Diagnosis of Carl Abnormal Psychology

Diagnosis of Carl

Carl, who is 37 years old male, presented with symptoms of depression. Using the Beck’s Depression Scale, the patient scored 23, classifying his diagnosis as moderate depression. The initial visit of Carl to the clinic involved examining the information to examine the current mental state, current symptoms, biographical history, and family history (Clark et al., 2017). This information led to the identification and formulation of the relevant biological, social, and psychological factors affecting Carl’s mood. The evolution of his strategies to regulate his mood was also considered while making the diagnosis. Assessment of Carl’s mental state was accomplished by examining the consistency of themes in the information acquired, such as pessimism, self-harm, hopelessness, and lack of positive thoughts or plans (Park & Zarate, 2019). The Beck’s Depression Scale determines the severity of the depression diagnosis by the symptoms during his intake visit.

Diagnosis

The causes of depression are classified into three categories: precipitating, perpetuating, and predisposing causes. Participating causes are immediate instigators of an individual’s behavior. Such behavior includes psychological stresses in the absence of positive emotion and social stresses that emerge from work challenges and significant changes in a person’s living and social conditions. Physical stresses are also considered participatory causes, such as disease and infection (Lumen Learning Abnormal Psychology, 2021). The participatory causes related to the depression diagnosis presented in Carl include his observation of various life stressors. Perpetuating causes worsen the patient’s current condition resulting in depression. The symptoms may include physical inactivity, social distress, psychological distress, emotional distress, and disturbed sleeping patterns. The predisposing causes often are indicated by the biographical history of the patient. The manner they present might be evidence of a certain worldview formulated in childhood.

The information obtained from Carl’s intake visit indicated core participatory, perpetuating causes, and minor predisposing causes. The physical stressors, such as gaining 25 pounds, low energy, and a dysregulated appetite, led to the development of these challenges were presented as core symptoms. Psychological stressors presented were the lack of energy, moodiness and irritability, anxiety, worthlessness, inappropriate guilt, helplessness, and a decline in self-esteem (Dickson et al., 2016). The social stressors presented by Carl were his worrying about their financial stability and capability to maintain their middle-class living standards. The feelings of guilt resulting from being under the support of his partner through graduate school and while establishing his business are informed by his empathy. They need to reciprocate their partner’s contribution to their family and economic state that must have been learned in childhood.

Principal Symptoms Contributing to the Diagnosis

The principal symptoms that led to the diagnosis of Carl with moderate depression were the presence of a depressed mood and loss of pleasure. For a depression diagnosis to be made, these symptoms must be present as behavior or expressed verbally. Carl expressed that he had moodiness and irritability, and four other symptoms must be present and persistent over 12 weeks (Dickson et al., 2016). Carl acknowledged that he lacked positive emotion and was moody, irritable, and had a decline in his self-esteem. The depressive mood presented in behavior as well as verbally. The loss of pleasure was also expressed verbally and behaviourally. Carl acknowledged his interest had decreased, preoccupation with feeling worthless, inappropriate guilt, and helplessness.

The presence of a depressive mood was evidenced by a prolonged feeling of worthlessness, inappropriate guilt, helplessness, and a decline in self-esteem. The loss of positive emotion was evidenced by persistent anxiety since he worried about the His and his partner’s financial stability and capability to maintain their middle-class living standards (Clark et al., 2017; Almas et al., 2015). Another indicator of the lack of positive emotion was the feelings of guilt due to his inability to assist at home, resulting in the worsening of his patterns of health deteriorating. The feeling of guilt has also been caused by the continued support by his partner financially, and he has not been in a position to pick equal responsibilities to ease the work for his partner. Further, Carl expressed that he felt his partner must resent him for absenteeism, take responsibility for the family, and keep growing his businesses. However, his partner has not expressed or behaved in a manner that expresses that she was resentful of Carl.

The other symptoms that contributed to the depression diagnosis were a change in appetite, distracted sleep, energy loss, anxiety, and weight gain (Almas et al., 2015). Carl reported his sleeping is disturbed since he experienced trouble sleeping, interrupted sleep patterns, and occasional sleeplessness. The severe anxiety and worry about Carl and his partner’s ability to sustain their middle-class living standards cause the lack of a stable sleep pattern. Carl also expressed concern about his financial stability and ability to maintain middle-class living standards (Lumen Learning Abnormal Psychology, 2021). The economic conditions have resulted in the decline in his ability to save any money and led to the shrinking of their savings, leading to the deterioration of his physical, emotional, professional, and personal state.

Irregular sleeping patterns cause energy loss, loss of interest in activities, such as sex, and a dysregulated diet, such as feeling hungry followed by increased eating. Helplessness was evidenced by the verbal expression when Carl acknowledged he had lost control of his life and their financial stability had been affected by decreasing income. The anxiety was caused by the uncertainty of the future social status and financial stability and contributed to the loss of appetite, resulting in the loss of appetite and unregulated eating after that. The assessment of Carl’s mental, physical, psychological, and social state presented a depressive mood, dysregulated sleep and appetite, and the presence of themes of pessimism, an absence of positive emotions, and a lack of self-esteem (Dickson et al., 2016). These challenges permeated his relationship with his partner, which was indicated by the decline in his interest in sex. These symptoms presented by Carl satisfied the DSM-V prerequisites for diagnosis and the Beck’s Depression Scale moderate depression classification of severity.

Strengths that Will Aid Constructive work Carl

Carl is highly resilient and determined, shown by his dynamic nature, and is willing to recover from this depressive episode. For example, he went into graduate school to establish his business and establish and excel in his business. The success in his business was brought forth by his persistence that led to the acquisition of many new customers. His resilience is evident from his ability to preserver through graduate school and establish business despite limited financial resources (Dickson et al., 2016). Carl’s willingness to get past this depressive episode is evident from his admission that he needs help and voluntary seeking clinical intervention. He also has a comprehensive healthcare insurance cover that will make it easy for him to access care from different specialists without additional financial strife. Further, Carl has employees who can take charge of the business as he retreats from the aggressive work schedule for recovery.

Carl’s Opportunities for Growth and Improvement

To his advantage, Carl has an array of growth and improvement to alleviate the depressive symptoms and develop the necessary skills for communication, managing stress, eradicating irrational beliefs, and developing an interpersonal relationship. Carl is interested in learning how to manage his condition. He can ask for help, accept, act on advice, and share his thoughts as observed in the initial visit. Another opportunity for growth is the awareness of the changes in his life, resulting in the array of symptoms presented behaviourally and verbally (Lumen Learning Abnormal Psychology, 2021). The areas of improvement to carl include the stable environment at home and his commitment to reversing the downwards spiral of his life. There is tension in Carl’s relationship with his partner, especially during the current economic downturn. However, he has a good and is not scared about the wellness of his three children. A good the children will facilitate the generation of positive emotions. Carl is also aware of his inadequacy in the financial contribution and the absence at home and is willing to remedy this challenge. Therefore, Carl has the opportunity to learn how to maintain a healthy work-life balance and pick some responsibilities at home to assist his partner in domestic duties.