Case Study 7: A 35-year-old clothing salesman was showing a particularly fussy customer a suit 2 months ago and suddenly began to sweat profusely. His heart started to pound, he felt dizzy, and became fearful that he was about to die. The customer did not notice his condition and continued to question him about the suit in minute detail. The patient, feeling faint, abruptly left the customer and went to lie down in the back of the store. The customer became insulted, complained to the manager, and left. When the manager found the patient he was slumped in a chair in the back room trembling. Approximately 10 minutes later the patient’s symptoms began to subside. He saw his physician the next day who found no evidence of any medical problems. Two weeks later, he had another similar unexpected attack. Since that time he has worried continuously about having another attack. His friends and colleagues have noticed that he is no longer as spontaneous and outgoing as he had been in the past.
The patient is showing clear symptoms of Panic Disorder. Panic Disorder is defined as "...discrete period[s] in which there is the sudden onset of intense apprehension, fearfulness, or terror, often associated with feelings of impending doom. During these attacks, symptoms such as shortness of breath, palpitations, chest pain or discomfort, choking or smothering sensations, and fear of "going crazy" or losing control are present...."
The patient has a few different options to overcome this disorder. The patient can use medication to stop Panic Disorder, but the effects of the medication soon wear off. Not only that, but the medication may also prove to have damaging side effects that do more harm than good. In order to completely overcome this disorder, the patient must undergo psychological treatment. In this way, the patient will be able to "...[accept] the panic attacks as psychological rather than physical..." Unfortunately, there are many people that will not use a psychological method of treatment due to the fact that it takes much time, effort, and, in some cases, money. The long term effects are well worth these sacrifices.
Diagnosis: http://allpsych.com/disorders/anxiety/panicdisorder.html
Friday, November 21, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Jean-Claude Van Damme:Rapid Cycling Bipolar Disorder
Jean-Claude Van Damme--born in Flanders, Belgium as Jean Claude Camille François Van Varenberg-- first began his career as a Shotokan karate martial artist at the early age of 10. By the age of 16, he had dropped out of school so that he could concentrate on his martial arts career. After winning many championships, Van Damme decided to use his winnings to move to America. He went to L.A. with only $7,000 and the ability to only speak French and Flemish. He worked many odd jobs before starring in a low-budget film, and later, his own film. After his film was released, it became number one in the box office, and Van Damme became a star. Since then, he has worked as an actor, director, writer, model, and producer.
Later, after his fame was attained, Van Damme began using cocaine. He also had as many as four marriages within only ten years. Van Damme's career began to take a downward spiral as three of his movies in a row were unsuccessful at the box office. Van Damme checked into rehab but checked out only about a week later. Soon after this, he nearly committed suicide. Following this incident, he was legally considered to have Rapid Cycling Bipolar Disorder and was prescribed sodium valproate.
Bipolar disorder can be very dangerous is sometimes hard to identify, which makes it harder to cure. Because we have moments of depression, happiness, anger, etc., some people might not see Bipolar disorder as a problem, but what many don't realize is that Bipolar disorder takes those emotions to the extreme and can cause many problems mentally and physically. I do believe that bipolar disorder can be fought with a great amount of willpower, but of course, there are those that do not possess that much willpower, and they must use medication.
Links to articles of van Damme and Bipolar Disorder:
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