A 59-Year-Old Woman Comes to the Office Due to Upper

question 299

Multiple Choice

A 59-year-old woman comes to the office due to upper respiratory symptoms for 3 days. She arrives an hour late for her appointment and lies about the reason, blaming it on an emergency at work.  The patient is angry that the physician refused to prescribe antibiotics for her over the phone, and she paces at the reception desk, insisting that the office staff work her into the schedule because "I'm very busy and must be seen immediately."  She mentions that her previous physician always made time for her.  The patient is a successful businesswoman and is recently divorced.  During the visit, she expresses irritation at having to take time out of her busy day to come to the appointment and admits to being "under stress" at work.  The patient then talks at length about feeling depressed because her children no longer want to see her even though she is a "great mother."  She is upset that her daughter recently canceled plans to visit in order to help a friend who was in a near-fatal motor vehicle collision.  The patient has no significant medical history, and family history is notable for major depressive disorder in her mother.  Which of the following is the best explanation for this patient's behavior?

• A)Adjustment disorder with depressed mood
• B)Borderline personality disorder
• C)Histrionic personality disorder
• D)Narcissistic personality disorder
• E)Paranoid personality disorder
• F)Persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia)

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Definitions:

P(A ∪ B)

The probability of the union of two events, A and B, occurring.

Graduate Assistantships

Financial aid options for graduate students involving part-time work in teaching or research in exchange for tuition waivers and a stipend.

Sample Points

Individual units or entities selected from a population for the purpose of statistical analysis or study.

Mutually Exclusive

Two events that cannot occur at the same time within a given experiment or scenario.