Case Study Ellen Waters

Ellen Waters is a 37-year-old female, student, who suffers from depressed moods and panic attacks. According to her current therapist, she presents to be constantly unhappy and has never had long periods of “feeling good.” Ellen’s father has challenges with alcohol and her parents’ marriage never seemed to be going well. Ellen feels that she was emotionally abused by her parents but denies any sexual trauma. Ellen has been feeling sad since she was an adolescent, at age 14 she attempted suicide and was referred to therapy. Ellen is in a relationship, but is not happy in it, her boyfriend fears her neediness and this makes Ellen feel even lower. Her boyfriend has made it clear that he does not plan to marry her or living with her and Ellen hit her lowest at this time and she began to seek treatment again. During this low stint, Ellen gained 10 pounds due to overeating and sleeping 18 hours at a time. Ellen reports to have abnormal elevated or “high” moods that lasts several months. During this time period, Ellen would sleep for 4 to 5 hours, run up expensive telephone bills and experiences racing thoughts. Ellen’s friends worry about her change in behavior and encourage her to slow down or to calm down. …show more content…
During the above 2-year period, the hypomanic and depressive periods have been present for at least half the time and the individual has not been without the symptoms for more than 2 months at a time (American Psychiatric Association,