General Psychology

Assignment #6 (25 points)

For each case below, identify the primary psychological disorder that the person has, list three symptoms, and suggest one possible treatment.

When identifying the disorder or treatment, be SPECIFIC (e.g., instead of stating “anxiety”, state “panic disorder”, or instead of stating “therapy” or “psychotherapy”, state “cognitive psychotherapy”).

Case Study 1 (5 points)

Jessica is a 28-year-old married female. For the past few weeks Jessica has felt unusually sad and tired and has found it increasingly difficult to concentrate at work. Her coworkers have noticed that she is often irritable and withdrawn.

She has called in sick on several occasions, which is completely unlike her. On those days she stays in bed all day, watching TV, or sleeping.

At home, Jessica’s husband has noticed changes as well. She’s shown little interest in sex and has had difficulties falling asleep at night. He’s overheard her having frequent tearful phone conversations with her closest friend.

When he has tried to get her to open up about what’s bothering her, she pushes him away with an abrupt “everything’s fine”.

Jessica has found herself increasingly dissatisfied with her life, and she’s been having frequent thoughts of wishing she was dead.

A.) Disorder:

B.) Symptoms (list 3):

1)

2)

3)

C.) Treatment (list 1):

Case Study 2 (5 points)

Kristen is a 38-year-old divorced mother of two teenagers. She has had a successful, well-paying career for the past several years in upper-level management.

Even though she has worked for the same, thriving company for over 6 years, she’s found herself worrying constantly about numerous things that she can’t control.

This worry has been troubling her for the past year. Despite her best efforts, she hasn’t been able to shake the pessimistic thoughts and feelings of doom.

Ever since the worry started, Kristen has found herself feeling restless, tired, and tense. She has frequent headaches, upset stomach, and back pain. She often paces in her office when she’s there alone.

She’s had several embarrassing moments in meetings where she has lost track of what she was trying to say. When she goes to bed at night, it’s as if her brain won’t shut off.

A.) Disorder:

B.) Symptoms (list 3):

1)

2)

3)

C.) Treatment (list 1):

Case Study 3 (5 points)

Jorge is a 27-year-old male who recently moved back in with his parents after his fiancée was killed by a drunk driver 3 months ago. His fiancée, a beautiful young woman he’d been dating for the past 4 years, was walking across a busy intersection to meet him for lunch one day.

He still vividly remembers the horrific scene as the drunk driver ran the red light, plowing down his fiancée right before his eyes. He raced to her side, embracing her crumpled, bloody body as she died in his arms in the middle of the crosswalk.

No matter how hard he tries to forget, he frequently finds himself reliving the entire incident as if it was happening all over.

Since the accident, Jorge has been plagued with nightmares about the accident almost every night. He had to quit his job because his office is in the building right next to the little café where he was meeting his fiancée for lunch the day she died.

Normally an outgoing, fun-loving guy, Jorge has become increasingly withdrawn and emotionally numb.  He also startles easily.

A.) Disorder:

B.) Symptoms (list 3):

1)

2)

3)

C.)  Treatment (list 1):

Case Study 4 (5 points)

Trey is a 21-year-old business major at a large university. Over the past few weeks his family and friends have noticed increasingly bizarre behaviors.

On many occasions they’ve overheard him whispering to himself in an agitated voice. Lately, he has refused to answer or make calls on his cell phone, claiming that if he does it will activate a deadly chip that was implanted in his brain by evil aliens.

His parents have tried to get him to go with them to a psychiatrist for an evaluation, but he refuses. He has accused them on several occasions of conspiring with the aliens to have him killed so they can remove his brain to study it.

He has stopped attending classes altogether. He is now so far behind in his coursework that he will fail if something doesn’t change very soon.

Trey has difficulty expressing his emotions.  Often it seems that he has no emotions, and he sometimes will sit for hours and stare into space.  On the rare occasions that he does show emotions, the emotions are usually inappropriate for the situation.

A.) Disorder:

B.) Symptoms (list 3):

1)

2)

3)

C.) Treatment (list 1):

Case Study 5 (5 points)

Antonia has been having episodes in which she “blacks out” and then wakes up in a new location several hours later. She cannot remember what she said or what she did while she was unconscious, yet other people tell her that she spoke with them and engaged in activities with them.

Other people also have mentioned that sometimes she calls herself Felicia and is very passive and seems to be anxious and sad, while at other times she calls herself Luisa and is assertive and confident.

Occasionally Antonia acts very childlike. Recently she has had several unclear memories of being touched inappropriately by a male relative as a child.  She suspects that she might have suffered from other forms of sexual abuse during childhood, yet she cannot recall any instances.

A.) Disorder:

B.) Symptoms (list 3):

1)

2)

3)

C.) Treatment (list 1):