Dysthymic Disorder Case Study

Paul is a 27 year old African American male. He is married with two kids. Paul was raised by his mom and dad until the age of 11 years old when his father committed suicide, at which point, Paul was left with just his mom. His father committed suicide after hitting hard times after being jailed for robbery in an attempt to provide for his family. Afterwards, Paul’s father could not find employment and fell into despair ending with a shotgun blast to his head. Paul is having hard time as well being laid off in the last three months and receiving an eviction notice.

Paul has been referred to get help because he has difficulty getting out of bed in the mornings (hypersomnia), greatly diminished ability to think and concentrate on tasks, and suicidal ideation with a plan in place. These have been going on for a long time to the effect that Paul can’t remember a time when he wasn’t feeling these symptoms. As of the last month, Paul has been experiencing symptoms of Major Depressive Episodes. Dr. Prichard has diagnosis Paul with Dysthymic Disorder due to symptoms stated. I would agree with the diagnosis of Dysthymic Disorder with persistent major depressive episode, as Paul’s meets all of the following criteria:

B: Presence, while depressed, or two (or more) of the following: Hypersomnia and poor concentration

C: During the two year period of disturbance, the individual has never been without symptoms A and B for more than 2 months at a time

D: Criteria for Major depressive disorder may be continuously present for 2 years

E: He never has had a manic or hypomanic episode or cyclothymic disorder

F: His symptoms are not contributed to schizophrenia disorders

G: His symptoms are not due to substance or medical issue

H: Symptoms cause impairments in