Psychopathology Report: Case Study, Dissociative Disorders, Treatment

This report delves into the realm of psychopathology, commencing with an introduction to psychological illnesses and their impact on individuals. It presents a case study of a 45-year-old woman, Sansa, with a history of depression and hypomanic episodes, providing a detailed account of her symptoms and experiences, including clinical depression and borderline personality disorder. The report formulates a treatment plan combining pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches, including psychosocial therapies like CBT. The report then explores dissociative disorders, defining them as disconnections in memory, thoughts, and actions, and discusses various types, including amnesia, dissociative identity disorder, and depersonalization-derealization disorder. The causes, symptoms, and treatment options, including the use of antidepressants and dialectical behavioral therapy, are also analyzed. The report concludes by summarizing the complexities in the treatment of different psychopathological disorders. References to relevant research articles are also provided.

Psychopathology

Table of contents
 Introduction
 Case study
 Formulation and treatment plan
 Dissociative disorders
 Conclusion
 References

INTRODUCTION
 Psychological illnesses are a group of mental
disorders which depicts the patterns of
behavioural or psychological symptoms
affecting the quality of life experienced by
patients.
 The onset of these disorders often lead to
distressed conditions. The mood, thinking and
behavioural ability is impacted leading to
depressive lows and manic highs.

CASE STUDY, FORMULATION AND
TREATEMENT JUSTIFICATION
 Sansa, a 45 year old married women
has a medical history of depression
and hypomanic episodes.
 She has been diagnosed with clinical
depression, borderline personality
disorder because of which she has
been viable across the years.
 These hypomanic episodes of
depression began in her late teens by
reviewing her symptoms.

Contd.
 She has also reportedly dropped out of
college after experiencing multiple manic
episodes.
 She was embarrassed in front of her
friends..
 In her past relationships, she has reported
signs of lashing out and yelling at her
partner for minor differences.

Contd.
 Despite her medication regimen, the
patient is experiencing symptoms of
depression, worthlessness, anorexia
and further complications (Plans and
et. al., 2019).
 During her psychiatric evaluation she
confessed, “There are rime where I
feel extremely emotional and have
this irresistible urge to cry.
Therefore, to combat that feeling I
often eat a lot to forget about how
pathetic I look”.

Formulation of a treatment plan
 The best treatment plan for bipolar disorder involves
a combination of pharmacological and non
pharmacological treatments which will offer
substantial benefits to the patient (Rajkumar, 2020).
 There treatment methods involve targeted
psychosocial therapies which consists group
psycho-education, family therapies and cognitive
behavioural therapy (CBT).
 There are many classes of pharma-co therapeutic
agents which are employed in the management of
bipolar disorder which include mood stabilizers,
antipsychotics and antidepressants.

DISSOCIATIVE DISORDERS
 Dissociative disorders are a class of
psychopathological disorders which
involve a disconnection and lack of
relation between memories, thoughts and
actions.
 Patients suffering dissociative disorders
are often lost in their own worlds and
escape reality. The signs and symptoms
of a variety of dissociative disorders are:
 Amnesia (loss of memory)
 Feelings of detachment
 A distorted perception of people and
things

Contd.
 There are three major types of dissociative
disorders:
 Dissociative amnesia- There is difficulty to recall
information about life events which have occurred.
Dissociative identity disorder- This medical
condition is also known as multiple personality
disorder where an individual switches to their
alternate identities
 Depersonalization-de realization disorder- This
condition cause depersonalization or distance from
self. A sense of detachment is ongoing which may
slow down or speed up the activity of the patient.

Contd.
 The development of dissociative
disorders is associated with coping
mechanisms with trauma.
 This trauma can be physical, sexual or
emotional because of which an
individual is frightened and becomes
unpredictable.
 Major causes of these disorders can be
stress of war or occurrence of natural
disasters (Kate and Dorahy, 2019).

Contd.
 Even though there are no specific medications
for the treatment of dissociative disorders but a
medical worker will prescribe anti-depressants
and anti-anxiety medications.
 Dialectical behavioural therapy is the best
possible treatment for people suffering from
dissociative disorder.
 Prescribing anti-depressant medications to treat
related symptoms of depression.

Contd.
 Dissociative disorders often make the brain
“shut down” by dealing with the
overwhelming feelings of stress and
anxiety.
 This condition of shutting down of the
brain is termed as “dissociative seizures”.
 Dissociative seizures cannot be controlled
by the patient and are often involuntary
because of which there are also referred to
as Non-epileptic seizures.