Depressed patients

As much as we are told that we are not psychologists, the nature of this profession is such that patients can often open up. In these situations it is difficult to know where to draw the line between what you can handle and what needs to be referred on.

Whilst on my gerontology prac I had a patient who was 85 and had lost his month 4 months ago. Since this time his balance and strength had declined and he reported feeling quite depressed. Throughout the course of the session he expressed that he 'didn't know what he was living for', 'would be happier if he was dead' and several other phrases relating to dying. I was unsure of what to say, however attempted to offer reassurance, asking him what all the neighbours he helped would do without him (he often gardened and brought meals to people on his street). However, despite my best attempts he was difficult to convince.

I spoke to my supervisor about my concerns and she suggested I refer him to clinical psych. If the patient actually suffered from depression, there is nothing physiotherapy can do to fix it, and it is therefore important to listen to your patients and take them seriously when the say things like this. The way he said it, it was as if he wanted you to think he was joking, but it was clear he was not. From this experience, I took the knowledge that you have to be vigilant otherwise you could miss an important sign that someone needs help. In the future I will find out about a patient especially if I think they might be having problems at home or need other help which I cannot provide.