Identify the disorder below and bullet point the symptoms th…

Identify the disorder below and bullet point the symptoms that made you come to the diagnosis. There is only one answer. Joseph has a history of attending physiotherapy and occupational therapy for fine and gross motor skill development.  As a result, Joseph’s pencil grip is appropriate, and he uses a seating wedge to improve his posture while sitting at the desk.  After considerable occupational therapy intervention, Joseph has developed cutting skills and can form the letters of the alphabet. His writing remains slow and is often difficult to read due to inconsistent letter size, incorrect use of upper- and lower-case letters and poor spacing. Joseph’s teacher often finds that while Joseph has great ideas when the class is sitting on the mat and can answer comprehension questions from his reading when asked orally, his written output is minimal, lacks organizational structure and is significantly different to the knowledge he displays when asked questions. Joseph’s spelling is progressing slowly, but he often requires more exposure and practice than other children with a similar reading age. Joseph is in the lower spelling group, all of whom are on a Group Education Plan.

Identify the disorder below and bullet point the symptoms th…

Identify the disorder below and bullet point the symptoms that made you come to the diagnosis. There is only one answer. A 20-year-old male, Adam, just finished his freshman year at college. He came into the office with his mother as a result of a psychotic episode that started 5 weeks prior. Adam’s symptoms included grandiose ideas, hallucinations, increased energy and confidence, poor appetite, and decreased need for sleep (he would only be able to get 2-4 hours per night). He became quite loquacious with urgent and pressured speech, and he frequently suffered from mood swings – of which irritability and anger were major players. Adam ended up spending 9 days in a local hospital and then 2 weeks at a local psychiatric hospital. He had since returned to live with his parents and had chosen to go off most of his medications. His symptoms diminished from their original intensity, but he still very much suffered from persistent insomnia, grandiose ideas, loquacity, racing thoughts, and extreme irritability. His mother wanted another professional opinion on his diagnosis, as well as on other possible routes of treatment, especially since Adam refused to see a psychiatrist due to his negative experiences at the psychiatric hospital. After further intake, it became clear that Adam’s symptoms had been building gradually over the previous 3 months and had intensified during the 5 weeks prior to the point at which medical attention was urgently needed. This episode started in the college fraternity house, which he shared with 5 other men. He described this living situation as “chaotic,” on top of the stresses he was already experiencing in school. Starting 3 months before his office visit, Adam also developed a habit of very heavy and continuous cannabis use as well as moderate alcohol use (both of which he claimed to have stopped using 5 weeks prior). His mother felt that the cannabis aggravated his symptoms; however, Adam disagreed with this sentiment, stating that the cannabis helped him cope with the stress he was experiencing.  Hint: really think about the time criteria for certain disorders.

Identify the disorder below and bullet point the symptoms th…

Identify the disorder below and bullet point the symptoms that made you come to the diagnosis. There is only one answer. Steve, a 40-year-old man, had never really settled in to one job for a long time. Like many adults suffering from this disorder, he got bored easily and changed jobs frequently. And he never felt that he had worked up to his potential. After working with the psychiatrist and the work/life coach, Steve began to understand that he had trouble processing auditory information and was much more of a visual thinker. He also had a better appreciation for the role that good sleep and exercise patterns had on his symptoms and his ability to function at work. When he began to record the conversations with his sales clients in pictures and diagrams, he felt much more able to organize information and tasks. He developed a clearer sense of his life goals and the steps he needed to take to get there. And his regular mountain biking sessions provided him with enough sensory stimulation to help control his inner restlessness and stay on task longer. Steve felt calmer, more directed and more accomplished in his work.

Saylor Thrift is a popular musician whose fans look up to he…

Saylor Thrift is a popular musician whose fans look up to her and whose rival performers stand in awe of her success, particularly with younger generations. Saylor’s influence over her admiring “sailfish” or “thrifties” represents this form of power, which also operates to varying degrees in families, groups, and organizations:

Identify the disorder below and bullet point the symptoms th…

Identify the disorder below and bullet point the symptoms that made you come to the diagnosis. There is only one answer. Loki from Thor has tried to commit suicide, is prone to self-sabotage and self-destruction, and tries to kill his brother Thor several times, but then is hurt when neither he nor his father visits him in prison. A lot of his aggression can be seen as frantic efforts to avoid abandonment by his family, especially by trying to push them away before they can do the same to him.

Identify the disorder below and bullet point the symptoms th…

Identify the disorder below and bullet point the symptoms that made you come to the diagnosis. There is only one answer. A 63-year-old woman with advanced pancreatic cancer was referred for a psycho-oncology consultation due to her response, which seemed like sudden onset of loss of consciousness. On visiting her, she was found bedridden, staring at the ceiling without blinking, and responding minimally but correctly to our questions, including orientation-related ones such as date and location. Her family said that she suddenly became absentminded and stated to her husband, “It is over and I will probably die soon.” Medically, she did not have reduced consciousness. A neurological examination demonstrated that she maintained the position when the psycho-oncologist raised her hand (catalepsy). She had no medical history of psychiatric illness or alcohol or drug abuse, and she was very kind to others. Her husband said that she was very shocked at her diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and became anxious about treatment and admission to hospital. She had been afraid of cancer because her grandfather had died of cancer after a long period of suffering. She had been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer accompanied by multiple liver metastasis 4 months before the event, and gemcitabine was administered. Three weeks before the event she had been admitted to our emergency department with thrombosis of both pulmonary arteries and stenosis of the third portion of the duodenum due to disease progression. She frequently vomited. Insomnia and anxiety reappeared, and after much agonizing, she decided to undergo a gastrointestinal bypass. The surgery proceeded 3 days before the event, without complication and post-operative delirium was not evident. After being treated for her suspected psychological disorder, she could sit on the bed and respond to our questions more clearly. Two days later, she was able to make expressions and smiled at her medical team. The symptoms disappeared 4 days later and did not reappear. One week later, she told her medical team about this experience and said that it was very scary. 

Identify the disorder below and bullet point the symptoms th…

Identify the disorder below and bullet point the symptoms that made you come to the diagnosis.  Adam is an 18-year-old man who was banned from the family home after repeated physical attacks on his mother and has been living in his own apartment for several months. His male family members bring him food every day. Adam’s family contacted mental health services several times, but Adam will not engage with the services. Adam tells his mother several times that he will kill himself, but when being assessed under the Mental Health Act says that he was ‘kidding’ and just trying to get his mother’s attention. He later reports that the angels told him he needed to say this. He regularly complains about the neighbors being noisy, but the neighboring apartment is unoccupied. It is unclear whether he is hallucinating or has very sensitive hearing. He has threatened to ‘deal with the neighbors’ if nothing is done. He does not make eye contact with his family members or the doctors who are trying to help him. Additionally, Adam’s mental health staff encouraged him to see his primary care doctor because they noticed that his hands and forearms have become red and raw in places because he is washing his hands and arms frequently and for increasingly long periods of time. They have tried to divert him from this behavior, but he became anxious and quite agitated if interrupted when in a ‘washing routine’. This is a relatively new problem. While the staff is not worried about OCD, they are worried about repetitive behaviors, rigid thoughts, resistance to change, AND hallucinations. These issues have been present for multiple years, according to his family. Hint: Adam has 2 disorders.