Read how O'Joy adopts a bio-psycho-social approach to help a client out of anxiety and depression.
55-year-old Mdm Y presented with anxiety and depressive symptoms which included persistent, excessive and unrealistic worry about everyday issues, leading to low mood, loss of interest in activities and withdrawal from others. She is a homemaker who lives with her husband in a 3-room unit, though they have no children.
Mdm Y was neglected as a child. Her father passed away when she was 7 years old and her mother passed away when she was in her teens. She got married in her twenties but was constantly bullied by her husband’s siblings. She fell out with her only sister years ago, hence she was left with limited family and social support except for her husband.
She also has multiple medical conditions which includes diabetes mellitus, hypertension, psoriasis, irritable bowel syndrome and sleep apnea. Her high level of anxiety often exacerbated her medical conditions leading to frequent visits to the doctors.
This is a complex case where multiple causes and effects are entwined and interlinked, thus O’Joy adopts the bio-psycho-social approach to assist Mdm Y.
On the biomedical aspect, the counsellor from O’Joy monitored her management of chronic medical conditions and weight issues, and accompanied her to see her doctor.
On the psychological aspect, the counsellor provided a range of psychoeducation and cognitive therapy for Mdm Y over several regular counselling sessions. She was taught relaxation techniques to manage her excessive worrying, distress tolerance skills to manage her high anxiety, assertive training to express her needs, and processed her feelings of grief and loss over her fall out with her sister.
On the social aspect, community Mediation Centre was introduced to resolve her conflicts with her neighbors.
Through her perseverance coupled with support from the counsellor, Mdm Y can now manage her anxiety effectively and becomes more socially interactive with others. Consequently, her medical conditions improved, especially her diabetes and hypertension conditions.