MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

Name: Misbah Zahir

Semester: 6th
Roll no: 39

Subject: Mental health and psychopathology

Teacher: Dr. Nosheen Iffat Zohra
Department: Psychology
Assignment: Mid term

Topic: Agoraphobia
Date: 30th June 2020
 CASE STUDY
I am going to share a case study of a young good looking female who could not travel outside of her
residence because of the ‘fear’ of thinking that if she leaves her residence she will die. This poor girl
has these fears because her mother abandoned and neglected her as a child and destroyed her
brain and life.

Background:
Kirstie 28 years old woman who is married and has three children. She is a house wife and is
suffering from agoraphobia. She had a prostate cancer during her childhood when she was 10 years
old. Due to her extreme agoraphobia she only ventured outside home further than her mailbox one
time in the last 14 months, and that was via ambulance to the hospital when she was giving birth to
her baby. Kirstie spends about 22 hours a day in her bedroom, she rarely leaves her home. She had
three young children and it was difficult for having severe anxiety being a mother. Her last two
pregnancy did not go well because she did not get a chance to get a proper medical care as she was
afraid of going to the hospital. Kirstie had very bad relationship with her mother (Christina) and
consider her not a decent mother because her mother was an alcoholic, she would drink 365 days a
year straight that cause her some mental health issues. Agoraphobia also affect her social
relationship because it was very difficult for her to go outside and visit her friends etc. She never
had any drug and alcohol history according to her mother. She also had certain life difficulties
because her mother were always in the bar, sometimes she wouldn’t come until 2:00 am and even
until the next day. Kirstie always tried to call her but she always ignores her calls so that was quite
frightening for her to be home alone. In childhood her mother would always tell her not to leave the
house and if she leaves the house people will kill her, rob her and even kidnapped her. The only goal
in her life is to overcome this agoraphobia. For her to be safe she wanted specific people to be with
her like her fiancé Thomas, so Kirstie got married and had three kids because she wanted to start a
normal life and cope with her anxieties. She also had some weaknesses; it was impossible for her to
travel and as soon as she goes out she got panic attacks and also believe that she would die if she go
out for longer than few minutes.

Description of presenting problem:

Kirstie also had some physical and emotional symptoms. As soon as she started to leave the house,
her heart races, she become dizzy, get palpitations sometimes even pass out. Her mother
emotionally neglects her so bad that even she was inside the house all day, she had lots of anxieties
that never stops. Kirstie always thoughts like if she leaves the house she will die, she also thinks that
her mother parenting is the cause of her anxiety and she felt that she is a prisoner in her own home.
She always perceives agoraphobia as taking her life. After all this she also talk to a doctor, the doctor
talk to her via computer because she was unable to go outside. The doctor also talks to her mother
about her problems and he said that Kirstie will be free of that soon.

Diagnosis:
Kirstie was afraid of enclosed area as she could not go to doctor’s clinic even in her
pregnancy. She could not go out of the house because of anxiety. She only ventured outside her
home further than her mailbox one time in last 14 months. Kirstie would get panic attacks whenever
she goes outside that is why she rarely leaves her home. She always gets anxious whenever goes
out. Her fear of going out is persistent, as she had left her home once in a last 14 months. She could
not even meet her friends because she can’t go out, so she does not have much social interactions.
Kirstie symptoms meet a lot with the diagnostic criteria of agoraphobia, which is an anxiety disorder
characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to
be unsafe with no easy way to escape. So, we conclude that she has agoraphobia. According to
diagnostic and statistical manual the appropriate code for agoraphobia is 300.22(F40.00).