Case Studies

Sample Case Studies and Diagnoses

Following are some examples of patient descriptions with links to a sample diagnosis.

These sample case studies are simply for illustration and should not be used in any way for diagnosis.

Case study 1

Lisa is 30 yrs old, married women and mother of 4 children. She has various worries for years but has never before sought professional help. During the past three months she has become increasingly unhappy to the degree that her family physician finally suggested she seek psychological help.

For a number of months Lisa has been experiencing intrusive, repetitive thoughts which centered around her children's safety. She frequently imagined that various, serious accidents has occurred and could not put these thoughts out of her mind. For example, on one occasion she imagined that her son had a broken leg playing football at school and called school to see if he was all right.

Even after learning that he was fine, she admitted being somewhat surprised when he arrived home unharmed. Specific numbers have come to have special meanings for Lisa and her preoccupation with them was beginning to interfere with her daily routine. While shopping she worried if she selected the first box of cereal off the shelf, something terrible would happen to her eldest child but if she selected the second box, the next eldest child would be harmed, and so on. If she drank one cup of coffee she found she had to drink four and similarly, she had to smoke four cigarettes in a row to protect her children.

Her fears appeared to be valid as it seemed that, if she failed to protect the children in this way, some sort of problem or accident almost always happened to one of the children within a few days.

In addition, Lisa reported dissatisfaction with both her marriage and problems in managing her children. Although her husband Tony was only 32 yrs old, he suffered a severe heart attack that made even normal physical exertion potentially dangerous for him. He had to leave his job and stay home. He relied upon Lisa and his kids for almost everything including bringing him a drink from the refrigerator. Children are out of control. They didn't respond well to parental discipline which was generally inconsistent.

Lisa was the eldest of 4 children and was raised in NYC. A religious catholic but soon stopped going to church after services were done in English instead of Latin and when eating meat on Fridays was allowed. She witnessed a friend's baby getting run over by a bike and had thoughts of committing suicide but prayed to God to take those bad thoughts away. [ DIAGNOSIS ]

Case study 2

Mary is a 23 year old married white female with two children, ages 5 and 8. She was sent to the psychiatrist office by her family physician because about two times a week she would wake up around four or five in the morning and feel as if she had a bad case of insomnia but could not bring herself to get out of bed.

About 1 or 2 hours later she would feel as if she had taken some type of drug. She reported feelings of extreme depersonalization and visual hallucination. ( E.g., neon Indians walking down the hallway. ) She also complained that she was very depressed most of the time and that she had a hard time going to work. She said when she was there she would experience high levels of anxiety. She also pointed out that she felt funny but that she could not explain these feelings.

In conducting a thorough history, the psychiatrist discovered that Mary suffered from panic attacks but she said these feelings were different. He also discovered she had been hospitalized for schizophrenia many times. It was also discovered that he had undergone electro convulsive therapy and sleep treatments ( scopes ). He ordered an MRI which came back negative and he also had Mary get an EEG. The EEG was normal but it was noted that the beta waves were abnormal. [ DIAGNOSIS ]

Case study 3

Mike is a 33 year old divorced white male with two children he rarely ever sees, ages 8 and 10. He has never been seen by a psychiatrist. His family physician has tried to get him to see a local psychiatrist but Mike refuses to go. Mike says he knows someone has removed his brain and replaced it with someone else's. He believes that this brain is controlling him and that he is not responsible for his actions.

He works everyday and has been on his current job for 15 years. He says he has lots of friends but sometimes he thinks its one of them who did this to him. He has a college education and has a degree in computer science. His family physician ordered an MRI which came back negative and he also had an EEG.The EEG came back normal. [ DIAGNOSIS ]

Case study 4

Gary is 55, divorced the only woman he was ever with 20 years ago, dated scarcely and without physical relationship, raised 3 children alone after traumatic abandonment by wife/mother after 16 years of marriage. Very little has changed in 20 years, as though his life is frozen in time. Whenever change is threatened, he becomes very anxious, always holding out suicide as his way out if cornered or overwhelmed.

Gary has lived all his life on property in his family since 1800s, worked at the same job 35 years, driven same carmore than 20 years, and lives in the same manufactured home he lived in with his wife. Inside his home, cob webs cover back of living room and dining room. Showers/bathrooms, and kitchen have not been cleaned since one of the children did it years ago. Gary uses the same towels and washcloths for twenty years, now rags.Gary never goes to a doctor, dentist, or psychiatrist, and refused any help. While providing extravagantly in a material way for his children, Gary lives off frozen meal entree's, one or two per day, and wears the same clothes for all these years. He won't accept gifts or help.

As a child, Gary was the youngest of six. He was unwanted, and often speaks of wishing they would have "made him an abortion, like they considered to do." He had one brother and all the others sisters. He talks about being "in the way" all the time. He spent his time roaming fields, with few if any friends. Still he has no close relationships, and confides only in one of his sisters, who obviously attempts to translate her own opinions into him. He has contradicting thoughts, some of the way he would like to live, and some, dominant ones, about how he "should" live, by what principles and standards.

Gary does not, has not, will not expose himself to pornography, violence, abusive speech, or drugs. He is pristine. He keeps himself physically clean and presentable, but spends nearly all his non-work hours at home in a chair watching TV or reading to "escape," he says. He attends church on occasion when heavily prompted by, and accompanied by, a few members of his family. He is afraid of "connections;" relationships. He fears the elders in his church so much, that he parks his car near the entrance and leaves as soon as possible.

One more thing. Gary seems unable to be assertive or aggression, being polite and passive all the time. [ DIAGNOSIS ]