Case Study 10

Case Study 10: A 36-year-old man and his young son were driving through an intersection when another car ran through a red traffic light and struck them. The two were trapped in the car until a fire department rescue team freed them. The patient was bruised but not seriously hurt. His son had a broken leg. The first few days after the accident the patient was preoccupied with arranging care for his son and getting the car repaired. A few days later he began having recurrent distressing thoughts and images of the accident. Theses symptoms lasted for several weeks. The memory of his son’s screams after the car was struck seemed particularly vivid. The patient became irritable, had difficulty concentrating, and avoided talking about the accident. He went out of his way to avoid driving down the street where the accident occurred. As time went on he could no longer remember whether the traffic light was red or green when he approached it.

Diagnosis.

The 36-year old man has acute stress disorder. ASD is the result of the response to a traumatic event that a person experienced or witnessed usually involoving serious injury or death. After a few days, the person suffers several symptoms such as vivid memories, flashbacks, or a loss of awareness to his/her surroundings. The person may also feel weak and not have energy to work or even tell others about his/her disorder. In this case study, the 36-year old man clearly has ASD; he was involved and witnessed his son getting injured, he had vivid memories of his son's screams, and after a few days, he was unable to recognize the traffic light as green or red.

Treatment.
Recommended treatments for acute stress disorder are such as antidepressant medications and psychotherapy. However, they cannot completely heal the patient but can help to regain strength to be able to work and socialize again. Luckily, their ASD may also heal itself over time.


Source:
http://psychcentral.com/disorders/sx44.htm
http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/common/standard/transform.jsp?requestURI=/healthatoz/Atoz/ency/acute_stress_disorder.jsp

Dying to Achieve.

Christy Henrich, a former gymnast, suffers a tragic death.

Christy Henrich was born on July 18, 1972 from Independence, Mo. She attended Fort Osage High School in Independence, but that was not her main focus . Christy was a competitive gymnast who trained with the Great American Gymnastic Express Club in Blue Springs, MO. In 1989, she won the silver medal in the all-round competetion at the US National Championsihps. But then, a judge told her that she did not have the proportions of a gymnast and had to lose weight. This comment alarmed her causing Christy to be stubborn. She did not take a healthy solution but turned to eating disorders: anorexia and bulimia.

Because of her eating disorders, she became frail and did not have the strength to excel in her sport. Eventually, her disorder crushed her dream of making the 1988 United States Olympic gymnastics team. and was asked to retire. She no longer had passion in life and became severely sick. She was sent to the hospital and got help but she soon went back to her unhealthy habits. Sadly, she died on July 26, 1994 from several organ failures. She was only 4'11" tall and weighed 47 pounds.

I find it depressing that she had devoted her entire life for something she was so passionate for and failed. But I understand the immense pressures she had to face as an athlete which obviously caused her eating disorders. On the brighter side, her experience can be a great example to other competitive athletes about the extremes of handling critiques and their health.

Sources:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9407E1DE1F3EF93BA15754C0A962958260

http://whatever.losito.net/2007/12/29/christy-henrich/