S.M. is a 33-year-old Palestinian female. The client is married, since the age of 18. She is currently unemployed but is a housewife, caring for her three children daily. The client is the primary source of data obtained. The client was self-referred to the clinic after “googling for a psychiatrist” near her area. The client proves to be a reliable historian.
History of Present Illness
The client reports “just showing up” to the clinic and lingering in the waiting area after experiencing an extreme panic attack at home secondary to recent financial struggles. The client reports familiarity with symptoms due to experiencing similar panic attacks in the past. The client reports that earlier in the year, the family’s business …show more content…
The client is married to her older sister’s brother-in-law. The client has been married for 15 years. The client reports that she did not want to be married at the time but she wanted to be out of her parent’s home. The client’s spouse is 10 years older than her and from Jordan. The client describes their income as “modest” and that she lives in a middle-class home with her spouse and three children. The client denies having any dating or sexual experience prior to marriage, for religious reasons. The client’s first sexual encounter was with her husband at age 18. The client gave birth to her first child at age 21. The client reports that early in her marriage she experienced emotional, verbal and physical abuse from her spouse. The client also reports that her spouse has hit her in the past, however the physical abuse was never reported. The client reports that when she began to “back away” from the marriage, the abuse stopped. The client reports that, in time, her relationship with her spouse has improved. The client endorses her father and spouse as her “backbone.” The client has 3 children aged: 13 (female), 10 (female) and 4 (male). The client reports that her three children are currently receiving an American education. For seven months, the client and her family did relocate to Jordan so that her children could be exposed to the Muslim culture and …show more content…
The client reports bulimia from age 15-21 due to “not having any control” of her life. The client reports that her family was aware but no treatment was ever sought. The client states that when she became pregnant at age 21 the bulimia stopped. The client denies any current history of bulimia. The client reports taking an overdose of Tylenol at age 16 in a “cry for help.” During this time, the client report that she began taking Prozac (dose unknown) for 3-4 months but due to lack of explanation regarding medications, she slowly stopped taking the medication. The client reports that she felt “zombie-ish, numb and detached” from use of the Prozac. At age 26, the client reports that she first experienced a “random panic attack” resulting from getting involved in a financial crisis that her parents were going through at the time. Symptoms present during this time included: a crushing feeling in her heart and uncontrolled crying. The client reports that during the time, she was living in a remote area of Mississippi and was experiencing many depressed and negative thoughts with flashbacks from her childhood. She reports that during that time, she decided not to seek treatment because of her past experience with “mind altering” medications. Most recently, the client reports that from 2015-2016, her immediate family got involved in a “family business deal gone bad,” causing her and her spouse to experience an