A 40-year-old man with mild intellectual disability has developed persistent low mood, tearfulness, loss of interest and social withdrawal over 6

Question

A 40-year-old man with mild intellectual disability has developed persistent low mood, tearfulness, loss of interest and social withdrawal over 6 weeks. He communicates verbally but finds abstract concepts such as hopelessness difficult to understand. A support worker confirms that these symptoms represent a change from his usual functioning. Which approach is most appropriate when assessing him for depression?

Accepted Answer

Interview him using accessible language and an adapted depression measure, adding collateral information with his agreement

Answer

Interview him using an unmodified PHQ-9 and interpret the usual threshold without collateral information

Answer

Assess depression from the support worker's account alone because it is likely to be more reliable

Answer

Assess depression from observed behavioural change alone, without attempting a direct interview

Answer

Postpone diagnostic assessment until he can consistently describe abstract cognitive symptoms such as hopelessness

Depression in ID — MRCPsych Paper B MCQ