Mental health articles

 Example of Psychiatric Case Study: A 24-year-old woman with panic attacks and phobia

“It was so frightening when it first happened. I was sitting on a bus, when all of a sudden my heart started beating so fast that I felt I was having a heart attack. I had difficulty breathing, and then I started feeling as if ants were crawling on my hands and feet. My heart started pounding even faster, my body felt hot and I was trembling allover. I just had to get off the bus, but it was moving fast and I began to choke. My biggest fear was that I might collapse or go mad. Then the bus came to a stop and Irushed to get off even though I was still far from home. Since then, I have never been able to get on a bus… just the thought of using a bus makes me feel sick. For the past two years, I have stopped going out of the house because of this fear and now I have few friends and almost no social life … I didn’t know what to do and I was too scared to see a psychiatrist … after all, I am not a mental case.”

Example of Psychiatric Case Study: A 23-year-old man with schizophrenia

 “I was only 17 when I first started hearing the voices. At first, I wasn’t sure whether theywere in my mind or real. But later, I used to hear strangers talking about me, sayingnasty things. Once I heard a voice telling me to jump into a well and for days I wouldstand near the well feeling that I should obey the voice. I used to feel that my thoughtswere being controlled by the TV and, sometimes, I was sure that my food was beingpoisoned and that gangsters were out to kill me. I used to get angry and it was when Ilost my temper so badly and hit my neighbour that I was taken to the hospital.”

Example of Psychiatric Case Study: A 43-year-old woman with depression

 “It started quite gradually, but before I knew it I had lost all interest in life. Even mychildren and family didn’t make me feel happy. I was tired all the time. I could not sleep …I used to wake up at 2 or3 inthe morning and then just toss and turn. I lost the taste forfood which I used to love and I lost weight. I even lost interest in reading because I justcould not concentrate. My head ached. I felt so lousy about myself, that I was a burden onthe family and so on. The worst thing was that I felt embarrassed about the way I felt andcould not tell anyone … my mother-in-law used to complain that I had become lazy. OnceI felt like ending my life and it was then that I got so scared that I told my husband … thatwas two months after I started feeling ill.”

Example of Psychiatric Case Study: A 38-year-old man with mania

 “I used to feel as if I had so much energy that I did not need to sleep at all. In fact, Ihardly slept in those days. I would rush about with all my schemes and plans, butnever really managed to finish any of them properly. I used to lose my temper ifanyone tried to stop me. Once I got into a big fight with my business partners over oneof my crazy schemes. But when I was high, I never realised how wrong I was. I evenfelt sometimes that I had special powers to heal others. The worst thing about myillness was how I would spend so much money that I almost bankrupted the family.”

Example of Psychiatric Case Study: A 68-year-old man with dementia

 “I don’t know what’s happening. I seem to forget things so easily. The other day, my wifecame to give me my morning tea and, for a moment, I did not know who she was. Andthen, I was walking home from the market and, even though I was in my village, Isuddenly found I had no idea where I was. I always thought I was getting absent mindedas I grew older, but this is too much … and then I remember my father who died afteryears of losing his memory and now I am scared that I may have the same problem.”

Example of Psychiatric Case Study: A 44-year-old man with a drinking problem

 “My problems started at work when I started taking too much sick leave. I kept gettingstomach upsets and, recently, I had jaundice. It was then that I started worrying aboutmy drinking. What frightens me is that I wake up feeling terrible. It’s like I must have adrink to get myself going in the day. These days I am starting to drink even before lunch.I don’t know exactly how much I am drinking but it never seems to be enough.”

Tags: case study, Psychiatric