Patient in this case study is going through Agoraphobia. Keeping that in mind, h
ID: 3460474 • Letter: P
Question
Patient in this case study is going through Agoraphobia. Keeping that in mind, how might you begin to conceptualize this case from a cognitive theoretical perspective?Janet is a 23-year-old single, African-American woman who was referred for evaluation by her cardiologist. In the prior 1.5 months, she presented to the emergency room three times for acute complaints of palpitations, shortness of breath, sweats, trembling, and the fear that she was about to die. Each of these events had a rapid onset. The symptoms peaked within minutes, leaving her scared, exhausted, and fully convinced that she had just experienced a heart attack. Medical evaluations done right after these episodes yielded normal physical exam findings, vital signs, lab results, toxicology screens, and electrocardiograms.
The patient reported a total of four such attacks in the prior 6 months, with the panic occurring at work, at home, and while driving a car. She had developed a persistent fear of having other attacks, which led her to take many days off work and to avoid exercise, driving, and coffee on those days. Her sleep quality declined, as did her mood. She avoided social relationships. She did not accept the reassurance offered to her by friends and physicians, believing that the medical workups were negative because they were performed after the resolution of the symptoms. She continued to suspect that something was wrong with her heart and that without an accurate diagnosis, she was going to die.
Janet is currently living with her father and two younger siblings, and reports that the relationships are all strained. She graduated from high school, is working as a telephone operator, and is not dating anyone. She denied depression but appears worried and preoccupied with ideas of having heart disease. She denied psychotic symptoms, confusion, and all suicidality.
Patient in this case study is going through Agoraphobia. Keeping that in mind, how might you begin to conceptualize this case from a cognitive theoretical perspective?
Janet is a 23-year-old single, African-American woman who was referred for evaluation by her cardiologist. In the prior 1.5 months, she presented to the emergency room three times for acute complaints of palpitations, shortness of breath, sweats, trembling, and the fear that she was about to die. Each of these events had a rapid onset. The symptoms peaked within minutes, leaving her scared, exhausted, and fully convinced that she had just experienced a heart attack. Medical evaluations done right after these episodes yielded normal physical exam findings, vital signs, lab results, toxicology screens, and electrocardiograms.
The patient reported a total of four such attacks in the prior 6 months, with the panic occurring at work, at home, and while driving a car. She had developed a persistent fear of having other attacks, which led her to take many days off work and to avoid exercise, driving, and coffee on those days. Her sleep quality declined, as did her mood. She avoided social relationships. She did not accept the reassurance offered to her by friends and physicians, believing that the medical workups were negative because they were performed after the resolution of the symptoms. She continued to suspect that something was wrong with her heart and that without an accurate diagnosis, she was going to die.
Janet is currently living with her father and two younger siblings, and reports that the relationships are all strained. She graduated from high school, is working as a telephone operator, and is not dating anyone. She denied depression but appears worried and preoccupied with ideas of having heart disease. She denied psychotic symptoms, confusion, and all suicidality.
Patient in this case study is going through Agoraphobia. Keeping that in mind, how might you begin to conceptualize this case from a cognitive theoretical perspective?
Janet is a 23-year-old single, African-American woman who was referred for evaluation by her cardiologist. In the prior 1.5 months, she presented to the emergency room three times for acute complaints of palpitations, shortness of breath, sweats, trembling, and the fear that she was about to die. Each of these events had a rapid onset. The symptoms peaked within minutes, leaving her scared, exhausted, and fully convinced that she had just experienced a heart attack. Medical evaluations done right after these episodes yielded normal physical exam findings, vital signs, lab results, toxicology screens, and electrocardiograms.
The patient reported a total of four such attacks in the prior 6 months, with the panic occurring at work, at home, and while driving a car. She had developed a persistent fear of having other attacks, which led her to take many days off work and to avoid exercise, driving, and coffee on those days. Her sleep quality declined, as did her mood. She avoided social relationships. She did not accept the reassurance offered to her by friends and physicians, believing that the medical workups were negative because they were performed after the resolution of the symptoms. She continued to suspect that something was wrong with her heart and that without an accurate diagnosis, she was going to die.
Janet is currently living with her father and two younger siblings, and reports that the relationships are all strained. She graduated from high school, is working as a telephone operator, and is not dating anyone. She denied depression but appears worried and preoccupied with ideas of having heart disease. She denied psychotic symptoms, confusion, and all suicidality.
Explanation / Answer
Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.
(Answer) Janet seems to be a normal girl with a normal family and professional life. Furthermore, she has denied having psychotic symptoms, confusion and suicidal tendencies. To dismiss any further doubts, she even has clear reports from the hospital.
However, it would be essential to know Janet’s thoughts, mood, surroundings and the people around her at the time of the first attack. This is because Janet is clearly having panic attacks which are affecting her mood and temperament further. It is said that she is in constant fear of another attack. This can be attributed to the added panic she has about “panic attacks.”
If one might take the liberty to ignore the attacks that happened later because they were the source of panicking about a panic attack, the focus can be driven towards the initial attacks. It can be reckoned that since Janet has Agoraphobia, the people and the social setting around her at the time of the attacks may have been too grave for her to handle.
The gravitas of the attacks made her afraid of other attacks and simply worsened the situation. As a recommendation, Janet should have therapeutic sessions to overcome her agoraphobia and eventually, her panic attacks would probably stop.