Psychological Disorder Analysis The case study we will be going over is on a patient named Marla. Now Marla is a 42-year-old Hispanic female who came to our mental health clinic expressing complaints of constantly feeling “jumpy”. Marla also explained that although she feels exhausted and completely worn out, Marla says she is having trouble sleeping. Marla also expressed that she is having problems when it comes down to concentrating on tasks that she needs to complete tasks. Marla also informed us that because of the issues just described she is having problems at work and is causing her to have concerns of being able to function in her day to day life. Although the information that Marla provided is limited and unable at that time to come up with a diagnosis on what she is actually suffering from, the information that Marla has given is a good starting point to guide the follow up questions to be able to get a better idea of what is going on with Marla.
With the symptoms that Marla has brought to our attention it sounds as though an anxiety disorder is possible. With the focusing being on generalized anxiety disorder. This disorder is also known as GAD. The physical symptoms of GAD are muscle stiffness, tiredness, edginess, trouble sleeping, touchiness, uneasiness, as well as gastrointestinal discomfort or diarrhea. You can screen for GAD with a series of questions that will help diagnose Marla as having GAD. In wanting to make sure that the diagnosis was correct, the following follow up questions were asked and here are her answers: 1. Are you concerned by extreme worry, that happens more days than not, for at least six months?
Marla’s answer was that she could not remember a day when she was not worried about one thing or another. Even on good days Marla explained that she worries about when the bad days will be back. It did not matter what was going on in the day she knew that something would and could go wrong. When it came to work she was worried if what she was doing was good enough, is this the day that she was going to get fired, do her co-workers hate her. All these feelings going through her head all day every day. 2. Are you concerned by irrational worry about events or activities such as work or your health?
Marla answered that she worried about this stuff all the time. When she was at work and had projects to do, she would worry if she was working fast enough, if she was doing a good enough job, if the work she was completing was to the standards her boss wanted, will I be written up today, am I going to get fired today, do my co-workers hate me. When it came to her family she worried if she was good enough, if her family was proud of her, are they going to disown me today, did I do something to disappoint them today, or are they med at me. Even when I am out with friends I have these thoughts going through my head and I am unable to turn them off, even though I know they make no sense. 3. Are you concerned by the powerlessness to control worrying?
Marla answered yes, I just want to be able to go through one day where I can relax and be okay with whatever comes my way and not worry about every little thing every day. There is so much that I want to do, but cannot get myself to do it because of the constant state of worry. Will I have fun, should I be doing this, am I good enough. All constant worries that go through my head even as I am traveling to work. Even when I am doing something the worries I seem to feel have nothing to do with what I am doing at the time. For instance when I am sitting on the couch trying to relax and just take my mind off of things by reading I will be worrying about my job, about my friends and family, as well as my health because I am worried all the time. 4. Are you concerned by anxiety, feeling keyed-up, or on edge?
Marla answered all day long I feel keyed-up like I am just waiting for something to go wrong that I know that I have no control over, but yet