Posted: January 1st, 2023
DISCUSSION 1
Discuss and answer questions related to the case presentation.
Please include the time consideration for differentiating adjustment disorders from PTSD.
According to the American Psychiatric Association (2013), posttraumatic stress disorder is when the duration of the disturbance last more than one month. Adjustment disorder is when the person has developed emotional or behavioral symptoms that occur within three months of the start of the stressor (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) Oppositional defiant vs Conduct disorder and post traumatic stress vs Adjustment disorder essays.
What is the difference between an Oppositional defiant disorder and Conduct disorder?
According to the American Psychiatric Association (2013), oppositional defiant disorder is when the patient meets at least four of the symptoms lasting at least six months and the interaction occurs with at least one individual who is not a sibling. The symptoms are under the categories of angry/irritable mood, argumentative/defiant behavior, and vindictiveness (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Conduct disorder is when the patient meets three of the 15 criteria within the past 12 months and at least one criterion present in the past six months (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). With conduct disorder, the patient is physically destructing property or committing theft and bullying/physical fights (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Oppositional defiant vs Conduct disorder and post traumatic stress vs Adjustment disorder essays On the other hand, oppositional defiant disorder the patient isn’t destroying anything but is just displaying acts of defiance (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Oppositional defiant disorder patients aren’t physically defiant just verbally (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
Acute stress disorder is a differential diagnosis for this patient due the stress she was under during the event but, acute stress disorder only last from 3 days to 1 month following the exposure to the traumatic event therefore if her symptoms don’t resolve in one month then the diagnosis couldn’t be acute stress disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
Other posttraumatic disorders and conditions could be a differential diagnosis for the patient depending on her symptoms in the days following the traumatic event (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The patient does have symptoms at this time due to the traumatic event but, if her symptoms resolve then her diagnosis could be another mental disorder and not PTSD (American Psychiatric Association, (2013).
The diagnosis for the patient is posttraumatic stress disorder. According to the American Psychiatric Association (2013), to diagnose this patient with posttraumatic stress disorder, the patient does meet the criteria A which is exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence in one or more ways. The patient meets criteria A1: directly experiencing the traumatic event (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
I would ask the patient if she were having any flashbacks or nightmares of the incident. Is there anything that triggers memories of the traumatic event? Have you told anyone else about the traumatic event? Are you able to sleep and are you eating? Have you been able to maintain your cleanliness?
For this patient I would start her out on sertraline (Zoloft) 25 mg po daily for her PTSD. The notable side effects for Zoloft are gastrointestinal such as decreased appetite, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, or dry mouth (Stahl, 2021). Zoloft can often affect the central nervous system with insomnia, sedation, agitation, tremors, headache, or dizziness (Stahl, 2021). Other rare side effects are hyponatremia, hypotension, and seizures (Stahl, 2021). The black box warning for Zoloft is that it could cause suicidal ideation in children and young adults (Stahl, 2021) Oppositional defiant vs Conduct disorder and post traumatic stress vs Adjustment disorder essays.
There are no labs that need to be started to start on Zoloft. Getting a baseline CBC, and urine tox screen would be good for this patient. Checking the patients’ labs for electrolyte imbalances because Zoloft can cause hyponatremia. Also, a urine tox screen to make sure the patient isn’t using any other substances before starting on Zoloft.
There are numerous scales and questionnaires that can be conducted to diagnose PSTD. Those scales and questionnaires are the brief trauma questionnaire, trauma assessment for adults-self report, and traumatic life events questionnaire (Lancaster et al., 2016). There are other scales that can be used for symptom severity which are PTSD checklist for DSNM-5 and posttraumatic diagnostic scale for DSM-5 (Lancaster et al., 2016).
Psychotherapeutic interventions for PTSD are behavior therapy, cognitive therapy, and hypnosis (Sadock et al., 2017). Other types of therapy that is relatively novel and somewhat controversial is eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) (Sadock et al., 2017) Oppositional defiant vs Conduct disorder and post traumatic stress vs Adjustment disorder essays. Group and family therapy have proven to be effective in cases of PTSD as well (Sadock et al., 2017). Therapists need to overcome the patient’s denial of the traumatic event, encourage them to relax, and remove them from the source of the stress (Sadock et al., 20170.
DISCUSSION 2
Please include the time consideration for differentiating adjustment disorders from PTSD.
Adjustment disorder symptoms rarely last longer than 6 months and the symptoms start within 3 months while post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms last longer than how long adjustment disorder symptoms last. PTSD is usually not diagnosed until six months after the trauma even though the symptoms may begin immediately after the trauma.
According to the DSM-5, by definition, the disturbance in adjustment disorders begins within 3 months of the onset of a stressor and lasts no longer than 6 months after the stressor or its consequences have ceased (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 287).
According to Kaplan and Sadock (2017, p. 137), for PTSD, “by definition, the symptoms must begin within 3 months of the stressor”.
What is the difference between an Oppositional defiant disorder and Conduct disorder?
The oppositional defiant disorder is seen in children and adolescents with enduring patterns of negativistic, disobedient, and hostile behavior toward authority figures, as well as an inability to take responsibility for mistakes, leading to placing blame on others (Kaplan and Sadock, 2017, p. 814).
Conduct disorder is an enduring set of behaviors in a child or adolescent that evolves over time, usually characterized by aggression and violation of the rights of others (Kaplan and Sadock, 2017, p. 816).
The difference between the two is with conduct disorder, individuals violate other people’s rights or what is considered a norm by the society while in oppositional defiant disorder, people with this disorder may have irritable or angry moods, may have argumentative or defiant behavior, and may be vindictive. Oppositional defiant vs Conduct disorder and post traumatic stress vs Adjustment disorder essays
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Adjustment Disorder. In Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-5 (5th ed., pp. 287). American Psychiatric Publishing.
Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P. (2017). Kaplan & Sadock’s Concise Textbook of Clinical Psychiatry (Fourth ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
Module 5 case study
Brief Summary: The patient is a 33year old male who was brought into the psychiatric hospital by police after he attacked a man in the bar after he saw the man putting his arm around his girlfriend. He wrapped his hands around his throat and threatened to rip his throat out. The patient admitted to a history of similar episodes multiple times a year since he was in his late adolescence. He was arrested two months prior for road rage and had been fired from several jobs in his late 20s due to being hot-tempered. According to his girlfriend apart from his outbursts and anger which leads to destroying things, he is fun-loving and charming. The patient stated that he regrets the episodes, and they usually subside within a half-hour, and he feels an instant sense of relief. The patient denies any past psychiatric history or prescription drug use and denies current use of illicit or recreational drug use but admitted to marijuana experimentation in his late teens.
His physical examination and all of his diagnostic testing, and labs were all normal.
Any differential diagnoses
Your diagnosis and reasoning
My diagnosis for this patient is Intermittent Explosive Disorder 312.34 (F63.81) (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 466-469).
My reasoning is he has had multiple similar episodes since his late adolescent years. He clearly meets the diagnostic criteria as listed in the DSM-5. The patient meets the following diagnostic criteria:
Any additional questions you would have asked
Medication recommendations along with your rationale. Note possible side effects or issues to address if attempting to obtain consent.
Consent for treatment obtained from the patient prior to prescribing the medications. The medications I recommend are Sertraline and Buspirone. SSRI combined with Buspar has been proven to be effective for the treatment of intermittent explosive disorder particularly in reducing impulsivity and aggression (Sadock et al., 2017).
Side effects of the medication such as headache, nausea, diarrhea, drowsiness, dry mouth, anxiety, nervousness, vomiting, constipation, and sexual dysfunction discussed with the patient. Adverse effects of sertraline such as serotonin syndrome (seizures, arrhythmias, high fever), neuroleptic malignant syndrome (muscle rigidity, cognitive changes), and suicidal ideation were discussed with the patient (Kizior and Hodgson, 2019, p. 2378).
The patient was told that the dry mouth may be relieved by drinking sips of water and chewing sugarless gum and should avoid alcohol while taking sertraline. Should report any worsening depression or suicide ideation immediately (Kizior and Hodgson, 2019, p. 2379).
The side effect of the medication such as dizziness, drowsiness, nervousness, fatigue, insomnia, dry mouth, and diarrhea were discussed with the patient, and also made aware that in rare cases muscle pain/stiffness, chest pain, and involuntary movements can occur (Kizior and Hodgson, 2019, p. 518). The patient was told to avoid tasks that requires alertness, and motor skills until the effect of the medication is established (Kizior and Hodgson, 2019, p, 518). The patient was also told to avoid alcohol, and grapefruit products and be consistent if taking it with food (Kizior and Hodgson, 2019, p. 518).
Any labs and why they may be indicated
Baseline labs complete blood count (CBC), renal function, and liver function tests (LFT) will be obtained prior to starting Sertraline and periodically for both medications if the patient remains on the medications long-term (Kizior and Hodgson, 2019, pp. 518 and 2379) Oppositional defiant vs Conduct disorder and post traumatic stress vs Adjustment disorder essays.
Screener scales or diagnostic tools that may be beneficial
The intermittent explosive disorder screening questionnaire (IED-SQ) was used.
According to Coccaro et al., (2017), “a study was designed to develop and test a screening approach to identify individuals with DSM-5 Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED), a disorder of recurrent, problematic, impulsive aggression and a screening approach to diagnose DSM-5 IED (IED-SQ) was developed by combining items related to life history of aggression and items related to the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for IED”. Based on the result of their study, the data suggested that the IED-SQ is a useful screening tool that can quickly identify the presence of IED by DSM-5 criteria in adults (Coccaro et al., 2017).
Additional resources to give (Therapy modalities, support groups, activities, etc.)
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