The Complexity of Eating Disorders in the Modern Society

The Complexity of Eating Disorders in the Modern Society

Name

Course

Instructor’s Affiliation

Submission Date

• Provide a full DSM-5 diagnosis of the client. Remember, a full diagnosis should include the name of the disorder, ICD-10-CM code, specifiers, severity, and the Z codes (other conditions that may be a focus of clinical attention). Keep in mind a diagnosis covers the most recent 12 months.

F50.81 Binge Anorexia Nervosa with depression

• Explain the diagnosis by matching the symptoms identified in the case to the specific criteria for the diagnosis.

Diagnostic Criteria

Patient abuses laxatives

Karen admits to taking laxatives since she was 17 to help her keep fit and avoid getting overweight. She has been abusing these drugs for a long period.

Purges after meals

Karen has reported that she takes purges after meals to ensure that she does not get overweight. She is concerned about getting overweight as she was in the teenage years.

The client is ashamed of her body size and weight

She has not been adjusting her eating schedule to avoid getting fat anymore, making her lose her skinny body. She is ready to do anything to ensure that she remains skinny. When asked about the one thing she could change about herself when granted the opportunity, she says that she could make sure she eats without getting fat. This is also way evident in her conduct and daily routine.

The client eats routinely with little portions at a go.

Karen’s roommate has gotten alarmed by her conduct in the recent past. She has grown thin and emaciated since she is stressed and cannot do anything. Her suicidal thoughts have also risen alarm as the roommate is worried about what could happen after she commits suicide. All these are as a result of the different challenges she has gone through with her weight.

• Identify which four diagnoses you initially considered in the case of the client, using the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria to explain why you selected these four items. In one or two sentences each, explain why three of these diagnoses were excluded.

1. F91.3    Oppositional Defiant Disorder – This diagnosis was excluded since the client has very evidently shown she has been having problems with an eating disorder. This means that the biggest challenge at hand was identifying the type of the disorder. She has done everything within her ability to work in all the workplaces she has been, and if there were any trouble reported, it is probably out of bothering from the workplace.
2. F43.10 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder – This disorder became an exclusion when many of the signs associated with it were lacking in the client’s narrative. She further goes on to say that she thought this was the problem but she later realized she never has any mental images or illusions of the person who might have tortured her emotionally.
3. F63.81 Intermittent Explosive Disorder – Looking at Karen’s history, she has been struggling at the workplace for the recent past. Her history shows that her actions when angered, though rampant and hazardous are not pre-meditated or pre-planned. They are only reactions that she lets out when angered, and therefore, these cannot be used as defining characteristics of the patient.
4. F 51.01 Depression with Insomnia – The client reports to have depression with insomnia and this ha lasted her so many years. However, she has never been bothered by this until recently when everything lost track. She begins feeling distracted at work and lacks motivation for the entire time. She has anger tantrums and almost tore out everything at the office when she was at loggerheads with a co-worker. This means that she could be having a bigger challenge than what we can perceive. However, this is also part of the key areas that need to be attended to.

The use of an interprofessional approach in the treatment.

Karen has a myriad of challenges that need to be sorted one after the other. Using an interprofessional approach will ensure that the client’s challenges are addressed as appropriately as possible and all of them are solved. These start from a psychiatrist, a psychologist, and also a clinician’s perspective. All these professionals will help in the treatment process of the client.

Client’s Family and the recovery process.

The client’s family can be of great help in the situation at hand. Since she has been having problems with her mother since she got the second child, she has had a lot of trouble growing up thinking her mother hates her. Bringing her mother to face the situation and help her in it will ensure she fully recovers.

Gender and diversity and the above disorders

Diversity has a huge role to play in the entirety of these disorders. Accepting the differences that exist between individuals both physiologically, economically and all other aspects is key. Karen needs to accept herself and get acquainted with the fact that she can always be her and very little can change. As such, what can hardly change should be left for a happy life.

Reference:

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5 (5th ed.). (2013). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.