Troy DaCosta
April 26, 2017
Case Study
Case Study: Major Depressive Disorder
Jason us a 26-year-old, single, African American male. He came to counseling reporting concerns regarding his work performance, as well as difficulty connecting to others socially and feelings of emptiness. He reported that for the past year or so he has felt like he “sucks” at making friends and stated “people just don’t like me.” In this paper, I will assign a diagnosis to Jason’s case. In addition, I will give suggestions for Jason’s presenting concerns and to create a treatment plan on those suggestions.
Diagnosis
I feel like the Jason has Major Depressive Disorder, because he has said that he has “difficulty connecting
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These approaches include psychotherapy, antidepressant medications, electroconvulsive treatment (ECT), and other somatic therapies (Fava, Maurizio et al. 2000). But first I would have Jason workout daily for at least 30 minutes a day. It is believed that with proper exercise one can reduce the symptoms of depression and his physical condition. He will also begin to take Omega-3 to improve his appetite and this can help with weight gain (Sue et al. 2014). As this may correct some symptoms, exercise wont be able to improve all of his problems. So I would also recommend that Jason would also go into interpersonal psychotherapy. Throughout Jason’s life he has felt like an outsider his whole life and that he had struggled to make friends and stuff, so this would be very beneficial for him. “By improving communication with others, identifying role conflicts, and increasing social skills, clients come to find relationships more satisfying and pleasant” (p. 194). Through this process he will learn to be more comfortable around people and that by doing this he will not feel consequently unfilled and out of place. If Jason conditions continue I will appoint him to multiple group therapies where an African American like himself can meet other homosexuals, so he can interact to people with like himself and to feel apart of something. With a bit of luck these sessions will allow him to feel content about opening up to others about his sexual preference and this will allow him to make friends and to meet people