Case Study

  
For this Application, review the case studys. Consider important client characteristics for developing a personality disorder diagnosis. Think about your rationale for assigning a particular diagnosis on the basis of the DSM.
Personality Disorders Personality Disorders Program Transcript
MALE SPEAKER: Tell you the truth, I don’t even want to be here. My mother, she nags. She pushed me to come. Of course she’s 86. She nags and complains about everything. I came just to keep her quiet.
FEMALE SPEAKER: You mentioned that she’s concerned about your not having very many friends.
MALE SPEAKER: I don’t have a girlfriend. That’s what bothers her. She comes over to my apartment, starts talking how I don’t take care of myself, How I need to meet someone, get married.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Sounds like you’re dealing with some frustration, some annoyance. What do you think about it when she’s talking about these things?
MALE SPEAKER: She’s my mom. I know she cares, but a woman. I’ve been alone too long to change now. I don’t want a relationship. I never have. It’s not a big deal. FEMALE SPEAKER: What about your other friends? How would you characterize your social life? MALE SPEAKER: I mean, I know people. They’re friends.
FEMALE SPEAKER: But what do you like to you when you guys get together?
MALE SPEAKER: I don’t need other people to do things. I can be my own best friend. I like my privacy.
FEMALE SPEAKER: What about the rest of your family? Do you spend a lot of time with them? Are you close with them?
MALE SPEAKER: My mom’s my family. I don’t care about my father or my sister.
FEMALE SPEAKER: How about when you were in school and college? How would you describe your social life back then? Students often have opportunities to socialize, activities, making friends.
MALE SPEAKER: I didn’t have much use for all that. I was busy studying. You don’t get on the dean’s list by playing around.
FEMALE SPEAKER: No, you don’t. And what was your major?
MALE SPEAKER: Electrical engineering. I didn’t finish, though. I went three semesters. That was it for me. Trust me, I learned a lot more when I stopped going to classes. The other students, they were completed idiots. I’m not kidding. I taught myself everything I do now at my job– math, statistics, computers, data analysis.
You want to know how long my commute is? 10 steps. 10 steps, my bedroom to my desk. I do all my job right there at home. It’s perfect.
FEMALE SPEAKER: So besides work, what do you like to do in your free time?
MALE SPEAKER: World of Warcraft, an online role playing game. 20 levels, incredibly complex. It has the most incredible special effects. I’ve been playing it for years, and I still get shivers every time I turn it on and hear that theme music.
FEMALE SPEAKER: What do you like about it so much?
MALE SPEAKER: It’s hard to explain if you’ve never played it. Basically you go exploring and you get to create your own fantasy world, whatever it is. Sky’s the limit.
FEMALE SPEAKER: And how do you feel as you’re playing it?
MALE SPEAKER: You know how they say there’s nothing left, nothing more left to explore or discover on earth except maybe at the bottom of the ocean? But I’ve always imagined myself making some great new discovery. You know, like– I don’t know. Something great. This game lets me do that.
FEMALE SPEAKER: It sounds like you spend a lot of time playing it.
MALE SPEAKER: It’s time well spent as far as I’m concerned.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Let’s go back to your family a little bit. You had mentioned some strong feelings about your father, your sister.
MALE SPEAKER: My father. You want to know why I didn’t have any friends when I was young. My old man. I’d be hanging out in the yard with some kids in the neighborhood, throwing the ball around, goofing off, and he’d come out and start yelling at me for no reason. He’s just make up an excuse. His voice. It was like having razor blades thrown at you. And after that, nobody would be hanging out in the yard anymore. Just me. And at night, sometimes I was afraid just to come out of my room because I didn’t know how he was going to be. Was I going to get a smile or the back of his hand?
The Assignment (3–4 pages)
1. A DSM diagnosis of the client in the case study
2. An explanation of your rationale for assigning the diagnosis on the basis of the DSM
3. An explanation of what other information you may need about the client to make an accurate diagnosis based on the DSM diagnostic criteria