Domestic violence, particularly violence against women, is a scourge that has killed this year in Portugal more than twenty women.Our aim is to present a case study on the issue of gender violence on a 49 years old woman with a prior diagnosis of bipolar disorder and its (terrible) consequences.The multiple injuries sustained over several years “treated” the bipolar disorder. Apart from a frontal lesion on CT there is now a set of neurological and psychiatric symptoms compatible with a diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) “boxer's dementia” like.
PURPOSE To explore and identify diagnostic components to amplify NANDA nursing diagnoses by modifying the root violence. Whereas violence is nondebatable as a diagnostic concept in nursing, other alternatives have not been identified in the two existing diagnoses. METHODS Using the case study method, this qualitative study sought to identify commonalties in a population of women who were “donnas da casa” (homemakers) in a small rural community of approximately 100 families, typical of the Brazilian northeast. The sample of 7 women was identified through a larger study that had been based on health needs of the community. Data were obtained through observation during a home visit and a semistructured interview based on NANDA Taxonomy II. Observations were focused on hygiene, manner of dress, home environment, and physical and emotional state. Data were analyzed by content and clustered into major categories. From these a profile of the women and another of the partners emerged. FINDINGS Subjects ranged in age from 33 to 43 years, and number of children between 3 and 7. One of the 7 women was literate; 5 were underweight; all were slovenly attired. They appeared sad and older than their age. The majority seemed relieved to unburden themselves to the interviewers as they went through a gamut of emotions such as sadness, anguish, and irritability expressed through crying, restlessness, changes in body language, and tone of voice. The shortage of beds was supplemented by hammocks and mats or cardboard. The women spoke of being confined to their home and of male partners who drank on weekends, thus leaving them with little money for necessities of life. There were accounts of beatings when the partner returned home after drinking, overt nonacceptance of children from previous marriages, and general destruction of the family environment. New children were regarded as just another mouth to feed. DISCUSSION The profiles pointed to the necessity of identifying a new nursing diagnosis that would be linked, only tangentially, by the root violence to the two diagnoses in NANDA Taxonomies I and II. This insight led us to consider that a new method of listing NANDA diagnoses, by root only, is imperative in the evolution of Taxonomy II. Proposed descriptors, Victims of (Axis 3) and Domestic (Axis 6) would be identified by Axes, thereby facilitating the process of classifying in the Domains and Classes. The two existing NANDA diagnoses, risk for other‐directed violence and risk for self‐directed violence, are proposed for classification in Class 3, Violence, in Domain 11 of Taxonomy II. Safety/Protection could, by virtue of their modification power, find anchor in another domain such as Domain 6, Self‐Perception. CONCLUSIONS Although Safety/Protection seems the most logical domain for classification by root, the axes, dimensions of human responses, could pull the diagnosis in another direction, thereby dictating other nursing interventions and nursing outcomes
IntroductionSusac Syndrome (SS) is an immune-mediated endotheliopathy that mainly affects young women. It is characterized by the typical triad: subacute encephalopathy, retinal vaso-occlusive disease, and hearing loss. Encephalopathy symptoms are varied and include memory loss, psychiatric disturbances, cranial nerve disorders, seizures, and dementia. The syndrome is considered a rare but important differential diagnosis in various neurological, psychiatric, ophthalmological, and ear-nose-throat disorders.ObjectivesReport a clinical case of SS to reflect on the relationship between psychiatric and neurological symptoms and on immune-mediated psychiatric symptoms.MethodsCollection of clinical information from the patient described below. Review of the literature about SS.Results A 21-year-old woman presented to the Psychiatry Emergency Department in November 2021 for complaints of sadness, anhedonia and emotional lability, with one month of evolution. She also had insomnia and confusional periods, so she stopped driving and quit her work as a storekeeper. She was given sertraline 50mg/day and trazodone 50mg/day. In the past two weeks, the patient had episodes of headache and vomiting, with 8 kg weight loss. She started a fever (38.5ºC) two days before observation. The patient had a prior history of depressive symptomatology four years earlier related to her father’s grief and her medical and surgical history was unremarkable. She was brought in a wheelchair by her mother and was using diapers because she was confined to bed for the past week. Objectively, the patient was somnolent, tearful and confused, with scarce speech and psychomotor slowing. No focal signs were found on neurological examination. Collaboration of Neurology was asked. Routine laboratory studies showed a slight increase in leucocyte count (12 500/mm3) and CRP (17mg/dL). Cerebrospinal fluid analysis showed 15 cells/uL and protein of 2.64 g/L. Cerebral MRI showed multiple striatocapsular periventricular lesions involving the thalamus, the left midbrain, and the medulla oblongata, as well as focal bilateral hemispherical and cerebellar subcortical lesions. The lesions presented high signal in T2 and showed restriction in the diffusion study. She was admitted to the Neurology inpatient department and treated with pulse methylprednisolone 1000 mg/day for five consecutive days, after which cognitive function improved. Ophthalmology observation found cotton-wool exudate and arteriolar interruption in the right eye, supporting the diagnosis of SS.ConclusionsThis syndrome represents the importance of diligent cooperation among different medical specialties to improve diagnosis-making, treatment and recovery. Psychiatric symptoms are frequent in neurological syndromes, so a high degree of suspicion is needed.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared
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