I am working with a mental illness known as panic disorder agoraphobia, and the name of the client that I am interviewing is Annie.
Background Information Annie is a twenty-four-year-old female. She is Caucasian. As of right now, she is currently unemployed and relying on the government for assistance. She has been able to hold jobs in the past, but she becomes very anxious in public locations. Also, she describes that growing up she was raised in a normal, yet, sometimes-abusive environment. Annie currently has no intimate relationships because, according to her, her anxiety tends to hold her back from expressing her true feelings. Under the case history tab, it does not mention any current relationship with her family. Additionally, it is …show more content…
Comer (2014) goes into depth about how this occurs, “In such cases, the panic disorder typically sets the stage for the development of agoraphobia. That is, after experiencing multiple unpredictable panic attacks, the individuals become increasingly fearful of having new attacks in public places” (p. 122). As explained in the DSM IV, panic disorder agoraphobia is when an individual has recurrent panic attacks, is anxious about going places where escape may be difficult or embarrassing, or where they will be unable to receive assistance in case of emergency, and the symptoms cannot be better explained by another medical or psychological effect. In our textbook, Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology, Comer (2014) explains that someone must have at least four of the following symptoms to be considered, “…symptoms of panic: palpitations of the heart, tingling in the hands or feet, shortness of breath, sweating, hot and cold flashes, trembling, chest pains, choking sensations, faintness, dizziness, nausea, a feeling of unreality, fear of losing control, and fear of dying” (p. …show more content…
However, she discusses multiple times when her disorder has taken control of her life. She explains why she is so afraid of leaving the house, which relates to the DSM-IV, “A lot of it has to do with the fact that I’m afraid of having panic attacks in public… And I’m afraid of becoming out of control” (McGrawHill Higher Education, 2007). Annie also describes what it is like for her when a panic attack occurs, “All of a sudden time would get real weird and I’d feel like—first of all my heart would start speeding up. And I’d start um, hyperventilating. Like the bodily symptoms are like: shaking, can’t feel my hands, like its just total—it’s terror…” (McGrawHill Higher Education, 2007). All four of these symptoms that are described resemble the symptoms of a panic attack. She then describes a moment when she felt confined at her last job, “When I’m at the register, and there’s a bunch of people in line and I realize that like, I can’t leave, even if like—I, I don’t have any options, I feel trapped and suffocated, and then the bodily symptoms come on and then, and I feel as though I’m like looking through my eyes from really far away” (McGrawHill Higher Education, 2007). In my opinion, this resembles a symptom of this disorder, which is described as a feeling of unreality, because she was not feeling present at the
Background Information Annie is a twenty-four-year-old female. She is Caucasian. As of right now, she is currently unemployed and relying on the government for assistance. She has been able to hold jobs in the past, but she becomes very anxious in public locations. Also, she describes that growing up she was raised in a normal, yet, sometimes-abusive environment. Annie currently has no intimate relationships because, according to her, her anxiety tends to hold her back from expressing her true feelings. Under the case history tab, it does not mention any current relationship with her family. Additionally, it is …show more content…
Comer (2014) goes into depth about how this occurs, “In such cases, the panic disorder typically sets the stage for the development of agoraphobia. That is, after experiencing multiple unpredictable panic attacks, the individuals become increasingly fearful of having new attacks in public places” (p. 122). As explained in the DSM IV, panic disorder agoraphobia is when an individual has recurrent panic attacks, is anxious about going places where escape may be difficult or embarrassing, or where they will be unable to receive assistance in case of emergency, and the symptoms cannot be better explained by another medical or psychological effect. In our textbook, Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology, Comer (2014) explains that someone must have at least four of the following symptoms to be considered, “…symptoms of panic: palpitations of the heart, tingling in the hands or feet, shortness of breath, sweating, hot and cold flashes, trembling, chest pains, choking sensations, faintness, dizziness, nausea, a feeling of unreality, fear of losing control, and fear of dying” (p. …show more content…
However, she discusses multiple times when her disorder has taken control of her life. She explains why she is so afraid of leaving the house, which relates to the DSM-IV, “A lot of it has to do with the fact that I’m afraid of having panic attacks in public… And I’m afraid of becoming out of control” (McGrawHill Higher Education, 2007). Annie also describes what it is like for her when a panic attack occurs, “All of a sudden time would get real weird and I’d feel like—first of all my heart would start speeding up. And I’d start um, hyperventilating. Like the bodily symptoms are like: shaking, can’t feel my hands, like its just total—it’s terror…” (McGrawHill Higher Education, 2007). All four of these symptoms that are described resemble the symptoms of a panic attack. She then describes a moment when she felt confined at her last job, “When I’m at the register, and there’s a bunch of people in line and I realize that like, I can’t leave, even if like—I, I don’t have any options, I feel trapped and suffocated, and then the bodily symptoms come on and then, and I feel as though I’m like looking through my eyes from really far away” (McGrawHill Higher Education, 2007). In my opinion, this resembles a symptom of this disorder, which is described as a feeling of unreality, because she was not feeling present at the