Anxiety, Stress, and Obsessive-Compulsive Related Disorders
Assume you a therapist that specializes in ‘Anxiety, Stress, and Obsessive-Compulsive Related Disorders.’ You are running a group session with the following clients in attendance: Bob, Cindy, Lou, Mary, and Tiffany. As you work around the group, each participant discusses his/her current symptoms. Read the following scenario and identify each participant’s specific anxiety related disorder [5 points each].
Bob starts the discussion by revealing that last week at the library he experienced a terrible physical sensation—almost crippling—where it felt like his heart would burst out his chest, he could not breathe, and became extremely dizzy. It really scared him because he has never experienced anything like that before! Cindy continued the discussion by stating for the past six years she never—not once—left her home; but, she liked it that way because she felt safe, calm, and at peace! Lou has been attending these group sessions for many, many months because he has been experiencing serious ‘flashbacks’ which cause him intense irritability and anger! Lou finally revealed in group that a year ago he almost lost his life in a plane crash. Mary is a college student who frequently attends group sessions because she is trying to overcome her intense fear of giving class presentations; this inability to speak in front of her peers is beginning to affect her grades! Finally, Tiffany suffers from ‘checking behavior.’ She explains that it takes her over an hour every morning to leave her apartment because she ritually checks and re-checks all the appliances to be certain they are ‘off’ and ‘unplugged.’
- Bob’s Disorder: ___________________________________________________
- Cindy’s Disorder: _________________________________________________
- Lou’s Disorder: ___________________________________________________
- Mary’s Disorder: __________________________________________________
- Tiffany’s Disorder: _________________________________________________