Mental health articles

primary health care case studies Faith was a 30-year-old married woman who attended an apostolic church.
She complained of having dizziness and headaches for over a year, but no physical illness could be found. On enquiry, Faith admitted that she was thinking too much, sleeping badly and had had suicidal thoughts. She felt so tired that she could not do any housework. Her relationship with her husband
had worsened. He was angry because she had not had a child, even though they had been married two years, and he was threatening to take another wife. She had lost her job three months previously and was very worried because, as a result of the way she was feeling, she thought she would not be
able to look for another job. She was also complaining of feeling lonely.
The health worker helped Faith by:
• reassuring her that she was not suffering from a terminal or untreatable illness;

primary health care case studies

• explaining to her that she was thinking too much because of her job loss and marital problems, and this
was why she was sleeping badly and feeling tired;
• identifying a problem and action list (problem-solving):
• a depressive illness, for which she prescribed antidepressant treatments;
• infertility, for which she referred Faith and her husband to a gynaecology clinic;
• marital problems, for which she called the husband in for a joint interview;
• unemployment, with regard to which she recommended postponing any action on job-hunting until Faith had sufficiently recovered from her depression;
• loneliness, for which she advised attendance at her church and a chat with the pastor.
The health worker asked Faith to visit the clinic once a week. Faith felt much better after three weeks and she and her husband received counselling on how to improve their chances of having a baby. Once she was better, Faith found a job as a cleaner in a local restaurant. The health worker then saw Faith once a month for six months, after which follow-up and medicines were no longer needed.

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