ANSWER:
DSM-5 Criteria
The patient has social anxiety disorder because all the patient’s symptoms are typical signs of the disorder. There is more than one diagnosis for the patient due to the signs and symptoms he is exhibiting. For the other diagnosis, we can rule out malingering and factitious disorder. The symptoms being exhibited by the patient are genuine. The patient has always kept a small group of friends from elementary throughout high school from his history. The patient is a loner, and there are no particular gains for the diagnosis, and he does not derive any psychological benefits from faking it. Instead, he is depressed. Next, I can rule out drug-related causes. Both the illicit, prescription and over-the-counter drugs that can cause the same symptoms are addictive when used over a long period. The patient does not look like a drug addict and does not show any signs of drug abuse. We can rule out the general medical conditions that have depression as symptoms after looking at the patient’s medical history. After ordering lab tests, we can conclude that the patient does not have any conditions associated with the symptoms of depression (Schimelpfening, 2020). We can rule out bipolar disorder, autoimmune disorder as the patient is healthy, Lyme disease, and diabetes.
After eliminating all other possibilities, we can conclude that the patient has a social anxiety disorder. The patient always isolates himself and always thinks of how other people perceive him. Social anxiety disorder is also proved by the fact that I can see his fear of negative evaluation and his thoughts and behaviors surrounding social situations that increase his sense of hopelessness, worthlessness, and isolation. The patient’s available symptoms all point out to social anxiety since his fear of interacting and socializing with other people is apparent.
Biopsychosocial Plan of Care
This care model suggests that suffering is a result of host factors from biological issues to psychological and social issues, and considering all of them promotes an integrated means of learning. The model can apply all aspects of the patient’s life to his disorder to help him gain self-awareness; The model combines the physical well-being of the patient with psychological issues such as self-esteem, social skills, temperament, and family relations, and also looks at social issues such as peers, family circumstances to help with the mental health of the patient. By addressing these issues together with the patient, he will gain a new understanding of life and increase his level of self-esteem (Komaki, 2018). The biopsychological plan model will take a broader view of the patient’s life to determine the best way to overcome his social phobia, helping him gain a sense of worthiness and enabling him to interact freely with others.
Fear, worry, anxiety, and panic.
Fear, worry, anxiety, and panic all share similar physical and emotional symptoms. They are all interchangeable such that when one feels anxious, they worry, and when one feels fear, they panic. All of the emotions can be used to express each other and are emotional. Fear, worry, panic, and anxiety all evoke the same emotional response from an individual. Fear is the emotion that we feel when we perceive danger or threat. Worry is feeling troubled over potential problems that might occur. Anxiety is our body reacts to stress. Panic is a sudden episode of intense fear that overwhelms a person, replacing a person’s logic when there is no danger present.
References
Komaki, G. (2018). A new milestone for biopsychosocial medicine. BioPsychoSocial Medicine, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13030-018-0128-x
Schimelpfening, N. (2020, February 14). How depression is diagnosed by using provisional or differential steps. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/provisional-diagnosis-vs-differential-diagnosis-1067284
QUESTION:
| Analyze and apply critical thinking skills in the psychopathology of mental health patients and provide treatment and health promotion while applying evidence-based research. | |
| Scenario: | J.T. is a 20 year-old who reports to you that he feels depressed and is experiencing a significant amount of stress about school, noting that he’ll “probably flunk out.” He spends much of his day in his dorm room playing video games and has a hard time identifying what, if anything, is enjoyable in a typical day. He rarely attends class and has avoided reaching out to his professors to try to salvage his grades this semester. J.T. has always been a self-described shy person and has had a very small and cohesive group of friends from elementary through high school. Notably, his level of stress significantly amplified when he began college.
You learn that when meeting new people, he has a hard time concentrating on the interaction because he is busy worrying about what they will think of him – he assumes they will find him “dumb,” “boring,” or a “loser.” When he loses his concentration, he stutters, is at a loss for words, and starts to sweat, which only serves to make him feel more uneasy. After the interaction, he replays the conversation over and over again, focusing on the “stupid” things he said. Similarly, he has a long-standing history of being uncomfortable with authority figures and has had a hard time raising his hand in class and approaching teachers. Since starting college, he has been isolating more, turning down invitations from his roommate to go eat or hang out, ignoring his cell phone when it rings, and habitually skipping class. His concerns about how others view him are what drive him to engage in these avoidance behaviors. After conducting your assessment, you give the patient feedback that you believe he has social anxiety disorder, which should be the primary treatment target. You explain that you see his fear of negative evaluation, and his thoughts and behaviors surrounding social situations, as driving his increasing sense of hopelessness, isolation, and worthlessness. |
| Questions: | Remember to answer these questions from your textbooks and NP guidelines. At all times, explain your answers.
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