Psychological Diagnosis
Psy270
Megan Burger
1/21/2015

When it comes to Marla the 45 year old accountant whom is having trouble with concentrating at work, "feeling jumpy", and having problems sleeping. I first thought of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder but after further review I decided that she is suffering from PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I have decided this because all of her symptoms seem to have lined up with all of the symptoms of PTSD. Even though there are a number of causes of PTSD it all comes from a traumatic event that has happened in the past. PTSD is a serious disorder that can wreak havoc on people's lives more so then the traumatic event. This is because the person whom experienced this traumatic event relives it on a daily basis. Some of the symptoms that people with PTSD have is paranoia, problems sleeping, problems concentrating, flashbacks or nightmares of the events. I think the paranoia is what is causing Marla's "jumpiness" because paranoia makes you jumpy because you are always expecting something to happen. Something simple as a touch can cause someone to be jumpy. The questions I would ask Marla when I first interviewed her would be asking her what brought her to see me today? This question will let me know what has been going on with Marla and why she felt it necessary to come in to see a psychologist. This will also let me know what kind of symptoms she is having or problems she is experiencing which will let me better diagnose her. The symptoms she would portray would be the jumpiness, problems concentrating, and the inability to sleep. The second questions that I would ask would be what she is expecting out of therapy. This question can go one of two ways I would imagine. The first way she could get angry cause how is someone supposed to know what they want out of the therapy they will receive before actually receiving it. The other way would be her listing goals for herself to reach while in therapy. Some of these goals may be to relax, to be able to sleep, and to concentrate more at work and the things she needs to accomplish for herself. This question will let me know what she is expecting from me as her psychologist. It will also let me know what she wants to improve on and accomplish. The third question would be how long has she been suffering these symptoms or feeling this way. This will help clear up a few things such as how long these feelings and symptoms have been going on. This is important because this will help me not misdiagnose her. Since some symptoms in different disorders are the same and the only difference is the length of the symptoms. So by knowing how long she has been suffering from these feeling and/or symptoms will help me pinpoint what kind of disorder she may be suffering from. The fourth and what I believe is the most important question of all is what event or events lead up to these feelings. By asking this question and since I believe that she is suffering from PTSD that she would tell me a story of a traumatic experience that happened within the last few months. I would assume that her traumatic experience was from the last few months because being a business women she could not push these feelings/symptoms back long enough before being fired from her job for lack of concentration. Also the lack of sleep will make anyone feel like their mind is not right. I say this is the most important questions because it will give me some insight to what might have caused all of the problems she is having. Next I would ask her about her past relationships and how she sees them. I would also explain that I mean not just with sexual relationships but with family and friends. I feel this question is important because social withdrawal is a symptom of numerous disorders and disabilities. Also it will let me get a view on how her parents treated her or family treated her. This also will allow me to see if any events farther in the