Rita is a 52-year-old divorced woman with three grown children. Her oldest child, Heather, is married with a good career and is expecting her first baby. Rita’s middle child, Scott, is single. Her son is a teacher but recently lost his certificate due to a drug charge. Carter is Rita’s youngest child. He lives at home and commutes to a local university where he is a senior. Rita works as a legal secretary and lives on a tight budget. She is considering returning to college, and maybe even dating, now that her children are older. Rita has a terrible time making decisions and often finds herself ruminating about the bad decisions she has made. This has kept her from pursuing her degree and from dating. In fact, when Rita makes plans to return to school or to join an online dating site, she feels so anxious that she sometimes experiences panic attacks.
Rita feels like she is just going through the motions. She really feels nothing most of the day. She is overweight and sleeps an average of 4-5 hours a night. Rita would like to change her life, but is afraid to do so. She is smart and is very good at her job, but has very few other interests. When asked about her children, she smiles and says “they are great in spite of me”. Rita can’t decide if she should let her life remain status quo or if she should work through her fears holding out hope for a more fulfilling life. However, she feels hopeless because she says she is old and overweight “What is the point?”. Rita asked her family doctor for something for anxiety, but he suggested that she call a counselor.
Pretend you are Rita's psychologist. What would you diagnosis Rita with? List all the symptoms she is experiencing. What else would you ask Rita to confirm your diagnosis?