Psychological Disorder Assessment - Case Study Example

CASE STUDY OF A PERSON WITH A PSYCHOLOGY DISORDER Demographic information Name: Eva Turk Name: Joe McKay Occupational: teacher Occupational: lawyer Age: 26. Age: 31 Marital status: Married Marital status: Married Eva accounts of her personal life and puts forth that, since she was young, she has always been a worrier. However, this changed and started to ruin her life two years ago when she was twenty four years. Eva experienced her first attack when she and Joe, her husband were at a children’s church service. Eva joked to Joe concerning one of the presents presented to the children. Although it was not nasty, it began to play on Eva’s mind and she became anxious that she could have been heard by the people sitting nearby and misinterpreted it. She started thinking that she could be reported and sacked from the school, or be imprisoned. Although Joe attempted to reassure her, Eva could not believe him and she felt she ought to have to been punished. She started to monitor her speech and only spoke when at home with all the windows closed. Eva’s problems began with panic which resulted to avoidance, rituals and checking to prevent the situation recurring. Anxiety increased when cleaning the toilet after she read the bottle’s instructions that the bleach should not be permitted to mix with other types. She wondered whether the bleach had already mixed with old bleach, and whether there would be fumes. After this, Eva avoided employing lavatory cleaners and bleaches, and other cleaning agents. In fact she happened to very frightened of them and every time she saw them, she always washed her hands. Eva became obsessed with cleanliness and dirt. Each day, she could wash her hands around a hundred times as revealed by her bleeding knuckles and clean about forty tea towels at the same time. She thought her body was an inhabitant of lice and itching added to her fear. She always examined her bed at night to make certain that there were no crawling insects. One day, Joe brought Eva some tablets which he had purchased as he though that they could relieve her situation. However, this just escalated her situation. After reading the instructions that all medicine should be kept away from children’s reach, she became convinced that in one way or another, she could lose them and that they could be accessed by children who could consume them. She even felt that the drugs were everywhere, in shoes, clothes, and handbags. At this point, Eva had already stopped going to work. Her condition could not let her do so. She feared walking on the ground as she felt that pills on the ground could stick on her feet. Furthermore, she used to check on the soles of the visitors feet to make sure that they had not left any pills. Being left in the house alone was like a nightmare to Eva. She always felt that she could leave taps running, electrical items on, and even gas which she knew was dangerous. Joe was always there with her when he was not much occupied. Being his own boss meant that, he could attend work or leave as he pleased. Sometimes, Joe thought of becoming intimate with his wife. Nevertheless, Eva became very anxious and scared of becoming pregnant thus resisted her partner’s moves. She requested her husband that they should not make love for the next three months. To ensure protection, she started sleeping in a sleeping bag, and she could not use any clothing such as towel, or bed sheets used by her husband or directly use the toilet after being used by other people. All what she required was Joe’s assurance of faithfulness and love, but however much he reassured her, she could not believe him. It did not take a long time before Joe felt lonely and he sought companion from one of his workers. From this time, he spent much time in his office whilst he devoted less time to his wife, going to work early and leaving late in the evening, leaving her under the care of a care provider. Eva was very anxious and she felt that something was going wrong with her husband. She once felt that, her husband was always there for her but she started feeling lonely and unloved, and believed that her husband was cheating on her. This worsened her condition more. It was not until one day that Eva requested her care provider to take her to her husband’s office. It was during lunch hour when all the other staffs had gone out for lunch. After entering her husband’s office, Eva did not believe her eyes from what she saw but it did confirm what she thought. She met Joe kissing one of his female staff; he was seeing another woman behind her back. This was the worst news a person in her condition could bear. Although Joe asked for forgiveness, it was not easy for his partner and she had to live with it as some things are not easily forgiven. He promised Eva that he could stand by her and see her through her treatment so that they could become the one happily married couple they were when they were freshly married. Diagnosis for Eva Turks Eva was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. This can be evidenced by the fact that most of her behaviours and symptoms resembled those of an individual with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Her general practitioner told her that, her condition could be as a result of biological factors especially the abnormalities with the neurotransmitter serotonin (Lorrin, 2007; (Rob and Veale, 2005). Justification of obsessive-compulsive disorder In the case study, Eva was seen to have a combination of compulsions and obsessions. The symptoms which were evident in her included: Obsessed with cleanliness and dirt (Turks et al., 1990). For instance: Excessive washing of her hands. She could wash her hand approximately a hundred times in a day and especially every time she came into contact or saw lavatory cleaners, bleaches, and other cleaning agents. She could clean about forty tea towels at the same time. Avoidance, rituals and checking to prevent the situation recurring: always checked the taps and electrical items to see whether they had been turned off. Fear and worry (Markarian et al., 2010): she feared walking on the ground as she felt that pills on the ground could stick on her feet; fear of becoming pregnant and even avoiding using clothing’s such as towel to dry her after it has been used by her husband; fear of losing her drugs and that they could be accessed by children who could consume them. Always asking for reassurance of love and infidelity but could not believe her husband. Problems/Symptoms Withdrawal from intimacy Infidelity Lack of trust Always seeking reassurance Fear and worry avoidance compulsions and obsessions Strengths financial stability well educated and knowledgeable wish to change behaviours availability of support from the care providers Goal 1: Joe, family and friends to assist Eva in accepting her problems more as an illness Objectives: Spend time with the patient discussing of her past and present. This will help the patient to have a clear view of her life, from the past, through the present to the future the problems she has passed through and how well she can manage them. Encourage the patient to watch Television, read news papers, magazines and books; for instance, “Living with fear” a book written by professor Marks’. Goal 2: family and partner to support the patient in overcoming her compulsions and obsessions Objectives: Encourage Eva to undertake some house chores which she previously avoided such as cleaning the toilet using bleaches, use electrical appliances and water taps daily, but these should be monitored. That is, expose her to the anxiety provoking events (Markarian et al., 2010). Always engage Eva in direct communication discussing different issues from politics, family life amongst others as these will assist her to always be diverted from her thoughts of fears and worries. Response prevention: encourage the patient to avoid performing her anxiety-lessening rituals such as compulsive washing of table clothes or hands (Rob and Veale, 2005). Goal 3: couple to discuss more on matters linked with their relationship Objectives: The unfaithful partner to take responsibility of his behaviour and ask for forgiveness Eva to find a place in her heart to forgive her husband as this is deemed as one way in which she will be able to recover quickly from her illness. References Lorrin, K. M. (2007), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: An Update for the Clinician. Focus (5): 3. Markarian Y, Larson MJ, Aldea MA, (2010). Multiple pathways to functional impairment in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Clinical Psychology Review, 30 (1): 78–88. Rob W., and Veale, D., (2005). Overcoming Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder. Constable and Robinson Ltd. Turk, J., Marks, I. M., and Horder, J. (1990). Obsessive-compulsive disorder: case study and discussion of treatment. British Journal of General Practice, 40(334): 210–212. Read More