Good Example Of Case Study On Applied Final Case Study Project

Applied Final Case Study Project Introduction A psychological disorder refers to a mental state or pattern that causes harm to an individual to the point that the individual is not able to perform his duties as he is required to or even live an ordinary life (Bolton, 2009). Psychological disorder can also be called mental disorder. There are many mental disorders; therefore it is important to determine the right type of disorder that a patient is suffering from. Many people fear asking for help due to the fear of what other people will think of them. However, this should not be the case because it better for the disorder to be treated and controlled in its early stages rather than when it is too late. In this paper, we try to gain more information about psychological disorders by using a case study of one patient (Bolton, 2009). I. Demographic Information The name of the patient is Gary. He is a white male residing in the United States of America. He is thirty-nine years old. Gary has a Master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He is self-employed having started his own business after his studies. Gary is married to Jane; they have been married for the last 12 years. Jane is 35 years old and is also a business woman. Gary and Jane have two children; Peter, who is six years old and Paul who is nine years old. Gary and his family belong to the upper-middle class because they can afford to buy and do what they want. Gary does not have any prior mental health history; however his wife, Jane has a preexisting health condition that forces them to use a lot of money on medical insurance. Gary earns a good income that enables him to support his family, but this only happened recently as his business is relatively new. During the period he was building his business, his wife took care of the medical insurance for the whole family and all other bills; she did this comfortably because her income is approximately $200,000. II. Presenting Problem(s) Gary’s concern is that his overall being has been affected by the deteriorating state of the economy. He feels that his physical, emotional, professional, and personal welfare have all become out of control. Gary says that he gets tired very fast even without doing much work which is taking a toll on his business that requires him to work for long hours. Personally, he does not feel motivated to work or do anything, has become very emotional that anything small could make him so upset, and his self-esteem has decreased. Gary also complained that he has gained weight; he is suffering from insomnia and lack of sleep. He has become very anxious and has lost appetite followed by increased eating and decreased libido. He also feels that he is losing control of his marriage because his wife is not happy that she gets to do more work than him, although she does not talk to Gary about her concerns. Gary feels he could do better in his business; if only the economy were better he would not have to use much of his savings to support his business. He is concerned that at the moment he cannot neither buy nor do what he wants because prices of commodities have gone up. He is also concerned that his customers take more than the agreed time to clear their debts. This delay affects his business cash flow, and his accountant is forced to keep following up on when the customers will pay. Gary is likewise under pressure always to have enough money to cater for his business, his employees’ salary, pay all his family’s bills and their medical insurance which is very expensive. He feels that the fall of the economy has contributed significantly to his current stress that is monetary related. The declined economy forces him to spend almost all of his money on bills, and he is left with little or even no money. He feels of guilt stemming from the loss of income due to economic troubles, especially because he is a business owner. Gary is also concerned for his wife’s health because she works too much. Jane, Gary’s wife, runs a business in addition to being a full-time housewife. It is as if she has two jobs and they all demand a lot of energy and time from her. Gary feels that his wife’s health issues result from her very busy life and the fact that she does not take a break. Gary hopes to regain control of his life and marriage and that the reason he has sought professional help.
III. Mental Status/Functioning When Gary came to my office, he appeared lost in his thoughts. He seemed disturbed and lost. When it was his turn to see me, my assistant had to call out his name before he responded. As he talked to me, I noticed that he viewed his life from a negative perspective and once did he say anything positive. He spoke slowly as he thought before he said anything and at times he would go silent and had to call out his name before he continued to speak. He would tell me about one aspect of his life and then jump to another before he finished the first; he was all over the place. He likewise avoided eye contact and preferred to stare at the items placed on my table. Gary said too much like someone who needed to let out what was bothering him, like someone who had been longing for a friend to confide in. IV. Preliminary Diagnosis Categorical Information Categorical information helps to determine the type of treatment that will be given to the patient (Stein, n.d.). Gary is suffering from two psychological disorders namely; minor depressive disorder, and sleep disorder. Minor depressive disorder is when a person experiences mood swings; this disorder is different from major depressive disorder. Minor depressive disorder can occur from time to time or just one time. On the other hand, sleep disorder means that a person does not get enough sleep, or he gets too much sleep. These sleep patterns distract his normal life because he cannot function well at school, work or any other routine activity. Gary also suffers from personality disorder which states that a person starts to behave differently from others in the society. A person that suffers from personality disorder is very emotional, tends to be introvert, anxious and stressed. Gary, however, does not suffer from bipolar disorder which is seen when an individual feels jubilant at one time then feels incredibly sad the next minute. Dimensional Information
We have identified that Gary is suffering from three different types of psychological disorders; sleep, mood and personality disorders. From the assessment, Gary suffers varying degrees in these various disorders (Stein, n.d.). First, his sleep disorder is severe because some days he sleeps very late while other days he sleeps too much. Other times he feels sleepy during the day when he is supposed to be working. The extent of the second disorder, minor depressive disorder is also severe. From the assessment, Gary’s mood changes very fast from good to worse. One time he is happy the next he is upset because of a very small thing. He is also unmotivated most of the time. The last disorder, the personality disorder is mild. Personality disorder is visible in Gary because he has become very emotional and anxious. He also has become introvert and preferred to keep to himself. Additional Information The factor that has contributed to Gary’s problems is the declining state of the economy. He is also under high pressure because he has just started his own business which took up a lot of his savings. Similarly, he feels that he has let his wife down by letting her take care of the family medical insurance and all other family expenses all by herself. His new business demands that he works for long hours and the fact that the economy is declining have made him feel like he no longer has control over his life.1. The preliminary diagnosis, in this case, is that Gary is suffering from sleep, minor depressive and personality disorders. For sleep and minor depressive the extent of the disorders is severe while for the personality disorder the extent is mild. Gary’s symptoms include difficulty in speech, anxiety, moodiness and irritability. Others include; interrupted sleep, low libido and a guilty conscious.2. Gary needs to work on how he reacts to situations that he has no control over; this will help to stop feeling guilty or even anxious. In life, there are things that happen to us, and we have no control over them, so we can either chose to let them control us or rise above them. The other area that Gary can improve is reducing his working hours and spends more time with his family. 3. Gary’s strength includes the fact that he has accepted that he has a problem, and he needs help. This means that Gary is willing to input in the work to make his life better, that he is ready to listen and follow instructions. Gary is likewise a very hardworking man; he has managed to build his business successfully to the point where he can now his family and take the burden off his wife. This attribute will help him recover in a short period because he will always attend all his sessions. V. Preliminary Treatment Plan One way to treat Gary would be through psychotherapy where Gary will be subjected to therapy by himself (Unite for sight, n.d.). Gary will be allowed to talk about everything and anything he feels, both good and bad feelings. Gary will be able to open up and be vulnerable so that he can let out all his pain in order for him to heal. In this case, Gary’s pattern of thoughts will be changed so as ultimately to change his mood swings and his general behavior. Therapy will help Gary change his negative view of life to a more positive one. Another treatment would be to put Gary in therapy sessions that involve other patients (Unite for sight, n.d.). Here he will get to hear other people’s experiences which will be encouraged. He will be able to hear other’s experiences which are worse than his own. Another method to treat Gary would be the use of medicines like the antidepressants or mood stabilizers that will help him stay calm (Unite for sight, n.d.). VI. Homework The first homework would be to record the times he feels anxious, he also write down his thoughts and feelings at that particular time (Mindquire, n.d.). The homework would need for Gary to write down the moments when he feels happy and the times he feels sad and the different circumstances between the two. The second assignment would be for Gary to talk to his wife share how he feels and apologize for letting her cater for the whole family’s expenses (Mindquire, n.d.). Gary said that he feels his wife hates him because he spends most of his time building his business while he wife is least with the task of taking care of their children even though she also has a full-time job. VII. Goals and Objectives for Future Psychotherapy Session The objectives for the next psychotherapy session will be to determine whether Gary talked to his wife and shared how he felt and how apologetic he was. This will help him take back the control of his marriage primarily because both Gary and his wife work hard and for long hours and barely have time for each other. The second goal will be to go through the recording and notes of Gary. This will help to determine the exact situations or things that make Gary angry, emotional or anxious and what thought come to his mind during those moments. For Gary to get better, he has to control his thoughts and not the other way round, because this will help him rise above situations that are beyond his control.
VIII. References
Bolton, D. (2009). What is mental disorder? An essay in philosophy, science, and values. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press.
Mindquire, (n.d). About Therapy and Homework. Retrieved 28 March 2015, from https://www.mindquire.com/about/how-to-engage-clients-in-therapy-homework.php
Stein, D. (n.d). Dimensional or categorical: different classifications and measures of anxiety and depression. Medicographia.com. Retrieved 28 March 2015, from http://www.medicographia.com/2013/01/dimensional-or-categorical-different-classifications-and-measures-of-anxietyand-depression/
Unite for sight, (n.d). Treating Psychological Disorders. Retrieved 28 March 2015, from http://www.uniteforsight.org/mental-health/module5