As an
Occupational Therapy student, our profession mainly focuses on engaging the client or the patient to participate in everyday activities like Activities of Daily living like bathing, dressing, eating, hygiene, etc. We generally work in 3 settings:
Pediatric setting, where we deal with children who have special needs like Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or Autism Spectrum Disorder by giving them Sensory Integration,
Physical Dysfunction setting, where we treat patients who have disabilities or illnesses that hinder them from participating in everyday activities due to some sort of motion problems or even paralysis, like Stroke patients, Traumatic Brain Injury patients, Multiple Sclerosis, Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and so on, and lastly the
Mental health setting or what we usually call Psychiatric setting, where we treat patients who have problems affecting their mind or their way of thinking like
depression, schizophrenia, Bipolar disorder, and many more.
Now our profession accommodates depressive patients, since these people can no longer function, he or she is not doing anything at all, not eating properly, they sleep almost all of the time, and their Activities of Daily Living like eating or bathing are affected. Our main goal as an aspiring Occupational Therapist, is we address their participation in everyday activities. Occupational therapy interventions or treatment are retraining of Activities of Daily Living; bathing, grooming, eating, etc, Social participation and leisure therapy, since we want the patient to participate, we want to know his hobbies or interest in his pre-morbid state by giving them an interest checklist and be able include it on our therapy, we also do Cognitive-behavioral therapy to change his or her way of thinking so that i would affect his or her overall behavior, Art therapy, and many more!
Depression is not a joke, nor it is to be taken lightly. Depression is very rampant these days, and some of those inflicted with it became suicidal. The feeling of emptiness, loneliness, and hopelessness is very dangerous to our mental health. If you have friends or love one that you feel that they have this kind of problem, help him or her right away, go to a psychiatrist and ask if he or she needs Occupational Therapy. I hope I somewhat helped you guys. Have a nice day!
