Mood and Behaviour

In this section we answer questions related to the Mood and behaviour screen.

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Questions

Should persons who are taking antidepressants/antianxiety medication be coded ‘1’ (present but not in the last 3 days)?

How can we differentiate between 'sad, depressed, hopeless' when coding this item?

If the person withdraws from activities of interest but the reason is out of their control (for instance, the person breaks a hip and cannot attend her daily swim class) should this item be coded as 0, not exhibited in last 3 days?

Answers

Question: Should individuals who are taking antidepressants/anti-anxiety medication (as in E1a; E1e; E1g; E1K) be coded ‘1’ “present but not in the last 3 days”?

Answer:

Present but not exhibited in the last 3 days indicates that an intervention (for example, medications, alternative therapies) is in place and it is being closely monitored by client/family as there is continued concern that symptoms/issue may return.

Timeframe is not taken into consideration with this code meaning that the intervention could have been in place for 6 months - year or more but continues to be a concern for client/family.

Question: How can we differentiate between 'sad, depressed, hopeless' when coding this item?

Answer:

This is a broad question with no requirement  to differentiate between the three words. One person may describe feeling "hopeless", whilst another person may describe feeling "sad" for the same situation. This is a record of how the individual describes their feelings.

Question: If the person withdraws from activities of interest but the reason is out of their control (for instance, the person breaks a hip and cannot attend her daily swim class) should this item be coded as 0, not exhibited in last 3 days?

Answer:

NO. The intent of this item is to assess possible anhedonia. A separate item is available in many instruments for coding changes in preferred activities and whether the person is distressed by any changes.

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