Author: Anonymous

Dave is a 41-year-old male who was referred by his primary care physician after presenting to the ER with difficulty breathing. Dave’s physician was unable to find a medical explanation for his symptoms, which left Dave feeling confused, stressed, and angry. Over the last 6 months, Dave has had several instances where he felt an intense fear that would reach a peak within a few minutes. During these instances, he would also experience sweating, heart palpitations, chest pain and discomfort, and shortness of breath. At times, Dave worried that might die. As a result, Dave has persistent worry about having another attack. In addition, he has begun to avoid unfamiliar places and people where it may be difficult to get help in the event of another episode. The avoidance is significantly impacting Dave’s life as he has been turning down social invitations, making excuses to stay at home whenever possible, and relying on his wife to drive their children to their various activities. Although she was understanding at first, Dave’s wife has grown frustrated with what she perceives as an irrational fear. (Hint: Dave has 2 disorders)

Describe how the diathesis-stress model can be applied to our understanding of eating disorders.

For the vignette, please give a diagnosis and bullet point the symptoms that made you come to the diagnosis. You see Jill (age 24) in the emergency room of a hospital where her parents have brought her for evaluation. They are worried because she is giving away all of her possessions and says she is planning to move to Seattle so she can “save the world.” Her parents say that she has hardly been sleeping at all, but she seems very energetic. They say she has appeared to be “in a frenzy” for the last week or so. When you interview Jill, you notice that she speaks very rapidly. It is hard to get her to be quiet long enough for you to ask questions. She seems agitated and has difficulty sitting still.

A 38-year-old man has been increasingly anxious about his job in a large manufacturing company. He feels that he has been passed over for a promotion several times. The patient is preoccupied with many small events and conversations that have occurred at work during the year and worries how his superiors will interpret them. He finds it difficult to control his worrying. During the day at work, he feels restless and edgy. At home, he is irritable and has difficulty sleeping. His wife asks him about work but he doesn’t want to talk about it.

A 32-year-old man presents describing an intense fear of germs. He continually experiences thoughts about contracting an illness by coming into contact with things in the environment, such as doorknobs or seats in public places. His intense fear of germs has resulted in repetitive hand washing. He describes brief relief after hand washing but, because his thoughts about contamination keep returning, he states that he “cannot help but wash again for hours a day.” Both of his hands are red, raw, and cracked and he had to leave his job because of his fear of sitting down in public places. He has been taking a serotonin reuptake inhibitor since age 26 without any appreciable effect, and he has not recognized that his thoughts and behaviors were irrational. He also exhibits a high level of impulsivity.

Violence, poverty, racism, sexism, and discrimination are all examples of…

In fruit flies, the allele for gray body color is dominant to the allele for black body color.  A scientist crosses two fruit flies who are both heterozygous for this trait.  What is the expected phenotypic ratio from this cross?

The rates of depression experiences by European Americans and African-Americans are ____.

Outline the various causes of dissociative disorders.

For the vignette, please give a diagnosis and bullet point the symptoms that made you come to the diagnosis. Elise is a 35-year-old architect. She comes to you in great distress, feeling that she is unable to work, and generally unable to function. She says that she feels tired all the time, to the point of feeling completely exhausted. She says that she cries easily, and almost every day. She is having difficulty sleeping and has lost 20 pounds in the last 2 months without trying. She says that things have been “real bad” for the last 2 months; she doesn’t enjoy doing anything and thinks frequently of suicide. However, she also says that she has never been a very happy person. She says that things rarely go right for her, and she has given up on expecting good things to happen for her.