Case 3

Demographic details:
Name: A
Age: 34 years old
Gender: female
Marital status: Married
Children: Daughter (April, 7 years old)
Traumatic event: (4 years ago) 3 year old daughter severely ill and hospitalized.

 Mode of referral: Admission in an emergency, accompanied by her spouse.

 Chief complaints: repetitive cleaning behavior, anxious about family health.
 History of chief complaints: Repeated cleaning started 4 years ago, after a traumatic
event of her daughter being hospitalized for a very severe case of influenza that
developed into pneumonia.
 Type of interview: Semi-structured interview.
 Diagnosis: Obsessive compulsive disorder and symptoms of anxiety.
 Obsession: to keep the house germ and bacteria free
 Compulsion: repeated cleaning of floors and hands several times a day, and getting
anxious if not done right on time.

 Treatment:
1. Psych education.
2. CBT cognitive behavioral therapy: help in decreasing anxiety and modifying thought
processes that cause obsessive behavior.
3. Exposure therapy like systematic desensitization: exposure to trigger and gradual
relaxation techniques to cope up with obsession
4. Medication

 Justification: since the chief complaints and obsessive behavior is being followed for 4
years. If the repeated cleaning is not performed it triggers her anxiety. Hearing the
diagnosis of meningitis might have caused her an anxiety attack which made her feel
chest pains and shortness of breath. A semi structured interview will help the counselor to
gather information and treatment plan for the issues she has been facing that led to a
panic attack. She is seen to have a dysfunctional belief to overestimate the germs and
bacteria that might affect her family’s health. To modify or alter this belief CBT can play
an important role. Learning relaxation techniques to reduce anxiety and gradually bring
relief. Learning cause and effect of dysfunctional, obsessive or compulsive behaviour and
reasons to overcome them.