Clinical Cases report Psychology Case Study Research

Please make sure you read the Instructions and Rubric that I uploaded before you start writing, you'll find all the information about this order in instructions.

For this assignment, you will write a report (length: 500–1000 words) based on one of the clinical cases uploaded to Brightspace. It is worth 15% of your final grade. Assignment Objectives: The goal of this assignment is for you to apply what you’ve learned about the diagnostic criteria for psychological disorders. It will give you practice with linking DSM-5 criteria to specific symptoms and behaviours. In doing so, I hope that you will gain a more concrete understanding of otherwise abstract criteria. This aligns with Objective 5 in the syllabus. Depending on the case you choose, you will need to identify comorbidities, specifiers, and/or report a differential diagnosis that explains why an alternate diagnosis doesn’t fit. Working through this process will highlight the complexities involved in clinical diagnosis. This aligns with Objective 3 in the syllabus. Where should you start? On Brightspace (under “Exams & Assignments”), I have posted a set of 10 clinical cases, each approximately 1.5 pages long. Read through these cases and choose ONE case to use as the basis for your assignment. What should your assignment include? All assignments must include a primary diagnosis. Every case that I have provided meets criteria for at least one disorder. Your report should: – Explicitly state the primary diagnosis present in the clinical case. ▪ If there is more than one appropriate diagnosis (comorbidity; see below), the primary diagnosis will be the most important in terms of severity and interference with the person’s functioning. ▪ In general, the primary diagnosis is the one that’s described most thoroughly in the clinical case. – Justify all of the symptoms for the primary diagnosis using information from the case. ▪ Use sentences from the clinical case (quoted or paraphrased) that justify the presence of the symptom(s). For instance, you might write something like the following: Mr. X shows excessive anxiety and preoccupation, which is the most important symptom for a diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (Criterion A). This is demonstrated by the fact that, as stated in the case, “Mr. X’s main complaint is that he is unable to relax, even when he is on vacation. His job is extremely important for him, so he cannot stop thinking about his obligations even when he is with his family.” ▪ Note that I explicitly mentioned the relevant DSM-5 criterion in the example above. You should do the same! This reduces the odds of you overlooking a symptom, and it ensures that I know which specific symptom you are reporting evidence for. DSM criteria are listed with letters, and occasionally numbers (e.g., for Generalized Anxiety Disorder, we have Criterion A, Criterion B, Criterion C1, C2, C3, etc. See Table 5.2 of your textbook). PSYO 2220: Fall 2020 Page 2 of 3 Depending on the case that you choose, your assignment will also include at least one of the following elements: – Specifiers. As you know from our lectures, some diagnoses have specifiers associated with them (e.g., Major Depressive Disorder with anxious distress). The case you choose may have specifiers present in the diagnosis. If so, report and justify the specifier(s) in the same way that you justified the primary diagnosis. Make sure you clearly separate this from your description of the diagnosis itself so that I can easily find the information when grading. – Comorbid diagnosis. Some cases may meet criteria for a disorder other than the primary diagnosis. To qualify as a comorbid diagnosis, the person must meet all criteria (as was true for the primary diagnosis). However, this additional diagnosis will be the one that is less severe/impairing to the person and that is described less thoroughly in the case. If your case includes a comorbid diagnosis, report and justify it in the same way that you justified the primary diagnosis. – Differential diagnosis. If neither specifiers nor comorbid diagnoses are present in your case, report a differential diagnosis that explains relevant symptoms and states why the person does not meet diagnostic criteria. For instance: “Mr. X presents some symptoms compatible with a diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder, including low mood (Criterion A1; “I feel sad most of the time”) and insomnia (Criterion A4; “I have been sleeping less than 5 hours per night in the last month”). However, at least five symptoms are required for this diagnosis, and only two are present in Mr. X’s case.” What are the formatting requirements? Formatting requirements are minimal for this assignment—I am more interested in the content you include. However, to facilitate my grading, there are a few guidelines that I need you to follow. Failure to do so may result in lost points on your assignment. – Use double spacing. I often annotate assignments by hand, and this is more difficult in single-spaced documents. – Stick to the word limit! The maximum of 1000 words is a hard limit; I will stop grading after 1000 words. With ~350 students this term, this rule is necessary to manage my grading load—I want to give you feedback as quickly as possible! The 1000-word maximum is more than enough for what’s required, so I do not expect this to be an issue for you. – Use the following file name format. You can submit .docx, .pdf, or .pages files. ▪ [Case #] - [Your full name] - [Your student number] ▪ e.g., Case 3 - Erin Sparks - B00504924.docx A caveat: Early in the term, I told you that DSM criteria are not simple “checklists” that anyone can use to make a diagnosis. That’s true! However, the exercise involved in completing this assignment is still useful—it lets you think like a psychologist and apply the foundation you’ve built in the course. Notably, the cases we’re using were prepared by people with clinical training, and they report information that is (a) most relevant for diagnosis, based on their clinical expertise, and (b) would have been collected through formal assessment p