient reports hearing command hallucinations. She denies visual
hallucinations but reports that the voices started recently.
e) Panic attacks: No panic attacks reported.
f) PTSD: Patient denies flashbacks, recurrent dreams, or repetitive thoughts about her father,
incarceration.
g) OCD: Denies any anxiety relieving repetitive behaviors.
h) ADHD: Denies any history of inattention or hyperactivity.
i) Eating disorders: weight loss experience due to lack of appetite, denies any purging or
vomiting.
j) Personality Disorders: Patient denies a pattern of troubled relationships. She wants to
establish new connections, but she is too preoccupied with her family problems.
MENTAL STATUS EXAMINATION
a) Appearance: Good grooming and overly dressed for the weather. Good eye contact and
cooperative with the assessment.
b) Behavior and psychomotor activity: No abnormal movements noted
c) Consciousness: Fully alert.
d) Orientation: To a person, place, time, and date.
e) Memory: Through examination, the patient exhibits no deficits in recent, remote, or
immediate retention memory.
f) Concentration and attention: The patient has no deficits in focus and attention during the
examination. Able to follow direction and repeat the 12 months test backward.
DEPRESSION WITH PSYCHOTIC FEATURES 7
g) Intellectual functioning: Appears to be average or above average. Patient speaks articulately
with an excellent vocabulary and above average fund of knowledge.
h) Speech and language: speech is with average volume, regular rate, and rhythm.
i) Perceptions: Command auditory hallucinations of female voices telling her that the FBI is
after her. The FBI wants her fingerprints. However, she understands that those are symptoms
of her disease.
j) Thought processes though is coherent and goal-directed, organized and linear. However,
reports racing thoughts.
k) Thought content: Paranoid delusions of others are trying to hurt her. The patient was
experiencing sad thoughts which she can not share with anybody in her family. She states she
hesitates to speak up because of feelings of hopelessness. She says feeling extreme sadness
after her son left for college. However, at the time, she feels angry because it is all her fault.
l) Suicidality or homicidal: Denies current suicidal or homicidal ideation; however, reports
suicidal thoughts.
m) Mood: “Down.” “Depressed.” She feels no pleasure in life.
n) Affect: Appears depressed, tearful, and anxious.
o) Judgment: Fair wants to go back to work, feels
p) Insight: Fair, understands the present mental state.
q) Reliability: Generally, it seems to be a good historian.
IMPRESSION:
48-year-old Hispanic female with a family history of depression and a personal account of
untreated postpartum depression. Who now presents with auditory hallucinations, paranoid
thinking, sleep disturbances, and loss of interest in daily activities that were aggravated by son
DEPRESSION WITH PSYCHOTIC FEATURES 8
moving to college and working in multiple jobs for about 16 hours a day. Patient under a lot of
stress due by her economic situation, she feels responsible for her parents and son. Patient
presentation is consistent with a recurrent Major depression disorder with psychotic features. The
treatment will be the focus on helping her and her family to decrease the patient stressors, such
as working long hours and loneliness. Psychotic symptoms are associated with numerous social
factors, such as migration and urban upbringing. Isolation is related to positive traits and
depression. Symptoms of paranoia, precisely the impression that other people are giving odd
looks and that other people are not what they seem to be related to loneliness (Jaya, Hillmann,
Reininger, Gollwitzer & Lincoln, 2017). Psychotic symptoms in depression are often associated
with poor social functioning (Sönmez et al., 2016). The patient does not have a social network,
and she does not participate in any leisure activities.
Furthermore, the patient needs to be monitored further some of her symptoms correlated with
bipolar disorder mixed type. Jääskeläinen et al. (2018) systematic review found that psychotic
depression first episode is a marker of later bipolar disorder. Sleep is another issue that needs to
be addressed since sleep is associated with psychotic symptoms and worsening depression
(Koyanagi & Stickley, 2015).
DIAGNOSIS
296.34 (F33.3) Major depressive disorder, severe, recurrent episode with psychotic features
According to the DSM5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Patient presents with
more than five of the following symptoms:
1. Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by either subjective
report (feelings sad, hopeless).
DEPRESSION WITH PSYCHOTIC FEATURES 9
2. Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day,
nearly every day.
3. Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt (which may be delusional)
nearly every day.
4. Recurrent thoughts of death, recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a
suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide.
5. The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational,
or other critical areas of functioning.
6. Unreasonable feelings of self‐reproach or excessive and inappropriate guilt.
The patient reports a depressed mood for most days over the past six months. She has
experienced a loss of interest in usual activities and long-standing impairment in social
functioning. She reports having problems with vegetative symptoms such as sleeping, changes in
appetite, most of the days, as well as the loss of energy and low self-esteem (Rice et al., 2019).
These symptoms are causing impairment in functioning as evidenced by an inability work.
Furthermore, results of the PHQ-9 shows a score of 25, which indicates “severe depression.”
DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS
296.80 (F31.9) Unspecified bipolar and related disorder
The diagnosis of Bipolar disorder should be considered. According to Grande, Berk, Birmaher &
Vieta (2016) psychosis, depression is a marker of bipolar depression. A history of postpartum
depression is also a risk factor for bipolar disorder. Vieta et al. (2018) also recommend
considering this diagnosis until more information is gathered.
F29. Unspecified Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorder
DEPRESSION WITH PSYCHOTIC FEATURES 10
This diagnosis refers to symptoms that are typical of schizophrenia (e.g., delusions,
hallucinations, disorganized thinking and speech, catatonic behavior), that cause substantial
social and occupational distress and impairment, but that do not meet the full criteria for any
specific disorder. For example, a patient may have persistent auditory hallucinations with no
other symptoms, thus not meet the criteria for schizophrenia, which requires two psychotic
manifestations (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
Psychosocial and environmental factors: Patient symptoms may interfere with her
employment functioning. Furthermore, patient symptoms interfere with physical and social
activity.
PLAN
Safety: Safety preauction because of the risk of suicidality. The anhedonia displayed by this
patient makes the possibility of suicidality. Gabbay et al. (2015) found that anhedonia severity
was associated with more severe clinical outcomes, including higher suicidality scores. This
patient has been depressed for over six months. If her depressive state lasts long, the patient may
start contemplating suicide. (Grande, Berk, Birmaher, & Vieta 2016).
Pharmacological treatment: Patient will continue with Risperdal 2 mg. At bedtime, citalopram
20 mg, and Trazadone 100 mg. At bedtime, the Patient will come back in four to six weeks for
medication management. However, Thompson, Malhotra & Rothschild (2019) evidence-based
review recommends an antidepressant and antipsychotic medication in combination. Preferably,
a combination of fluoxetine and olanzapine. The combination of an antidepressant and
antipsychotic is significantly more effective than either antidepressant monotherapy or
antipsychotic monotherapy for the acute treatment of depressive psychosis.
DEPRESSION WITH PSYCHOTIC FEATURES 11
Psychoeducation: Patient will receive education regarding indication for medication and risks,
benefits, and potential side effects of citalopram due to the risk of suicidality. Provide training on
the FDA Black Box warning about the increased risk of suicidality-associated antidepressant
medications (Cipriani et al., 2016).
Mindfulness and Relaxation: At this patient will benefit from mindfulness and relaxation, and
the patient recognizes that her medication regiment controls her symptoms and her reducing her
stress. The patient was instructed on relaxation and meditation techniques (Moritz et al., 2015).
Referrals: Refer for primary care with recommendations for mammography and Pap smears.
DEPRESSION WITH PSYCHOTIC FEATURES 12
References
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th
Ed). (2013). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
Cipriani, A., Zhou, X., Del Giovane, C., Hetrick, S. E., Qin, B., Whittington, C., … & Cuijpers,
P. (2016). Comparative efficacy and tolerability of antidepressants for major depressive
disorder in children and adolescents: a network meta-analysis. The Lancet, 388(10047),
881-890.
Gabbay, V., Johnson, A. R., Alonso, C. M., Evans, L. K., Babb, J. S., & Klein, R. G. (2015).
Anhedonia, but not irritability, is associated with illness severity outcomes in adolescent
major depression. Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology, 25(3), 194-200.
Grande, I., Berk, M., Birmaher, B., & Vieta, E. (2016). Bipolar disorder. The
Lancet, 387(10027), 1561-1572.
Jääskeläinen, E., Juola, T., Korpela, H., Lehtiniemi, H., Nietola, M., Korkeila, J., & Miettunen, J.
(2018). Epidemiology of psychotic depression–systematic review and meta-
analysis. Psychological medicine, 48(6), 905-918.
Jaya, E. S., Hillmann, T. E., Reininger, K. M., Gollwitzer, A., & Lincoln, T. M. (2017).
Loneliness and psychotic symptoms: The mediating role of depression. Cognitive therapy
and research, 41(1), 106-116.
Koyanagi, A., & Stickley, A. (2015). The association between sleep problems and psychotic
symptoms in the general population: a global perspective. Sleep, 38(12), 1875-1885.
Moritz, S., Cludius, B., Hottenrott, B., Schneider, B. C., Saathoff, K., Kuelz, A. K., & Gallinat, J.
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DEPRESSION WITH PSYCHOTIC FEATURES 13
Sönmez, N., Røssberg, J. I., Evensen, J., Barder, H. E., Haahr, U., ten Velden Hegelstad, W., …
& Melle, I. (2016). Depressive symptoms in first‐episode psychosis: a 10‐year follow‐up
study. Early intervention in psychiatry, 10(3), 227-233.
Thompson, A. R., Malhotra, A., & Rothschild, A. J. (2019). Advances in the Treatment of
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Vieta, E., Berk, M., Schulze, T. G., Carvalho, A. F., Suppes, T., Calabrese, J. R., … & Grande, I.
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