Can you think of other causes for the symptoms

Reference no: EM133608969

You have just docked at a port in the south of China, and you're walking down the plank when a terrible commotion in the nearby village catches your attention. You wander over to investigate and witness a young man with a look of horror on his face being carried down the street by what appear to be his family and friends (they appear to be almost as scared as their passenger). The young man's attention seems to be focused on his genital area, and his penis appears to have been clamped into a wooden box. He is carried into the local physician's office where he is given a tranquilizer to settle his nerves, but you note that his penis is not removed from its artificial casing.

As his relatives and friends leave him to the care of the good doctor, you ask them to explain what you have just witnessed. One helpful woman informs you that the young lad was so terrified because his penis started to disappear into his abdomen. This is considered a very serious condition among her people, as they have all heard of people dying from this affliction. He had his genitals clamped inside the box to prevent it from retracting. You ask her what causes such a condition. She informs you that while no one knows for sure, it does often strike young men who overindulge in sex, masturbation, or who have excessive nocturnal emissions. "It is always dangerous to engage in such excesses as it throws off the balance between yin and yang" she quips before she walks away.

You approach a young man who tells you that he is this man's best friend. You inform him that you are a student in HUSC 240, and you know you could help with this condition if he would inform you regarding what happened and some history on the patient. Glad to have your help, the friend tells you that the patient and he had just come from visiting a brothel where they both had sex with prostitutes. The patient complained that after sex, the room had been very cold and there were no covers. They had quickly left the building. While they were walking away, they both took some amphetamines and he told the patient how he heard a rumor of a cousin's uncle dying from his penis retracting into his abdomen. When he heard this, the patient began to panic and started to scream that his penis was retracting. The friend immediately went for help and secured the patient's penis in the wooden box "because I didn't want him to die too". He knew the patient was close to dying because he heard him start to hyperventilate.

The friend informs you that the patient has a history of bipolar disorder and recently seemed to be going into a depressive phase. The patient has also had many different physical complaints in the past (headaches, backaches, etc.) but the medical doctors have been unable to find any physical explanation for these symptoms. The patient grew up in a family where his father was cold and abusive. He was very close to his mother and when he was 5 years old, he "rescued" his mother from his father (who was beating her) by stabbing his father with a knife and killing him.

In a brief response, analyze this case study using the 4 Ds of abnormality: deviance, dysfunction, distress, and danger. Should this be considered "abnormal" in light of the 4 Ds? Why or why not?

Can you think of other causes for the symptoms that the individual is experiencing, or the reactions from those around him? Are there any cultural influences at play in this scenario?

Reference no: EM133608969

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