Carlos' Case Study

815 Words2 Pages

Introduction
On February 3rd, 2013, patient Carlos Ramirez was referred to my office by his 1st psychiatrist with symptoms of severe depression and preoccupations with health disorders. Patient has had adverse side effects with Prozac and Zoloft. Carlos has been seen by primary care physician and 2 mental health officials to discuss his feelings of impending death and depression. Upon arrival, Carlos and I spoke about his early life, what events triggered his current pattern of thinking, what in his personal life has changed recently, and what other treatment plans have been used to help cure Carlos’ feelings of depression. Carlos described symptoms of despair, poor concentration on topics, loss of interest in daily tasks and subjects that once brought interest, and tearfulness at thoughts of passing and what state this would leave his children and family in. He has been hospitalized for his depression and reported that a mixture of anti-depression and anti-anxiety drugs helped to lift symptoms temporarily. His reported symptoms are consistent of the previous diagnosis of depression. Depression is classified as the inability to do things once found enjoyable, fear to move forward in one’s life, loss of self, and debilitating feelings of sorrow. Carlos’ has many symptoms concurrent with those of depression. Carlos also has a history of medical and mental disorders in his father’s side of the family.
Causation-Biological Standpoint
Carlos is the first in his immediate family to suffer from depression. Both parents have no mental disorders; however, Carlos has stated that his older sister was diagnosed with Schizophrenia. Depression does have a biological underpinning, and can be inherited from parents, even if the parents have n...

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...y. Primary care physicians ask for the family’s medical history, which makes other disorders within a family seem like they can happen at any given moment. This causes people like Carlos to have fears about death and undiagnosed disorders. Carlos’ fear of heart attack, which happened to his cousin, is interfering with his daily life. Carlos checks his heart rate and blood pressure several times a day, which distracts him from his tasks at home and at work. Despite reassurance from his primary care physician, Carlos fears that his elevated heart rate at weird times is a sign of a heart attack coming on. Society also helps to feed into Carlos’ fears by broadcasting on media what percentages of people have had a heart attack this year and how to monitor your symptoms to see if your heart is healthy. Carlos has learned from society how to blow a fear out of proportion.

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