Homework answers / question archive / Chapter 10 Case Study  INCLUDE A REFERENCE PAGE in MLA format               After her husband died, Sarah Neal had made the rounds of her three children and had finally settled in with Jason (who provided the details of her history)

Chapter 10 Case Study  INCLUDE A REFERENCE PAGE in MLA format               After her husband died, Sarah Neal had made the rounds of her three children and had finally settled in with Jason (who provided the details of her history)

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Chapter 10 Case Study

 INCLUDE A REFERENCE PAGE in MLA format

 

            After her husband died, Sarah Neal had made the rounds of her three children and had finally settled in with Jason (who provided the details of her history). She had now lived with him for four years. Even when she was 74, she had managed the gardening, the grocery shopping, and most of the cooking. The arrangement had worked out well for both of them - Jason had remained single after a stormy divorce decades before. But for nearly a year, problems had been evident.

            Around Christmas, Sarah had spent two days searching the house for the presents she had hidden. She and Jason finally found them in the storage shed, but this was only the beginning of her forgetfulness. She had always prided herself on her ability to remember telephone numbers, but in February, when Jason was assigned a new extension number at work, she could never seem to recall what it was or where she had written it down. After several days of frustration, he finally pasted the new number to both of their telephones. She began to avoid her circle of friends from the mobile home park where they lived. 

            Late that spring, they suffered the first of several kitchen fires. These all started because Sarah had forgotten about food left bubbling on the stove. Although the last one caused $1,500 worth of damage to their kitchen, Sarah had seemed strangely unaffected. "She's always been so careful about money," Jason mused, "but when I got home to find the fire department there and water soaking everything, she didn't turn a hair. It's as if a stranger had moved inside my mother's head." A physical examination by her internist had revealed no evidence of mental illness.

            Sarah looked a good 10 years younger than her stated age. She was clean and neatly dressed, though her silk blouse was missing a button from one sleeve and she wore two sweaters. Throughout the 45 minutes, she gave good eye contact and seemed to pay attention to the conversation. She smiled continually while asserting (several times) that she had been "just fine." When the interviewer pointed out that her son said she had almost burned down the house, she replied, "Stuff and nonsense. He's a rotten little poop!"

            "It sounds like you're upset," remarked the interviewer.

            "Stuff and nonsense. I couldn't feel happier."

            The interviewer asked how an apple and an orange were alike, and learned that she "had them in my 'fridge." A child and a dwarf were different because "that's just the way they are."

            When asked to elaborate, she said, "a child's a child and a dwarf's a dwarf."

            When asked to name the president of the United States, she said, "That's what you should know for yourself. I don't feel like helping you anymore."

            Later in the interview she was asked to identify a ballpoint pen. "It's a whatsis for writing, of course! Stuff and nonsense."

 

 

1. What is the correct diagnosis for Sarah?
2. Reflect on what YOUR life might be like if you were diagnosed with this disorder. How would your life be impacted - school, work, home, relationships, etc.? Give specific examples (plural) to support your reflection.
3. List ALL of the DSM-5 criteria and other signs/symptoms that Sarah exhibits that would help you diagnose her with this disorder. (Do not list the ones she does not meet). Give specific examples from the case study to support her meeting each of these criteria (examples must be directly under the criteria it supports).
4. State one other diagnosis to be considered given the information provided on the case study. Discuss why Sarah should not be given that diagnosis and instated the diagnosis listed in question 1.
5. Discuss one assessment you could use with Sarah in order to help diagnose her appropriately and effectively. How and why would you use this assessment? (The DSM is not an appropriate answer.)
6. Discuss one possible valid/scientific cause of Sarah's diagnosis and why this cause might fit her.
7. Describe one possible psychological (not biological/medication) treatment that could be used with Sarah (this is where you state and describe the general therapy/treatment such as cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, DBT, etc.). Discuss one specific techniquefrom the general therapy above that you could use with Sarah and specifically how you would treat Sarah using this psychological technique. (A specific example is not specific types of treatment (i.e. CBT), but rather specific technique interventions that would apply specifically to Sarah as part of using the general treatment described above. These techniques are often times part of CBT or some other form of therapy/intervention, but should be specific techniques rather than the general type of therapy/intervention.
8. Describe how Sarah's culture (race, sex, gender, religion, etc.) might play a part in her diagnosis, assessment, and/or treatment. (Make sure to describe a minimum of one cultural consideration).

                                                            INCLUDE A REFERENCE PAGE in MLA format