Fred is seeking treatment because he is concerned about his ability to complete

Question

Fred is seeking treatment because he is concerned about his ability to complete a physician's assistant program at a local college. He began the program one year ago, but has spent the last few months struggling to pass classes and attend mandatory events for the program. He often feels distracted, worries often about his ability to complete the program, and rarely sleeps through the night. Six months ago, when he was leaving school later than usual, an individual attempted to steal his backpack in the parking lot. Although he was not physically injured, he reported feeling unsafe and on some days, reported not even attending school for fear of a similar incident occurring. Prior to a few months ago, Fred was an exemplary student. He excelled in classwork and was actively involved in university clubs and community activities.

QUESTION:

What steps would you take to conduct an assessment with Fred? What would you need to know in order to best assist Fred? Next, pretend that Fred meets criteria for PTSD and had a previous diagnosis of hypertension. What might his DSM-5 diagnosis look like?  

Explanation / Answer

What steps would you take to conduct an assessment with Fred? What would you need to know in order to best assist Fred? Next, pretend that Fred meets criteria for PTSD and had a previous diagnosis of hypertension. What might his DSM-5 diagnosis look like?

In order to conduct an assessment with Fred, it is important to ask him about his performances before the incident had occurred. Also, we need to clearly understand how he felt about school, before the incident occurred.

- next, we need to ask him in detail of what happened at the time of incident, what were his feelings and how did he feel exactly at the time of incident. Also, how was he affected after the incident.

- also, it is important to ask him how his behaviour or aptitude toward school was changed after the incident occur.

All this would clearly give an assessment of how his aptitude changed after the incident and how his behaviours were exactly influenced after the incident.

Though, this was not a case of PTSD, it has to be considered as one, and the criteria would be:

- witnessing a trauma,

- flashbacks

- emotional distress after exposure

- trauma related reminders and thoughts

- negative affects

- difficulty in experiencing positive affects

- heightened startled reaction

- difficulty concentrating,

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