Beth is a 23-year-old Asian American graduate student. She is…

Question Answered step-by-step Beth is a 23-year-old Asian American graduate student. She is… Beth is a 23-year-old Asian American graduate student. She is currently in treatment with a psychologist for anxiety. She claims that her cognitive therapy has helped her control her worry and anxiety, but she has noticed that her symptoms have worsened this year with all of the pressures of school. In addition to worry, her mind races at night when she tries to sleep, and she claims it may often take her two to three hours to finally fall asleep. She describes herself as a “type A” person who is rather “anal” about doing well. She worries nonstop about grades but also worries nonstop about her health, money, her parents’ health, and world affairs. She is very insightful about her condition and agrees the worry is excessive and unwanted. She admits that there is really no basis for the worry, as she has a full scholarship, she and her parents are in good health, and she currently has a 3.9 GPA. She claims that she has always been rather tense, but it didn’t get to the point that she sought treatment until her senior year in college. She was worried about getting accepted to grad school and “obsessed” over getting straight A’s. She sought the help of a psychologist at the university counseling service, was placed on Paxil, and began therapy. For the most part, her symptoms disappeared, but she remembers feeling tired during the day. POSTCASE DISCUSSION AND DIAGNOSIS Beth appears to have a rather classic case of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (300.02). Her worry is rather chronic, baseless, and interferes with sleep and concentration. After additional history, it appears that both her mother and sister have had problems with anxiety and her sister currently takes Celexa to address the issue. Beth denies that she has ever had a panic attack and she feels comfortable in most social situations. She has refrained from dating because she fears that a boyfriend would distract her from her studies and she hopes to be accepted into a Ph.D. program when she completes the M.A.  PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT In addition to psychotherapy, Beth was placed on Pristiq 50 mg every morning. While paroxetine was helpful in the past, she did not like the sedation during the day. Since she also complains of muscle tension in her neck, Pristiq and medicines like it help to reduce pain symptoms. In a follow-up session with her psychiatrist two weeks after starting the medication, she reported sleeping better and stated that her level of worry was drastically reduced. She still obsesses over grades, but expects to get into the doctoral program with her current GPA.1.    In addition to the diagnosis suggested by the text authors, are there additional disorders that may apply or should be ruled-out? 2.    Do you agree with the medication suggestions made by the text authors?3.    Any other medications that might be considered…and what is the rationale? 4.    Are the suggested medications, or any other considered medications, agonists or antagonists?5.    If you were asked to follow-up on this case as the treating therapist, what would your treatment plan be? Include collaboration and consultation. Social Science Psychology PSYCHOLGY MFT-6700-8 Share QuestionEmailCopy link Comments (0)