The Mental Health Continuum Scenario 1
Instructions: Use the Mental Health Continuum Model to respond to realistic situations by reading the scenario and answering the questions that follow.
Juanita is 34 years old and has been working at the same office for the past two years. She has a young child, recently separated from her husband of 10 years, and her mother has terminal cancer.
For the past few weeks, she has been having trouble sleeping and frequently feels tired at work. She feels anxious and sad and sometimes breaks down in tears. She has been seeing her family doctor and he has prescribed an anti-depressant medication and is encouraging her to take some sick leave.
| Healthy | Reacting | Injured | Ill | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Changes in Mood |
Normal mood fluctuations Calm Confident |
Irritable Impatient Nervous Sadness |
Angry Anxious Pervasive sadness |
Easily enraged Excessive anxiety/panic Depressed mood, numb |
| Changes in Thinking and Attitude |
Good sense of humor Takes things in stride Ability to concentrate and focus on tasks |
Displaced sarcasm Intrusive thoughts Sometimes distracted or loss of focus on tasks |
Negative attitude Recurrent intrusive thoughts Constantly distracted or cannot focus on tasks |
Noncompliant Suicidal thoughts/intent Inability to concentrate, loss of memory or cognitive abilities |
| Changes in Behaviour and Performance |
Physically and socially active Present Performing well |
Decreased activity/socializing Present but distracted Procrastination |
Avoidance Tardiness Decreased performance |
Withdrawal Absenteeism Can’t perform duties/tasks |
| Physical Changes |
Normal sleep patterns Good appetite Feeling energetic Maintaining a stable weight |
Trouble sleeping Changes in eating patterns Some lack of energy Some weight gain or loss |
Restless sleep Loss of appetite Some tiredness or fatigue Fluctuations or changes in weight |
Cannot fall/stay asleep No appetite Constant and prolonged fatigue or exhaustion Extreme weight gain or loss |
| Changes in Addictive Behaviours |
Limited alcohol consumption, no binge drinking Limited/no addictive behaviours No trouble/impact due to substance use |
Regular to frequent alcohol consumption, limited binge drinking Some to regular addictive behaviours Limited to some trouble/impact due to substance use |
Frequent alcohol consumption, binge drinking Struggle to control addictive behaviours Increasing trouble/impact due to substance use |
Regular to frequent binge drinking Addiction Significant trouble/impact due to substance use |
