Abnormal Psychology Assignment

Posted on: 1st July 2023

Question

Abnormal Psychology Assignment 

Case Report Guideline (50 points) 

       The case report should include following information. 

  1. Client information, presenting concerns and major linical Symptoms (10pts). Summarize the client's information, presenting concerns and clinical symptoms include onset of problems, duration, and specific symptoms.

 Patient’s Background and Key Issues (10 pts): Patient’s key historical data and demographic information include psychosocial history (family, work, relationship, etc). If there is no information for some area, you can just write as ‘not known’. (10 points)

 3.      Diagnosis and Interpretation (10 pts): you need to give Tentative Diagnosis based on DSM-5.  You need choose at least minimum two diagnoses for the case. And describe diagnostic criteria of your chosen diagnosis according to DSM 5 criteria.

 4.      Intervention and Treatment Goals (10pts): Describe your short-term and long-term goals for therapy: You need to set treatment goals for your client include 

1)      short-term goals: immediate goals-such as reduce panic with medication, crisis intervention, etc.

2)      long-term goals: target results with long term therapy-what to accomplish for your client (quit self-harming behavior, reduce depression, managing relationship, etc). 

5.      Therapy Process (10pts): Describe the treatment course of the therapy.

You need include followings.

1)      Apply two psychological perspectives/models: cognitive, behavioral, psychodynamic, etc (see chapter 2-models)

2)     explain how you are going to use the models specifically in the course of therapy with your client to accomplish treatment goals: you need to explain techniques you are going use and how.

You need to write a case report paper in organized form as indicated in the guideline in 4-5 pages (not include a cover page-no need a cover page): 

Make 5 sections with separate paragraphs (this is a Clinical Case Report-no need APA style, but no bullet point)

Don’t need additional references for this paper (just use the textbook and DSM-5)

Submit it in D2L (Assignments drop box)

 

Case # 1
Robin Henderson is a 30-year-old married Caucasian woman with no children who lives in a middle-class urban area with her husband. Robin was referred to a clinical psychologist by her psychiatrist. The psychiatrist has been treating Robin for more than 18 months with primarily anti- depressant medication. During this time, Robin has been hospitalized at least 10 times (one hospitalization lasted 6 months) for treatment of suicidal ideation (and one near lethal attempt) and numerous instances of suicidal gestures, including at least 10 instances of drinking Clorox bleach and self-inflicting multiple cuts and burns. Robin was accompanied by her husband to the first meeting with the clinical psychologist. Her husband stated that both he and the patient's family considered Robin "too dangerous" to be outside a hospital setting. Consequently, he and her family were seriously discussing the possibility of long-term inpatient care. However, Robin expressed a strong preference for outpatient treatment, although no therapist had agreed to accept Robin as an outpatient client. The clinical psychologist agreed to accept Robin into therapy, as long as she was committed to working toward behavioral change and stay in treatment for at least 1 year. This agreement also included Robin contracting for safety- agreeing she would not attempt suicide.

Clinical History Robin was raised as an only child. Both her father (who worked as a salesman) and her mother had a history of alcohol abuse and depression. Robin disclosed in therapy that she had experienced severe physical abuse by her mother throughout childhood. When Robin was 5, her father began sexually abusing her. Although the sexual abuse had been non-violent for the first several years, her father's sexual advances became physically abusive when Robin was about 12 years-old. This abuse continued through Robin's first years of high school. Beginning at age 14, Robin began having difficulties with alcohol abuse and bulimia nervosa. In fact, Robin met her husband at an A.A (Alcoholics Anonymous) meeting while she was attending college. Robin continued to display binge-drinking behavior at an intermittent frequency and often engaged in restricted food intake with consequent eating binges.

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Solution

Abnormal Psychology Assignment

  1. Client information, presenting concerns, and major clinical Symptoms

As a 30-year-old married Caucasian woman who has no children, Robin Henderson serves as the case study. The couple lives in an affluent neighborhood in the heart of a bustling metropolis, giving them plenty of options. In contrast, Robin appears to be in the grips of a severe case of depression. To treat her depression, a prescription for an antidepressant medication has been given to Robin by her doctor. Throughout her illness, she was admitted to the hospital ten times. Each of the ten hospitalizations lasted six months. Suicidal thoughts plagued her, and she attempted to end her life several times. Because she was raised by an alcoholic mother and a wealthy businessman father, she profoundly impacted her behavior. He tried to sexually assault Robin in a nonviolent manner over the first few years of the abuse. The onslaught grew more and more vicious over time. Anonymous Alcoholic (A.A.) meetings happened where Robin met her future husband while still in college, and he was the perfect fit. Because she continues to overindulge, she is cutting back on calories.

It becomes one when a mental illness is categorized as a mood disorder. According to the case study results, Robin appears to be depressed. When Robin was a child, his mother and father were both abusive. Her father was a hard-partying alcoholic who shared an apartment with her grandmother. He could abuse her as he saw fit because she had no sense of what love meant from her parents. The father's behavior went from verbally abusive to physically abusive. Suicide attempts resulted in Robin being sent to the hospital numerous times due to her self-inflicted wounds and burns. As a result, Robin's family has decided to keep her in the hospital rather than risk her health by bringing her home. The use of weight-loss strategies follows binge eating, and Robin has bulimia nervosa due to this behavior.

  1. Patient's Background and Key Issues

Because Robin has been through a lot in her life, her background is not perfect. When she was a child, her mother's alcoholism left her with no parental role model to follow in her footsteps. She would have grown into a better person if she had a mother who was more understanding and attentive to her needs as a child. The sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her father exacerbated her sorrow. After a series of suicidal thoughts and attempts, her family decided that she was no longer safe at home and needed to be hospitalized. If she remained in the hospital, where she was under the constant observation of a specialist, she could keep her suicidal thoughts at bay.

It is possible that a series of events triggered Robin's suicidal action before it. A chain of events was started in motion due to Robin becoming intimidated, criticized, or unloved through an interpersonal connection. As a result of these ideas, she felt compelled to take her own life or harm herself to alleviate her pain. Resistance and an attitude fueled Robin's self-mutilation and suicide attempts. The evidence also shows that her need for attention and praise fueled Robin's destructive tendencies. Robin covered her badly burned leg with dirt to make the doctor think she needed medical attention. She eventually had to have reconstructive surgery. Her social interactions were erratic and unpredictable; she would swing from one extreme to the other, seemingly at random. Depending on the situation, Robin's behavior ranged from appropriate and sensible to unpredictable and out-of-control, and she was never shy about criticizing her friends in public. After that, she would worry that her relationship with them had been irreversibly damaged and fear for her safety. Robin would hurry to do something kind for her friends to help her friends feel more at ease around her. To discourage anyone from abandoning Robin, she would use the possibility of suicide as a deterrent.

3. Diagnosis and Interpretation

According to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the criteria for diagnosing depression have been laid down (American Psychiatric Association, 2015). For Robin's mental health condition to be identified, she must exhibit many symptoms over two weeks. Since she appears to be depressed most of the time, this may be why she attempts suicide so frequently. When she first got sad, she lost interest in many of the things she used to enjoy regularly doing. This led to her making several suicidal attempts. People with bulimia nervosa gain weight while engaging in weight loss methods such as dieting and exercise, which help them lose weight (McDonald & Rancourt, 2020). As a result of her inability to move, Robin's thinking slows down. Self-loathing may have grown due to the sexual abuse she experienced as a child, as evidenced by the several suicides attempts she has made. Her suicidal ideas can be seen in this behavior. To receive a diagnosis, Robin must be in mental distress. Her symptoms were understandable in light of her upbringing and the setting she grew up.

4. Intervention and Treatment Goals

1) short-term goals:

In the case of Robin, she is currently receiving treatment that includes both counseling and medication. Typically, a prescription is prescribed by the primary care psychiatrist to help the patient feel better. In the short term, a mental health expert such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, or therapist can help alleviate the symptoms of depression. Robin appears to be in a deep state of despair, as evidenced by being admitted to the hospital. Outpatient treatment has not helped her difficulties, despite this. To help her manage her pharmaceutical regimen, she may be prescribed antidepressants like tricyclic antidepressants, atypical antidepressants, and MAOIs (monoamine oxidase inhibitors). Stopping the antidepressant medication too soon could make it more difficult for Robin to get well from her depression and less likely for her to commit suicide.

2) long-term goals:

Depression can be treated with the help of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in the long term. One can get through a crisis or overcome any other obstacle with the help of psychotherapy (Alavi & Omrani, 2018). Thus, it helps identify and replace unhealthy habits and beliefs with more healthy ones. During the analysis of connections and experiences, positive contacts with other people are substituted for unfavorable meetings with other individuals. As a result of psychotherapy, Robin can learn to accept and bear suffering by adopting more positive behaviors. She can also learn how to create realistic goals for her development. She also thinks outside the box when it comes to solving problems. Mutually beneficial interactions and experiences are formed as a result. She has a wide range of choices available to her to assist her in overcoming her depression, including traditional forms of treatment. When Robin is in medicine, she learns about depression and how it affects her life. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) combined with a biological technique can help people with depression feel better throughout treatment. If antidepressants fail to alleviate her symptoms, TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) is an alternative therapy option.

5. Therapy Process

1) Apply two psychological perspectives/models:

If one is looking for depression treatment that involves talking about personal feelings, psychodynamic therapy is likely to be familiar to solve this Robin case. As a result, the image of a psychiatrist and a patient diving into their histories is well-known in modern society. It frequently appears in comedies and sitcoms. In films like Good Will Hunting and Ordinary People and plays like Equus, psychodynamic treatment is heavily depicted.

Also, depression, anxiety, somatoform disorders, and drug misuse can be effectively treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Psychotic conditions, behavioral medicine, marital troubles, and other challenges have lately been added to the therapeutic disorders that can be treated with ECT.

2) explain how you are going to use the models

Psychodynamic treatment aims to help patients discover all of their feelings, even those they are not aware of, to understand themselves and their relationships better. In psychodynamic therapy, unsolved difficulties and unconscious sentiments influence the patient's behavior and mood by bringing the cold components of their lives into the current moment of their life.

First-line treatment for depression is often pharmaceutical because of the lack of qualified therapists and the desires of the patients. Treating depression with CBT is equally recommended because it is effective and acceptable. Mild to moderate depression episodes are the most prevalent targets for this type of treatment. 

References

Alavi, N., & Omrani, M. (2018). What is evidence and how can it help us rate our thoughts and feeling? Online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, 105-116. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99151-1_10

American Psychiatric Association. (2015). Understanding mental disorders: Your guide to DSM-5®. American Psychiatric Pub.

McDonald, J. B., & Rancourt, D. (2020). Treating bulimia nervosa and achieving medically required weight loss: A case study. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/r8f9h

 

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