Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Case Study
Jessica Freeman
Eastern Maine Community College
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Case Study
Karen is a married thirty year-old woman with four children. Even though she has been having issues with anxiety for years and depression for three months, Karen is living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). According to the American Psychiatric Association (2013), those with OCD show symptoms of arduous “…obsessions, compulsions, or both…” that cannot be explained through other physiological or mental disorders (p. 237). This is a two part disorder because obsessions are intrusive, recurrent “…thoughts, urges, or images…” that cause anxiety which, in return, needs to be compulsively neutralized through …show more content…
This medication would rebalance the chemicals in her brain that induce her OCD symptoms. Since fear should not be triggered without a coping method, she should learn relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises and relaxation imagery. This process would help prepare her for Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), specifically Exposure and Response Prevention. To reduce her intrusive thoughts about the children’s safety, she must change her numerical compulsion. At first, when the anxiety is triggered, she should only be allowed to smoke three cigarettes or drink three cups of coffee. As she becomes more successful handling three cigarettes or cups of coffee, she would be gradually conditioned to one or less. Additionally, Karen would be placed in situations where she would be forced to pick up a number of items in association with either the birth order or ages of her children. With gradual goals set, she would able to control her obsessions and reduce her anxiety without completing her compulsions. CBT would train her brain to communicate actual danger instead of imagining unrealistic
Jessica Freeman
Eastern Maine Community College
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Case Study
Karen is a married thirty year-old woman with four children. Even though she has been having issues with anxiety for years and depression for three months, Karen is living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). According to the American Psychiatric Association (2013), those with OCD show symptoms of arduous “…obsessions, compulsions, or both…” that cannot be explained through other physiological or mental disorders (p. 237). This is a two part disorder because obsessions are intrusive, recurrent “…thoughts, urges, or images…” that cause anxiety which, in return, needs to be compulsively neutralized through …show more content…
This medication would rebalance the chemicals in her brain that induce her OCD symptoms. Since fear should not be triggered without a coping method, she should learn relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises and relaxation imagery. This process would help prepare her for Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), specifically Exposure and Response Prevention. To reduce her intrusive thoughts about the children’s safety, she must change her numerical compulsion. At first, when the anxiety is triggered, she should only be allowed to smoke three cigarettes or drink three cups of coffee. As she becomes more successful handling three cigarettes or cups of coffee, she would be gradually conditioned to one or less. Additionally, Karen would be placed in situations where she would be forced to pick up a number of items in association with either the birth order or ages of her children. With gradual goals set, she would able to control her obsessions and reduce her anxiety without completing her compulsions. CBT would train her brain to communicate actual danger instead of imagining unrealistic