Ms. Bakers is a 38-year-old married woman with three children and an eleventh-grade education. Her husband abandoned her a week ago and cannot be located. She is unemployed and recently spent the last of her money paying bills. She presented to the emergency clinic with her sister. According to her sister, Ms. Baker has not been bathing or cooking meals for the last few days, and she was seen staring at a wall for hours while talking to herself. There were no prior mood disorder symptoms and no previous psychotic episodes. There is no known history of drug use.
On examination, Ms. Baker was alert and oriented, with intermittent eye contact. She reported no thoughts of suicide. She stated that she hears the voice of her grandmother trying to help her. Her grandmother’s voice is very clean, and Ms. Baker feels her presence near her. Ms. Baker is admitted to the psychiatric hospital for observation. Her admission drug screen and labs are all normal. On the unit she quickly recovered and, after attending groups and speaking to a social worker, was discharged. No psychotic symptoms were evident at discharge and no medications prescribed. An outpatient therapist appointment was made for follow-up care. No further psychotic episodes or mood disorder symptoms occurred in the next 6-8 months.
Review Brief Psychotic Disorder and Delusional Disorder. Which disorder do we hypothesize Mr. Baker suffers from? How did you come to that conclusion? What is the differences between Brief Psychotic Disorder and Delusional Disorder.
