Common risk of severe depression is?

Appeared in: WCL Staff Nurse - 2019

Explanation

Suicide is the most serious and life-threatening risk associated with severe depression.
Statistics show that a significant percentage of individuals with depression contemplate or attempt suicide. About two-thirds of all depressed patients contemplate suicide, and 10 to 15 percent commit suicide.
Feelings of hopelessness, which are a core feature of depression, are a primary driver of suicidal intent.
The risk is particularly high when a patient starts to recover and regains energy, as they may then have the capacity to act on suicidal thoughts.

Why Other Options Were Wrong

Option A: Fatigability (lack of energy) is a very common symptom of depression, not a risk or complication. A risk refers to a potential adverse outcome.
Option B: Hallucinations are not a universal or common risk for all patients with severe depression. They are a feature of a specific subtype.
Option C: Thought blocking is a disruption in the thought process that is more characteristic of schizophrenia, although it can be seen in severe depression.

Related Visual

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Identifying the most common and severe risk associated with major depressive disorder as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
A nurse's primary responsibility when caring for a patient with severe depression is to ensure their safety, which includes performing a thorough and ongoing suicide risk assessment.
Direct questioning about suicidal thoughts ('Are you thinking about harming yourself?') is a critical nursing intervention and does not increase the risk. Patients are often relieved to be asked.
Immediate nursing actions for a patient with active suicidal ideation include initiating 1:1 observation, removing potential means of harm from the environment, and notifying the healthcare provider.

How to Approach the Question

First, identify the key terms in the question: 'severe depression' and 'common risk'.
Understand that 'risk' in a clinical context refers to a potential adverse outcome or complication, not just a symptom of the disease itself.
Evaluate each option against this understanding. Is it a symptom or a potential dangerous outcome?
Fatigability is a core symptom.
Hallucination and thought block are less common symptoms/features, not the primary risk.
Suicide is a direct, life-threatening outcome and the most severe risk associated with the disorder.

Concept Tested & Keywords

Concept Tested: Identifying the most common and severe risk associated with major depressive disorder.
Stem keywords: severe depression, common risk
Lead-in keywords: is
Negative lead-in flag: false

Question ID

QceDsTEYsZddzzmJpXZDLs

Reference Book

E6 Kaplan Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry-2022 (pp 1-3768 of 3768) pp. 1216-1218, 1215-1217

E6 Robert Boland, Marcia L. Verduin - Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Text of Psychiatry-Wolters Kluwer Health (2024) (pp 1-16525 of 16525) p. 5387-5389

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