Summer Assignment Case Study
Movie: "My Girl"
A. Introduction
In the movie, "My Girl" the main character Vada suffers from Hypochondriasis. She grew up in a funeral parlor which seemed to trigger her fear in diseases. Her experiences throughout the movie highlight how she would assume she was sick.
B. Psychological Disorder
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, Hypochondriasis features, "Hypochondriasis is preoccupation with fears of having, or the idea that one has, a serious disease based on a misinterpretation of one or more bodily signs or symptoms". (Page 462)
Symptoms include: (pgs. 462-464)
-fear or an idea of having a serious disease based on a misinterpretation of one or more body signs or symptoms.
-fear of possessing a disease even with medical reassurance that it does not exist.
-vague or unusual physical sensations that seem like larger issues instead of minor abnormalities
-abnormalities in heart rate, perspiration, and peristalsis.
-past experience with major illnesses may trigger reoccurring symptoms.
-cultural background and explanatory models may also trigger these symptoms.
C. Diagnosis
Throughout the movie Vada assumes she contracted multiple diseases when she was completely healthy.
Example 1: A man died from prostate cancer, and was brought into the funeral parlor. Vada immediately believes she has prostate cancer, and thinks she will die.
"Alternatively, there may be preoccupation with a specific organ or a single disease." (DSM-IV)
Example 2: Vada constantly went to the doctor and was always told she was completely healthy. She did not believe the doctors and was in denial.
"The unwarranted fear or idea of having a disease persists despite medical reassurance." (DSM-IV)
Example 3: She gets locked into a dark basement and immediately thinks she is going to die because of lack of air. She contracts anxiety in this scene.
"The preoccupation is not better accounted for by Generalized Anxiety Disorder." (DSM-IV)
Example 4: Vada caught a fish and freaked out because she believed the hook would instantly kill the fish. Socially, she panics about matters that are out of her control and blows them out of proportion.
"The preoccupation with bodily symptoms causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning." (DSM-IV)
Example 5: She believed she killed her mother when she died from cancer. She believed that she gave her mother stress and this aided her death.
"Concern about the feared illness often becomes a central feature of the individual's self-image, a topic of social discourse, and a response to life stresses."
(DSM-IV)
Example 6: Vada once choked on a chicken bone as a younger child. She believed many years after the incident that it managed to stay in her esophagus.
"The preoccupation in Hypochondriasis may be with bodily functions, with minor physical abnormalities, or with vague and ambiguous physical sensations."
(DSM-IV)
Example 7: Vada said she was hemorraging, but it was really her menstrual cycle.
"The preoccupation in Hypochondriasis may be with bodily functions, with minor physical abnormalities, or with vague and ambiguous physical sensations."
(DSM-IV)
Example 8: Creates a variety of symptoms in her head of strange diseases and disorders she doesn't possess.
"... he or she may be exaggerating the extent of the feared disease, or that there may be no disease at all."
(DSM-IV)
Works Cited
"Hypochondriasis." Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV. Washington D.C. : 2000. Pages 462-464.
No comments:
Post a Comment