The Concept of Depressive Psychological Condition - Case Study Example

Depression Case Study Elena is 22 years old and currently is a college and she lives with her parents. She had d her boyfriend for 2 years when he proposed to her. Her parents are rich people and have always provided her with whatever she demanded; also, they are happily married and their family is perfect, according to her criteria of ideal family. Elena says she has never seen them arguing and their marriage is an example for her. When she was talking about her fiancée she seemed sad and told that her parents had always been against their relationships; although she always knew their relationships wouldn’t work because there were a lot of things she couldn’t be able to accept in her fiancée, still she always tried to save the relationships. The complaints Elena came to me with were despondency, anxiety about her life, feeling of despair, and also she mentioned that she had a kind of alcohol addiction because she couldn’t imagine a day without a glass of wine. She asked me whether I had patients with the same disorders as she had and whether my therapy was helpful for them, because she had certain doubts that there was anything that could help her. Elena’s depressive psychological condition was expressed in multiple aspects of her life. She experienced difficulties in attending classes, because she was not interested in communication and became more and more alienated from society. She abandoned sport and stopped doing her homework because she claimed that being married was her main life goal and she was waiting for her wedding day; although the more date became delayed, the more depressed she appeared to be. She felt that her life was empty and that there would be no happy future for her, because her marriage would not be successful enough and she would be unhappy forever. She also had some sleep disorders like insomnia because she couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that her life was broken. She wasn’t blaming herself for her life outcomes because she was trying to find anyone else to blame for her failures. She also talked a lot about the relationships with her fiancée and how dissatisfied she was about his life position, but she claimed that she couldn’t break up with him because she was afraid that no one would ever love her again and that he was her last chance to marry. Furthermore, she experienced frustration because of her age which she considered as an old one. Elena declined to accept that she had certain problems with alcohol usage because a bottle of wine per day was her norm and she constantly argued that she was sure it wouldn’t cause any harm for her health. Elena was skeptic about visiting a therapist because she didn’t believe cognitive therapy would be helpful in her situation. The clinical interview with Elena revealed that she probably has depression. The DSM-IV criteria for the disorder, listed in psychotherapeutic literature, mostly match the symptoms and complaints revealed during the interview. She has sleep disorders, anxiety about her life outcomes, long-lasting sombrous mood, partial appetite loss, alienation from society and restriction of her social connections, constant changes in mood and doubts; furthermore, she has slowed down physical responses and general frustration and uncertainty about how to act in different situations that happen to her (Crary & Crary 1973). Considering the depth of her beliefs about her life and the period during which she has been in such psychological condition, her depression might be even a chronic one (Klein 2010, Horwitz 2010). The problems with alcohol and unacknowledged symptoms of alcoholism are evident proofs of depression and life dissatisfaction, which was revealed in psychological researches on the matter of young adults alcoholism conducted by Horwitz and Raskin White (1991). Elena’s constant mood changes from deep despair and anxiety to extreme excitement about her future wedding that afterwards change into scandals and hysterics point on deep inherent dissatisfaction with the order of her life. However, her disability to make changes and apathy about any other opportunities that could have changed everything prove that her psychological condition doesn’t let her function normally not only in society but even when she is alone. The possible reason for occurrence of depressive moods could be the fact that once Elena realized that she had lived in a perfect family for her entire life and she had constructed plans that her life would be alike to the successful life of her parents. However, when she accessed reality, she faced a lot of life situations and circumstances she didn’t know how to deal with. It turned out that the life she had been living was so perfect that there is a small possibility to construct the “happily ever after” in real life situation. She was searching for a husband that would be the same as her father was, and she wanted the same life her mother had, which meant living in a successful marriage surrounded by prosperity. However, unlike her mother, she didn’t manage to meet the same guy her father was and she realized that the first try to meet a good man was failed, but she couldn’t imagine another possibility to meet someone because her parents always claimed that there should be one and only love in her life; and that is the reason why she couldn’t break up with her fiancée and agreed to marry him. Thus the roots of her depressive condition are in her perfect childhood happiness’ confrontation with real life failures. The current difficulties with communication and life dissatisfaction that Elena experiences were caused by her boyfriend’s proposal. It evoked the controversial feelings of desire to be married (not to the boyfriend but in general) because she believed she was supposed to be married by 23 (in pursuance of her mother’s experience) and dissatisfaction with her boyfriend’s difference from her father. As far as she was looking for a man who would be alike to her father and would provide her with all the care, support, life opportunities, and prosperity, her current fiancée doesn’t match the criteria. Thus, his proposal made her happy about opening up a possibility to become a married woman, just like her mother, nevertheless it simultaneously made her depressed about the fact that she couldn’t imagine what kind of future she would have with a man different from her father. Thus probably the biggest paradox of Elena’s situation is that her depression was caused by too perfect life example of her parents’ life and marriage, but nothing in real life could match the ideal. Cognitive behavioural therapy methods would address Elena’s wrong expectation about her future and would target her life values based on too perfect life example of her parents. Cognitive therapy for depression developed by Beck et al. would suggest Elena to make her beliefs more realistic and change the core values of her life goals (Gelder 1990). The concrete measures that could be helpful in changing her life position must include activities that would help her segregate life stereotypes she gained from her family and attitudes to life and people she learned during her life outside family environment. Such segregation is supposed to help the patient to realize what judgments and misconceptions about life make her depressed and frustrated (Goldberg 1982). After she finds out the misconceptions, for instance, by writing them down in a special journal once they appear in her life, we would analyze each of the negative mindset in order to destroy it and change into a positive and life-improving one by finding unrealistic judgments about life. References Klein, D.N. (2010). "Chronic Depression: Diagnosis and Classification". Current Directions in Psychological Science, 19, 96-100. Crary, W. G. and Crary, G.C. (1973). "Depression". The American Journal of Nursing, 73, 472-475. Horwitz, A.V. (2010). "How an Age of Anxiety Became an Age of Depression". The Milbank Quarterly, 88, 112-138. Horwitz, A.V. and Raskin White, H. (1991). "Becoming Married, Depression, and Alcohol Problems Among Young Adults". Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 23, 221-237. Gelder, M.G. (1990). "Psychological Treatment For Depressive Disorder: Cognitive And Interpersonal Therapies Are Particularly Helpful For Patients Who Cannot Take Drugs". BMJ: British Medical Journal, 300, 1087-1088. Goldberg, D. (1982). "Cognitive Therapy For Depression". British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Edition), 284, 143-144. Read More