For 8 or 9 months, David had been increasingly aware of his environment and spec

Question

For 8 or 9 months, David had been increasingly aware of his environment and special messages he was receiving. He believed he was the only person who could prevent the impending war that would end the world. He would prevent it by loving all humans and never qualifying or compromising his love. From his apartment, David had a panoramic view in which many people expressed the basic needs and goals of humanity to him. Activity on the left side represented the transcendental and intuitive realm of life; activity on the right represented material, rational, and analytical realm. As an example of expressed needs and goals, exhaust from airplanes formed patterns that symbolized harmony or an analytical approach depending on the side.

David could hear phrases superimposed on the airplane sounds, words that always caused great tension in him. Pauses in sounds, such as airplane noises, and in his own movements, held deep meaning for David. Pauses represented specific, divine meanings that were hidden from him by the limitations of his consciousness. David began to suspect and then perceive that a federal agency was observing him. An agent at the local CIA told him there was no investigation, but David read his mind and determined they were conducting an investigation. It dawned on David that the CIA was listening to most of his thoughts wherever he went, sometimes even during sleep. The only privacy he had was to think of images, word thoughts created patterns in breathing that were picked up by the CIA.

What symptoms does David display?

Based on this paragraph, what diagnosis do you think is most likely? Provide examples of how David meets specific criteria to support your answer.

What treatment approach would you take with David?

Explanation / Answer

The symptoms that David displays are the following:

The provisional diagnosis can be: According to ICD-10, F-20, Paranoid Schizophrenia

David meets the specific criteria of paranoid schizophrenia, that can be illustrated by the following examples from the paragraph:

The treatment approach that can be taken up with David will be psychopharmacological treatment which would take care of the imbalance in the neurotransmitters.

With the psychopharmacological treatment, supportive therapy can also be used which would help in equilibrium in the psychological well-being.

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