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Diagnose the mental health issue in the following case study

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•Diagnose the mental health issue in the following case study.
•Select and explain your pharmacological treatment approach including the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the drug(s) you choose.
•Describe how your treatment approach will alter brain chemistry and influence behavior.

The Case Study

Mr. S. is a 22-year-old single, graduate student who comes to you (the psychology professional) complaining of insomnia. He has been experiencing insomnia, restless sleep, and "bad dreams" during the past month. Mr. S describes himself as being in good health and does not take any medications. He reports some alcohol use but denies abuse of illicit drugs. He smokes two packs of cigarettes a day and admits to drinking "a lot of coffee." During your clinical evaluation you discover that he worries a lot about buses that pass his apartment and seem to him to slow down by his apartment. He worries that people riding those buses are there to watch him. He also admits to hearing voices that mumble unintelligible things to him. He appears to be quite anxious and somewhat agitated as he talks. Mr. S. describes himself as a loner but has connections with his immediate family. He says that he has always felt "empty."

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Solution Summary

This solution suggests a diagnosis for a specific case study. The expert describes how the treatment approach will alter brain chemistry and influence behavior.

Solution Preview

There was not enough information in the vignette to make a concrete diagnosis for Schizophrenia. Based on the changes in DSM-V, features such as bizarre, non-bizarre and negative symptoms have been eliminated as non-essential to diagnosis making it more difficult to render a diagnosis.
However, here is your request for a Schizophrenic diagnosis. The basic characterization for Schizophrenia in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV [APA], 2013) stays the same in this 5th edition of the manual as in the 4th edition (DSM-IV-TR [APA], 2000), although some changes have been made ...

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