Psychological Disorder Analysis

Abnormal behaviors are noticed throughout most societies. Since there are many people who are diagnosed with these diseases, there has been a great effort in trying to organize and find possible treatments for these disorders. In the scenario that is assigned a 42-year-old woman named Maria, who has been experiencing abnormal behaviors. She is lacks the ability to concentrate and is starting to have anxiety. The symptoms are affecting her daily life. She has been having trouble sleeping, which can be a major problem all on its own.
Maria is a 42-year-old female, is seeking advice from the mental health clinic regarding an assortment of symptoms. She is leading to understand that they are the cause of her issues. These symptoms are including difficulty sleeping, feeling jumpy all of the time, and having the inability to concentrate. Maria complains that these symptoms are affecting her performance while she is working. She is an accountant and needs to be able to concentrate on the task at hand. A possible reason Maria has the need to seek medical advice could be because her employer has prompted her to do so. During the provisional first visit to see a physician, Maria’s symptoms are requiring a further analysis to reach a complete diagnostic conclusion. The symptoms that Maria is describing can be the symptoms of a multitude of disorders. These disorders include depression, panic disorders, and potentially a post-traumatic stress disorder. Maria is going to be observed, and an assessment is going to be completed. Once the assessment is complete a diagnosis may be made. In this assessment, the attending therapist will include notes about possible causes, and potential treatments (Comer, 2011).
A clinical interview is the very beginning point for the individual known as Maria. The way she answers the clinical questions will help to determine the proper diagnosis. The clinical questions will include
1. What made you decide to come to therapy today?
2. What expectations do you look forward to during therapy? How do you believe it will be beneficial to you?
3. What can you tell me about your family, your heritage? Do you have any siblings?
4. Are you close with the members of your family? Do you have any friends you would consider “close” friends?
5. What kind of environment did you live in during childhood? VS. What kind of environment do you live in presently?
6. How do you think you get along with these people in your life? Are they useful to you, or do you believe there may be an issue that needs to be discussed?
7. Exactly what do you believe in? What are your own personal morals in life? How would you describe your own personality?
8. What is the state of your physical health? Do you believe you are healthy? Are there any types of medications that you take? Are you ever under the influence of alcohol or other drugs?
9. Have you ever had any types of feelings, such as anxiousness or depression? If so, how long have you been feeling like this?
10. Are there any of these symptoms that you may believe that may run in your family?
The main reason Maria has decided to come to see a therapist for a session is because she has been experiencing abnormal behaviors. She wants to know if there is anything a therapist can do in order to help her relieve her symptoms. Hopefully a successful diagnose will take place in order to get the proper treatment.
Maria is an only child to two very loving parents. She grew up in a small town on the edge of a very much larger town. She had very good grades in school but was not the most popular person around. She kept her nose in books so that she can help educate herself because she believed the school was not educating her quickly enough. She was not very close to her parents until she graduated high school, and moved away from home, to the larger town. Her parents come visit her twice a month. The first week after Maria moved away from her parent’s house in the little town she was driving her car to the local market. She got broadsided by a truck that did not see a stop sign. Maria stated that after this accident, she felt fine. She felt that there was no need for medical or mental help. Maria also states that she had another close encounter with another vehicle two weeks ago. She has only one close friend that lives uptown. While she lives downtown. Maria and her friend see one another twice a week, and they both call each other every day. Maria did not live in good conditions during her childhood. She described it as living in a poor manner, not having enough family time to spend together. She aspired to be more than her childhood, which is why she was always reading and trying to learn abundant amounts of information. The conditions Maria lives in now, is a huge improvement from her childhood’s conditions. Since she is living on her own, the only person she is has to rely on, is herself. She is an independent woman who is completely capable of taking care of herself. The people Maria has to associate with on a daily basis are people from work. She usually keeps to herself and does not venture into other people’s conversations. She gets along with them fine. Maria describes her own life as boring, doing the same things redundantly every day, but she describes her character as vibrant, and colorful, even though she chooses not to show it to the world. She believes, that with every book she reads her character will become more vibrant and unimaginable. Her own personal moral she has to be educated. She thinks education will bring her happiness. Maria describes her physical health as, just fine. She does not follow a diet, and she does not get much exercise. She does not take any medication. She also does not drink alcohol or abuse substances. None of these symptoms that Maria has described run in her family. She only knows of her mother and father and has asked them previously. They do not recall any of these symptoms in their parents.
The first part of Maria’s answers that stand out are the parts about her being by herself. She chose solitude instead of associating with other children. Reading was the way for her to escape into another world, which kept her in solitary, away from other people. The next part of her answers that stands out is the part about where she said she was in a car accident. This was shortly after moving away from her parent’s house. The fact that she had another close encounter with another vehicle two weeks ago is completely relevant to the diagnosis. The next part of her answers to the clinical questions that stand out is the part about friendship. Maria said that she did not have many friends during her childhood. This did not change into adulthood either. She is close with her parents now, even though they were not close when they lived together, and she has one friend that she talks to every day, and sees at least twice a week. She does not drink alcohol or abuse substances. The symptoms that Maria describes cannot be proven to be genetic, her mother, father, and grandparents did not portray any of these symptoms.
Maria becomes diagnosed with PTSD or “post-traumatic stress disorder.” PTSD is a disorder that will come when someone goes through a traumatic event in their life. After this event the individual will suffer from emotional flashbacks. Maria’s traumatic event is the previous car accident (Faces of Abnormal Psychology Interactive, n.d.). She was in a car wreck when she first moved to the bigger town. Even though she did not feel the need to seek medical or mental help, these emotions that she might have been suppressing came back, when she was almost in another accident more recently. Potential treatments that Maria can seek are psychotherapy, which can include cognitive therapy and group therapy. By successfully helping Maria through treatment, we can gradually get her back to where she was. The first step to take during therapy is to determine what triggers the symptoms. In Maria’s case, the trigger is the fear of being in another car accident. The next step is to find ways to cope with the symptoms, and becoming aware of what your symptoms are, and training oneself to change the reaction to them. The last step is to try to raise your self-esteem about the trigger. Stay positive (Comer, 2011).

References:
Comer, R. J. (2011). Fundamentals of abnormal psychology (6th ed.). New York, NY: Worth.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders. (n.d.). Retrieved from Faces of Abnormal Psychology Interactive: http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/psychology/faces/bigvid.swf