Case Study 2
K is a 45 year old man who has been having intense stress and worry. He also has been having trouble going to sleep and has been having to intrusive thought. He feels like he has no control in his life, he feels worthless and slightly hopeless. All these symptoms, point to a diagnosis of OCD.
DSM-5 terms needs to have OCD For this case to be diagnosed with OCD, there needs to be a presents of reoccurring obsessions and compulsions. Also, these obsession or compulsions need to be greatly affecting person’s life making them distressed. K’s case has a lot of symptoms that would cause him to get diagnosed with OCD according to the DMS-5. (Comer, 127)
Obsessions
An obsession “is a personal thought urge or image that is experienced
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A person suffering from OCD get some relief when doing these compulsions because they are taking control of something in what seem to be a hopeless situation. The compulsions in k‘s eyes are preventing something awful from happening. Since he’s locking the doors and windows is preventing someone from breaking into his house. By cleaning he’s limiting the chance of him or love one getting sick and possibly dying. This causes him in immense amount of stress, anxiety and could look like a general Anxiety disorder. However, there are some major differences that make OCD the proper …show more content…
The therapist gives K the tools to get rid of the negative thought processes that are constantly having. It’s believed that someone with OCD thought process has an alert or where they try their best to stop the negative feeling by doing in action like washing hands. Also, people with OCD blame their obsessions on themselves making for an even worst thought process. Therapist would educate K on his cognitive process so such thoughts can be overcome eventually making his obsession easier to handle. When K understands what his cognitive errors are he will be able to calm himself down when he feels the need to do one of his compulsions Once the obsessions are under control then the compulsions will stop because there no deeper issue. (Comer,
Obsessive-Compulsive disorder (OCD) - is characterized by persistent, uncontrollable and unwanted feelings or thoughts (obsessions) and routines or rituals (compulsions) in which individuals engage to try to prevent or rid themselves of these thoughts. In example of common compulsions include washing hands or cleaning repeatedly for fear of germs.
In psychology, there are various schools of thought when approaching a particular psychological problem. Each may view the scenario from a different avenue of approach, and their methods and techniques used to treat the problem may also vary. This paper will discuss case scenario three, involving a man named John who appears to be exhibiting obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). With this example, the paper will discuss the various schools of thought in psychological theory, their techniques, and recommendations for treatment; to include how this knowledge could be applied to my current professional work.
Darien is a patient who possibly displays comorbidity. His symptoms lead me to believe that he could possibly be diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. Darien’s symptoms that point to OCD are that he has rituals he must complete and if he does not he becomes anxious and is unable to continue with his day. He is however aware that these rituals are not actually helping him but he cannot stop doing them. He also reports feeling anxious most of the day, especially if he cannot perform his rituals, and that he is becoming increasingly more anxious. He is also unable to keep himself from worrying and feeling anxious.
In the case of Marjorie, she is a 24-year-old, single Caribbean American female who lives in the home with her mother and her two younger sisters. When she was 15 years old Marjorie’s father died. Marjorie is unmarried, has no children, and is employed part time. (Plummer, 2013). Since she had already received a definitive diagnosis of OCD by a psychiatrist, and had been initially prescribed Zoloft, (Plummer, 2013) I would begin by educating her about OCD, explaining that OCD is often shared with other disorders usually treated by mental health counselors such as depression or substance abuse; and explain that its onset usually occurs in the adolescent or college years (Noshirvani, Kasvikis, Marks, & Tsakirvis, 1991). (Spengler, n.d). Marjorie’s onset begun when she was a teenager and escalated once her father passed. As the worker being assigned to her case I would use Exposure theory as well as cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Marjorie is fearful of germs; through exposure therapy Marjorie could face her fears of germs by being exposed in a systematic and secure way to certain objects that she feels carries germs (Spengler, n.d) She could then safely address, dispell and face those fears. Allowing her to slowly move at a pace that is comfortable for her, by
OCD is broken down into two components the obsession and the compulsion. The first component; obsession is when an individual is consistently having these reoccurring thoughts or images about a certain problem or issue in their life. For example; an individual that has OCD can have a constant thought or image about getting sick or dying from the various germs or diseases that people contract every day. So this individual goes to the extreme to make sure that they do not contract any of these germs or diseases. That is when the compulsive component begins. This is when the individual takes these extreme actions to protect themselves from whatever they have these high anxiety feelings about. So continuing using the same example; this individual will consistently clean their homes every day for several hours at a time. They tend to clean their hands several times when out in public and are very tedious about where they go and what they touch while in public. They are also very caution about how they interact with other people. They just take extra steps to protect themsel...
In the book "The boy who couldn't stop washing" by Judith L. Rapoport, M.D., the narrator, Rapoport, deals with hundreds of mentally disturbed children and adults who suffer of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Rapoport describes the intricacies of the disease and its treatments as well as the fact that the cause is unknown but there are many probable theories. Victims of this horrible disease are plagued with overwhelming thoughts of insecurity that tear apart their lives and haunt them, increasingly, over their lifetimes. Rapoport while learning about OCD, herself, learned how to treat each one with many different psychological perspectives including: biological, behavioral, and psychodynamic contributions. A story on ABC's 20/20 about OCD brought Rapoport's new study on the disease to the light, resulting in thousands of calls to her office daily from desperate OCD sufferers.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a disorder which causes people to develop an anxiety when certain obsessions or compulsions are not fulfilled. OCD can affect both children and adults with more than half of all adults with OCD stating that they experienced signs as a child. People living with OCD display many obvious signs such as opening and closing a door fifty times because they have to do it “just right”. Others exhibit extreme cleanliness and will wash their hands or take showers as often as they can because they constantly feel dirty. OCD devastates people’s social lives as they are fixated and obsessed with perfection that can take forever to achieve. However people living with OCD are often found to have an above average intelligence and typically excel at school due to their detail oriented mindset, cautious planning and patience. OCD can be caused by many different factors such as genetics or the ever changing world a...
Some symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) include fear of germs, perfectionism, and rituals. When someone has OCD, they are afraid of germs and might constantly be washing their hands or cleaning their room. Someone who suffers from OCD needs everything to be perfect and they might organize their closet by color and size. Their rituals calm their anxiety. Certain rituals are things such as checking the stove a certain number of times to make sure it is off, or tapping their finger a number of times just because it makes them feel better.
There are a couple evident symptoms of OCD. People tend to do an action over and over again to calm their anxiety levels. They tend to not be able to control unwanted thoughts or actions, and spend minimum an hour each day on the obsessing rituals which gets in their way for daily life. Common obsessions are needs for symmetry or order, fear of germs, causing harm to other people, dirt or germs, etc. Common compulsions include constant bathing, hoarding of items, constant counting, etc. These signs can interfere with a person’s life and ruin relationships with others.
Randal’s prognosis if only taking medicine alone is not very good, as is common with the average individual with OCD. If Randal were to take an SSRI, Anafranil, and/or a Benzodiazepam he would most likely see some positive results. These improvements would most likely decrease if Randal stopped his medication. Fortunately, with the right form of therapy, the prognosis improves. When medicine is coupled with therapy, the prognosis does not increase.
The initial diagnosis of Schizoaffective Disorder can be somewhat confusing. Many patients and loved ones wonder, “What does that mean?” “How is it different than Schizophrenia?” We’re here to break it down for you. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) Schizoaffective Disorder is classified as: An uninterrupted period of illness during which there is a Major Mood Episode (Major Depressive or Manic) concurrent with the Criterion A of Schizophrenia. The Major Depressive Episode must include Criterion A1. Depressed mood. Delusions or hallucinations for 2 or more weeks in the absence of a Major Mood Episode (Depressive or Manic) during the lifetime duration of the illness. Symptoms that meet criteria for a Major Mood Episode are present for the majority of the total duration of the active and residual portions of the illness. The disturbance is not attributable to the effects of a substance or another medical condition.
People from all walks of life can get a diagnosis of OCD. It can be found in multiple groups of people in all social and ethnic groups and found in both male and female. Most symptoms are formed in early childhood, the teenage or young adult years. If the appearance of OCD suddenly appears later in life could merit a thorough medical evaluation to ensure that another illness is not the underlining causes of these symptoms. This paper will discuss what OCD is, who actually gets it is, what the actual causes of OCD are, and what the effective treatments for OCD are available out there (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, OCD, ...
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a disease that a lot of people suffer with in society especially young adults. While it is not a disease that is deadly, it does affect the victim in every day aspects of their life and can ultimately control their lives. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is defined by the National Institute of Mental Health as, “… a common, chronic and long-lasting disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts (obsessions) and behaviors (compulsions) that he or she feels the urge to repeat over and over”. The thoughts that individuals have when suffering through Obsessive Compulsive Disorder cannot be restrained and really can disturb the individual. Thoughts or actions that people may have can range from worrying about daily occurrences, such as washing their hands, to having thoughts of harming people that are close to them. People tend to have these reoccurring compulsions because they believe by doing them or thinking them, they will either prevent something bad from happening or because it eliminates stress that they have. This disease can last a lifetime and can be very detrimental and disabling to how one lives their lives. Individuals can start to see signs of OCD in either late adolescence or even early adulthood and everyone is susceptible. When it comes to classifying this incurable disease, there is much debate on whether or not it a type of anxiety (Abramowitz, Taylor, & McKay, 2009). It is important to be able to understand this mental disorder since so many people are diagnosed with it. While there are treatments for OCD, there are no cures yet. Treatments could range anywhere from taking prescribed medication to just going to therapy and counseling fo...
OCD has symptoms such as compulsive hoarding, extreme anxiety, depression, and food aversions. It currently has no sure cause but it has said to be a product of genetics or abnormalities in the brain and serotonin levels as controlling serotonin tends to help in treatment of OCD. Obsessive Compulsive disorder is seen in 2.3% of Americans. It’s more prominent in adults than in children.
There are many symptoms that lead to the conclusion that someone is suffering from OCD. A person may have a fear of germs, wanting things to be in perfect order constantly, and unwanted thoughts. The compulsions in OCD are the acts that a person feels obliged to do and this may include repeatedly washing hands, excessively cleaning and washing hands and counting regularly. Life with OCD is generally hard and the sufferer generally does not get any relief or satisfaction until they are able to perform their rituals (National Institute of Mental health,