Reference no: EM132815317

Case Study 1

Medical school was extremely tough and very competitive, and Greg was worried that he would not do well enough to compete successfully for a residency. Now that he was going to be in the hospital clinic treating patients, Greg was having even more trouble sleeping. Most nights, he had difficulty falling asleep, and he was sometimes awake for few hours in the middle of the night, thinking about what he needed to do the next day. He noticed other worries popping up more often. He worried about his father, who was adjusting to a new job, and his younger sister, who was starting college and spending too much socializing. He became more concerned about what his classmates thought of him. He began to have trouble concentrating. Perhaps because of his sleep problems, he was not paying attention in class, and he found himself needing to reread section of his textbooks to make sure he understood the material. He also noticed that his neck and shoulders were tight-even painful at times-after long hours of hunching over books and worrying about grades.

Instructions:

• Read carefully the case study presented above.
• Describe the symptoms. Try not to simply re-state the case; instead, give a synthesis.
• Is this abnormal? Why? What criteria of abnormality do these behaviors and mental processes meet? (Remember that we studied the criteria of abnormality in Chapter 1).
• From what disorder do you think Greg is suffering? Support your diagnosis by 1) giving the definition of the disorder you diagnosed, and 2) showing how Greg's symptoms match that definition. Please note that when making the diagnosis it is not sufficient to mention the disorder category (i.e., "anxiety disorder"), but you need to indicate the specific disorder from which you think he suffers.
• Could you identify some causal factors that might be responsible for Greg's condition?
• What course of therapy/treatment would you recommend? Briefly describe the treatment method you chose and the expected outcomes. Justify your choice: why did you choose this course of treatment? (Find the required info in Chapter 2 and in Chapter 5). When recommending a type of therapy it is not enough to say "psychotherapy"; instead, indicate the specific type of psychotherapy.