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Diagnosis and Treatment Paper
Abel Moran Jr
Guilford Technical Community College
PSY 150: General Psychology
Professor Word
April 30, 2021
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Case Study #1
Specific Phobia is defined in Psychology in Your Life as “A fear of a specific object or situation
that is disproportionate to the threat (Grison and Gazzaniga, 2019, Pg 556)” or in other words
means she has an irrational fear to something. An example of this would be claustrophobia or a
fear of being in confined spaces such as an elevator or a tunnel. Specific Phobia can cause
symptoms such as severe anxiety, increased heart rate. This form of Psychological Disorder can
be related to our first case.
The first case within this case study is with Hannah. Hannah, age 55, was in a major car
accident 20 years ago during a cross country trip. Ever since, she has been unable to drive on
major highways. Although she does drive, she goes to great lengths to travel only on back roads
and scenic routes. She can go where she wants but it often takes her much longer to get there
than it should.
Hannah could be experiencing an extended form of Specific Phobia. In the case, Hannah talks
how she has been unable to travel on major highways and how she goes great lengths to get
where she needs to go. She is willing to spend extra money and time to get away from an
irrational fear help proves that it is case of specific phobia. This specific phobia of highways is
sometimes called Autokinetodromophobia. Autokinetodromophobia means to have a fear of
highways and will find ways to avoid the situation which perfectly describes the situation
Hannah is in.
Two major ways of Treatment for Specific Phobia is Exposure Treatment and Systematic
Desensitization. Exposure treatment is a “Therapy technique that involves repeatedly exposing a
client to an anxiety-producing stimulus or situation and has the goal of reducing the client’s fear
(Grison and Gazzaniga, 2019, Ch 14)”. Systematic Desensitization is a “Therapy technique that
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involves exposing a client to increasingly anxiety-producing stimuli or situations while having
the client relax at the same time (Grison and Gazzaniga, 2019, Ch 14)”. The course of treatment
for Hannah would be slowly reintroducing her to highway or driving as if she were new at
driving. This disorder can be overcoming in a few steps. First, having Hannah be in the
passenger seat while another drive starts driving across highways or busy streets and slowly
working towards short distances on highway. Once Hannah becomes used to being a passenger
in a vehicle driving on a highway, it would be time to introduce her driving onto highways. Once
again, it would start with driving across busy streets and small highways. Once she can manage
driving on smaller highways, doing small runs on a highway. Soon she will be able to slowly
drive longer distances on a highway until her specific phobia has been cured. In her specific case,
it may take longer than usually because of the amount of time she has had this phobia. Having a
habit over longer time makes it harder to break.
Case Study #2
Major depressive disorder or depression is “Mood disorder, characterized by extremely
depressed moods or a loss of interest in normally pleasurable activities, that persists for two
weeks or more. (Grison and Gazzaniga, 2019, Pg 562)”. This differs from Persistent depressive
disorder because it typically lasts a short period but is more severe. Symptoms include lack of
interest is pleasurable activities, this can also lead to lack of sleep and changes in weight.
Thoughts of self-harm or suicide is also severe symptoms of Major depressive disorder.
The second case is Morris has been referred to you for psychotherapy following a suicide
attempt. When you interview him, he is very teary, He speaks slowly and looks down at the
ground as he speaks. He reports difficulty in falling asleep and staying asleep for the past month.
Morris states that he hasn't had much of an appetite and has lost 15 pounds. He reports that
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things he used to like just don't seem enjoyable anymore, and he thinks that life is not worth
living. Morris doesn't expect things to improve in the future, which is why he tried to kill
himself.
Morris claims to have issues sleeping, losing weight, and being motivated. He also has
trouble being motivated. The issues have been having are very similar to symptoms related to
Major depressive disorder. Talking slowly and not making eye contact could also be signs of
depression. His suicide attempt also proves that he believes nothing will get better, also signs of
depression. There is a chance that the environment he has put himself in is causes himself to look
lower upon himself giving him low self-confidence.
Depression has many ways to cure, and many different steps could help cure depression.
If Morris has been a bad environment with people, it might be beneficial for Morris to find better
and more supportive friends. If Morris is having trouble with a family situation or a problem,
giving him support or offering to give advice. There are many different prescribing antidepressants may help him have more control over his emotions and allow to feel happier until his
emotional state becomes more stable. There are many different types of depression medicine and
there can be many different types of cures but letting Morris understand the full consequences of
suicide may help him try to get better. They could take the medicine and after some time of
showing improvements be slowly taken away to find an independent happiness.
Over time Morris’s Major depressive disorder will slowly disappear over time and the
symptoms will die down. He will eventually become able to function without needing medicine
and will be able to be motivated. He will become emotionally stable and become happy.
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Works Cited
Grison, S., & Gazzaniga, M. S. (2019). Psychology in your life. W.W. Norton & Company.
Maskey, M., Rodgers, J., Grahame, V., Glod, M., Honey, E., Kinnear, J., Labus, M., Milne, J.,
Minos, D., McConachie, H., & Parr, J. R. (2019). A Randomised Controlled Feasibility Trial of
Immersive Virtual Reality Treatment with Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Specific Phobias in
Young People with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental
Disorders, 49(5), 1912–1927.
Valdes, F., Keary, C. J., Mullett, J. E., Palumbo, M. L., Waxler, J. L., Pober, B. R., & McDougle,
C. J. (2018). Brief Report: Major Depressive Disorder with Psychotic Features in Williams
Syndrome--A Case Series. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 48(3), 947–952.
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