Borderline Personality Disorder: Dal's Struggles with Self-Worth & Instability, Study notes of Psychology

Download Borderline Personality Disorder: Dal's Struggles with Self-Worth & Instability and more Study notes Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! Case Analysis Social Science 8 Submitted by: Dablo, Hans Christian Obligar, Neil Jay Abellon, Lyka Angela E. Canumay, Le Ann Lumapas, Cherry Mae Mandado, Jessa Pañares, Julie Papellero, Naomi Ventic, Rosemarie Yosores, Harieth Submitted to: Ms. Nicole Mae Abanilla Instructor CASE 5 Dal is an attractive young woman but seems to be unable to maintain a stable sense of self-worth and self-esteem. Her confidence in her ability to “hold on to men” is at low ebb, having just parted ways with “the love of her life”. In the last year alone she confesses to having had six “serious relationships”. Why did they end? “Irreconcilable differences”. The commencement of each affair was “a dream come true” and the men were all and one “Prince Charming”. But then she invariably found herself in the stormy throes of violent fights over seeming trifles. She tried to “hang on there”, but the more she invested in the relationship, the more distant and “vicious” her partners became. Finally, they abandoned her, claiming that they are being “suffocated by her clinging and drama queen antics.” Is she truly a drama queen? She shrugs and then becomes visibly irritated, her speech slurred and her posture almost violent: “No one f***s with me. I stand my ground, you get my meaning?” She admits that she physically assaulted three of her last six paramours, hurried things at them, and, amidst uncontrollable rage attacks and temper tantrums, even threatened to kill them. What made her so angry? She can’t remember now, but it must have been something really big because, by nature, she is calm and composed. As she recounts these and sad exploits, she alternates between boastful swagger and self-chastising, biting criticism of her own traits and conduct. Her affect swings wildly, in the confines of a single therapy session, between exuberant and fantastic optimism and unbridled gloom. One minute she can conquer the world, careless and “free at last” (“It’s their loss. I would have made the perfect wife had they known how to treat me right?”) – the next instant, she hyperventilates with unsuppressed anxiety, bordering on a panic attack (“I am not getting younger, you know – who would want me when I am forty and penniless?”) Dal likes to “live dangerously, on the edge.” She does drugs occasionally – “not a habit, just for recreation”, she assures me. She is a shopaholic and often finds herself mired in debts. She went through three personal bankruptcies in her short life and blames the credit card companies for doling out their wares “like so many pushers.” She also binges on food, especially when she is stressed or depressed which seems to occur quite often. 6. Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood. (e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days) 7. Chronic feelings of emptiness. 8. Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger. (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights) 9. Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms. 6. She shrugs and then becomes visibly irritated, her speech slurred and her posture almost violent. She hyperventilates with unsuppressed anxiety, bordering on a panic attack. 7. She seems to be unable to maintain a stable sense of self-worth and self-esteem. She can conquer the world, careless and “free at last” (“It’s their loss. I would have made the perfect wife had they known how to treat me right?”) – the next instant, she hyperventilates with unsuppressed anxiety, bordering on a panic attack (“I am not getting younger, you know – who would want me when I am forty and penniless?”) 8. She admits that she physically assaulted three of her last six paramours, hurried things at them, and, amidst uncontrollable rage attacks and temper tantrums, even threatened to kill them. What made her so angry? She can’t remember now, but it must have been something really big because, by nature, she is calm and composed. 9. Prior to such self-destructive acts, she sometimes hears derisive and contemptuous voices but she know that “they are not real”, just reactions to stress of being the target of persecution and vilification by her former mates. Differential Diagnosis: 1. Schizophrenia Our client can sometimes hear derisive and contemptuous voices, but she know that they are not real and it fits on the diagnostic criteria in schizophrenia – A. (2.Hallucinations). But we cannot diagnose the client with schizophrenia because some criteria of this disorder don’t fit all of our client’s symptoms. 2. Major Depressive Disorder (MDE) She is having intrusive thoughts of killing herself and it is one of the diagnostic criteria in MDE – A. (9.Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide). But we cannot diagnose the client unless five (or more) symptoms in MDE have been presented. 3.