PSY 410 Abnormal Psychology- Woodys Mental Health Issue

In today's world, stress is inescapable. Stress can be a major factor in physical and psychological illnesses. Stress is closely related to fear, panic, and anxiety. A number of relatively common psychological disturbances share symptoms that include anxiety as a central component. The somatic symptom disorders involve a preoccupation with the body or a medical illness. The dissociative disorders involve an alteration in consciousness or memory such as amnesia or, in an extreme case, the development of multiple personalities as in dissociative identity disorder.

Below is a Sample Case - Woody

Click to review the sample case (do not use Woody in your M2 A2 assignment analysis).

Answer

The Case Study

Presenting the problem

Anna Brown forty-year-old female attorney who has an European background, has gone to her primary physician with the complaint of fatigue. She has complained that she was facing this problem since last year. Before that, she was in a good health. Initially she used to experience frequent form of cold and sore throats. Along with her frequent infections in the respiratory tract, she had the gradual onset of fatigue and malaise. Due to her immense fatigue, she frequently takes leave from work.

History of the problem

Anna said that she is facing the problem, past one year. In the month of December 2015, she has lost her husband and since then she was under a situational stress to raise her daughter who was then 16 years old. Last year February, her daughter got through New York University and she comes home only during her holidays. Her first occurrence of respiratory problems with the onset of fatigue started from last year May. However, over the course of past six months, her fatigue became severe and she left her well-paid respectful job of an attorney. She faced the problems of sleep disturbances and according to her analysis; she is going through initial and middle insomnia. In addition to fatigue, she has complained about full body ache, dizziness, light-headedness, insomnia and difficulty to read something with full concentration.

Prior treatment history

Since 2015, the patient has been diagnosed with hypertension. Her husband was diagnosed with blood cancer in the year 2013 and since then she was under immense tension and stress. She is taking the medicines for hypertension since November 2015. She is currently under the medication only for high blood pressure. She takes Zestril 129 only once a day.

Medical history

She only has the problem of high blood pressure since November 2015. She was once hospitalized at the time of her delivery of her child. However, this year she has hospitalized to have a full body check up. During the past one year, the patient has consulted a internist, two rheumatologist and a neurologist. She has undergone multiple tests but there was no specific diagnosis. Her neurologist told her physical state is completely healthy and she should consult psychiatry.

Family History

She is a single child and she got married at the age of thirty with her childhood friend. She has a single girl child whose age is now 16 years. She lost her husband in the year 2015 as her husband had blood cancer. She lives alone in Briton as her daughter lives in NY.

Developmental History

She was a seizurean premature child. She was born in the seventh month. However, she did not have any problems while growing up. She was an intelligent child and was always a class topper.  

Education Qualification

She was a very good student since childhood, she completed her degree of Law from Oxford University, and she is an attorney in a reputed law firm in Briton.

Work History

She was working in a reputed law firm in Briton since she was 29 year old, but from last six months, she is unable to attend office due to her health problems.

Legal History

She has never been arrested or never served time in prison.

Sexual relationship history

She had a good marriage and here was no problem in her sexual orientation in her marriage. However, she has not been involved any sexual relationship after her husband died.

Review of the case

The case study reveals that Anna is suffering from Somatoform disorder as she has complained about significant distress and disruption due to some physical ailment over six months that are not evident through various tests (Claassen-van et al., 2016). From this case study, it is evident that Anna has undergone depression and she is left alone in the house (Claassen-van et al., 2016). Her daughter also stays in NY. Therefore, she needs time and attention of people she loves. The sudden demise of her husband has also added to her misery.

The professionals should use the behavioral therapies to improve the condition of the patient. A knowledgeable and caring professional will provide education guidance and coping strategies to the patient and counsel her about the values of the therapeutic exercises (Zipfel et al., 2014).

References

Claassen-van Dessel, N., van der Wouden, J. C., Dekker, J., & van der Horst, H. E. (2016). Clinical value of DSM IV and DSM 5 criteria for diagnosing the most prevalent somatoform disorders in patients with medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS). Journal of psychosomatic research, 82, 4-10.

Koelen, J. A., Houtveen, J. H., Abbass, A., Luyten, P., Eurelings-Bontekoe, E. H., Van Broeckhuysen-Kloth, S. A., ... & Geenen, R. (2014). Effectiveness of psychotherapy for severe somatoform disorder: meta-analysis. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 204(1), 12-19.

Koelen, J. A., Houtveen, J. H., Abbass, A., Luyten, P., Eurelings-Bontekoe, E. H., Van Broeckhuysen-Kloth, S. A., ... & Geenen, R. (2014). Effectiveness of psychotherapy for severe somatoform disorder: meta-analysis. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 204(1), 12-19.

Lakhan, S. E., & Schofield, K. L. (2013). Mindfulness-based therapies in the treatment of somatization disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PloS one, 8(8), e71834.

Olatunji, B. O., Kauffman, B. Y., Meltzer, S., Davis, M. L., Smits, J. A., & Powers, M. B. (2014). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for hypochondriasis/health anxiety: A meta-analysis of treatment outcome and moderators. Behaviour research and therapy, 58, 65-74.

Schieber, K., Kollei, I., de Zwaan, M., & Martin, A. (2015). Classification of body dysmorphic disorder—What is the advantage of the new DSM-5 criteria?. Journal of psychosomatic research, 78(3), 223-227.

Zipfel, S., Wild, B., Groß, G., Friederich, H. C., Teufel, M., Schellberg, D., ... & Burgmer, M. (2014). Focal psychodynamic therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy, and optimised treatment as usual in outpatients with anorexia nervosa (ANTOP study): randomised controlled trial. The Lancet, 383(9912), 127-137.