Re: Anxiety /depression in podiatric patients
Anxiety should be anticipated in every patient that is in your examination table. It's a natural response. When anxiety overwhelms a patient, and the patient loses their ability to percieve their problem and/or treatment program in real terms, that's when expectations and patient satisfaction become an issue. Depression another problem all foot and ankle specialists deal with commonly occurs with patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, connective tissue disorders, cancers, etc. One of the problems with these patients is adherence to instructions. A part of them wants to get better and another part of them feels it's useless to try. That's when they adversely contribute to the problem. Regardless of which disorder we're talking about, if the best interest of the patient is affected by a psychiatric issue, than it is as much a responsibility of the foot and ankle specialist to direct this patient for counseling as it is for the foot and ankle specialist to deal with their foot/ankle problem.
|