Problem
1) Identify a tentative diagnosis (or more than one diagnosis). Discuss what information or factors led to this initial diagnosis. If you cannot make a diagnosis, what additional information do you need?
2) Identify what additional information you need to confirm this diagnosis.
3) What additional questions will you need to ask?
4) What methods (ie. clinical interview, mental status exam) and/or assessments will you use to obtain the information?
5) What records will you need?
6) What other information might be helpful to know in order to better treat this individual?
7) Do you recommend a psychiatric evaluation? Why or why not?
8) Based on outcome research for therapeutic effectiveness, what will be your probable approach(es) and method(s) of therapy for each individual?
Case Study:
The patient is a 35 year-old woman referred for psychiatric treatment by her attorney, whom she consulted about obtaining a divorce.
The attorney was concerned because he felt her reasons for seeking divorce might be inappropriate. She indicated that she had fallen in love with a famous political figure and wanted to begin to establish a relationship with him.
Sarah presented to an attorney in the late fall, requesting his assistance in obtaining a divorce. She indicated to the attorney that her husband and children were very fine people and that she had no wish to injure them or cause them any pain.
Nevertheless, she had fallen in love with a famous political figure after seeing his photograph in a national news magazine. She believed that once she was free from her marriage, this famous figure (whom she had never met) would be perfectly agreeable to marriage. The attorney felt that a psychiatric consultation should precede any further action.
She displayed a variety of other symptoms, including decreased need for sleep, racing thoughts, increased psychomotor activity, and enthusiastic grandiosity. She had a history of two periods of depressed mood in