Michelle Acute Stress Disorder

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Michelle has exhibited symptoms of acute stress disorder after her automobile accident. Michelle has not reported any prior issues leading to the accident. She has experienced issues currently lasting 2 months, such as anxiety and repressed memories. According to the DSM-IV-TR checklist for posttraumatic stress disorder (Pg. 157), she had experienced an automobile accident involving serious injury to herself, which resulted in temporary hospitalization. After the incident, the patient states that she had not been herself ever since. Michelle has not provided any information on previous distresses or complications. After the automobile accident, Michelle developed a sense of helplessness. Michelle is unable to cope with the stress of hypothetically dying and leaving her children motherless. The event resulted in recurrent distressing recollections, recurrent distressing dreams, distress caused by the reminders of the event, and …show more content…
She has not reported any issues prior to the stressful event. According to the DSM-IV-TR checklist for generalized anxiety disorder(Pg. 115), she experiences 3 out of 4 requirements. Michelle has expressed that she has difficulty controlling her anxiety from worrying. Michelle states that she is unable to get past the accident, as she is unable to control the anxiety of her kids losing their mother. Michelle experiences restlessness, fatigue, and sleep disturbances. She reports that falling asleep has been delayed by a hour and that she is unable to fall back asleep after waking up in the middle of the night. I believe that Michelle shows sign of fatigue not only from the lack of sleep, but also from the mental strain from the incident. The decrease in time slept by a hour has a minimal effect on fatigue. Michelle displays significant distress in her life after the automobile accident. The traumatic event has left Michelle in a state of

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