Case Study Analysis on Mental State Examination and Stress Vulnerability Model

Running head: CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
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Question 1-
Mental State Examination (MSE) is a psychological screening test that helps in
determining mental state of the person by analysing various components considering both
subjective and objective data of the patients. Therefore, the two components identified in the
case study of Lucinda are behaviour and insight of the patient. Behaviour is the primary
observation done by monitoring psychomotor activity, their movements and eye contact. Lucinda
was observed to be mentally incompatible for delivering the second baby since she had faced a
lot of issues and complications with her first pregnancy. Moreover, she thinks herself to not be a
good mother and therefore have a feeling of guilt inside her. She was also noticed to have
anxiety and finds trouble breathing that indicates her severity of clinical depression. If a deep
insight of Lucinda is made, it can be noted that Lucinda was not confident of her role as a mother
because of her incapability of taking care of her first child. Although, she was often found to be
tearful when talking about Emily indicating her concern about the child, she was ignorant and
not able to pay attention as her child was noticed wearing a short sleeved onesie on a cold day.
She was even noticed being tearful when speaking about caring for Emily and found to be
wringing her hands indicating her being upset and nervous. She was also guilty because of not
taking care of her child and often thought of going out of family, from Emily and her husband’s
life.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders V (DSM V) outlines the criteria
for the diagnosis of depression (Sachdev et al., 2015). According to the DSM V, Lucinda was in
a very bad phase of depression. She was depressed most of the day, almost every day and lost
pleasure in every activity. Lucinda was demotivated did not want to get out of bed which
signifies that she had a reduced physical movement and a slowed process of thought. She felt

CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
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exhausted and tired which is a sign of clinical depression according to the DSM V and felt guilty
and worthless because of not being a good mother, which gives a clear understanding of her
current mental state.
Question 2 –
Lucinda has experienced a painful and frightening pregnancy when her first child was
born with forceps extraction and she had a posterior presentation with prolonged labour. Now,
she is when pregnant with her second child, she was frightened whether she will be able to cope
up with the pain and distress she had during her first pregnancy. She feels exhausted for caring
Emily, her first child, and she may fear that this pregnancy will again have a negative impact in
her life. She was so careless and anxious at the same time that she forgot to give a warm cloth to
her child in a cold day that indicates her being restless and worried about getting pregnant.
Therefore, the two factors that were evident in the case study contributing to her current mental
state in the context of Stress Vulnerability Model are her past experience of traumatic birth and
incapability of being a good mother, good at household work and helping her husband
financially.
Besides that, she was also emotionally not ready to give birth to a child. She had to drop
off her studies and work because of her past pregnancy and could not help her husband
financially. She had realization and felt guilty of not taking care of Emily. She was not feeling
confident to give birth to this child because of her past experience and she believed that she will
not be a good mother to the child to be born since she was never a good mother to Emily. Her
family was also not there when she needed support. Her husband had to work for long hours and
could not give enough time to the family and her mother could not visit them since she could
afford the cost of air tickets. Though her husband, Jerome has a supporting family, but lived at