Patient Suffering from a Lack of Strong Attachments - Case Study Example

Living with relatives through college life denied the patient the parental love and attention required by a young adult, leading her to turn to men at an early age.

More to this, she tried forming strong attachments with her peers in school, but her insecurity did not allow her to keep them close. The men also disappointed her, but she succeeded in school, leading to a career as a veterinarian.
Behavioural, Emotional, Cognitive, and Somatic symptoms
Her mother’s pregnancy seems to have affected her life negatively. She experienced sleepless nights, leading to excessive drinking. More to this, she engaged in sexual deals that made the matter worse. She became depressed, anxious, and even developed suicidal feelings.

These emotions made her emotionally unstable, and her cognitive thinking got impaired.
Distress Caused by the Problems
These problems depress the patient a lot, leading to suicidal feelings. She also lives an isolated life, which furthers her loneliness. In addition, the problems ruin her health, given that she does not feed properly.
Duration of Problems
The concerns of the patient emerged from childhood when she began experiencing an unstable life. The problems persisted through college, and after college in her profession.

Strategies used to Cope
Strategies used by the patient include looking for the missing parental love in men, drinking, and engaging in sexual acts.
Incentive for Change
The patient needs counselling to improve her condition.
Similar Experiences
Such experiences are common in modern societies as families face many issues, leading to divorce. Others have parents who do not give them enough attention, due to professional obligations, thus leading to a dysfunctional society.
Differential Diagnosis
Given the background of the patient, she could be suffering from an adjustment disorder with a depressed mood (Gitlin, 2010, p. 76). The patient could have found it difficult to adjust to the pregnancy of her mother, leading to negative behavior.

My Diagnosis
In my opinion, the patient could be suffering from a lack of strong attachments. How the Diagnosis was reached, and how the Clients Symptoms fit the diagnostic criteria for the disorder. The patient’s parents divorced when she was only three. The separation denied her fatherly love as she lived with her mother. More to this, she experiences insufficient motherly love given her drinking habit. The death of her maternal grandmother also took away a source of love for her. Consequent to this, she turned to men at a tender age for love, but never got it.

In addition to this, she tried to possess her roommates as she searched for strong attachments with no success. Living alone also supports the lack of strong attachments, which led her to drink, and engaging in sexual acts.

More this, the approach concentrates on the strong points of the patient, thus encouraging her to view life in a positive manner.
Family Therapy
Family therapy can be used when helping this patient, as her mother also needs to play an active role in her life.RationaleInvolving the mother in the therapy would enhance the patients’ understanding of her mother. She would learn the needs of her mother and maybe focus on helping her mother to become a better person.
Suggestions of how Patients can Improve their Current Situation
Such patients can improve their condition by moving in with a friend or relative that they trust.

They can also focus their attention on their hobbies, thus using their spare time and energy positively.
Projected Outcome
Patients who behave in this manner should change for the better. Being in the company of other people would shift their minds from the self, thus concentrating on activities that are more productive. Consequent to this, they would spend less time drinking; they could avoid sexual acts, improve their well-being, and eventually live a healthy life.