JOANNE HAS ACUTE STRESS DISORDER

Case Study 4: Joanne, age 32, is involved with the first man that really counts in her life. As the couple has become more intimate, Joanne has started to have flashbacks about an uncle who touched her sexually when she was only eight years old. She is distressed to find out that she is shutting down feelings about her boyfriend and distancing herself from him. Although she has been sexual with other men, she says she can’t stand to let herself be sexual with someone she loves and trusts. She startles easily and reports a general increase in anxiety. She is very angry that she has to deal with the feelings about the incidents with her uncle that happened so long ago. She says that she thought she had gotten beyond all that.


Diagnosis

Joanne is suffering from Acute Stress Disorder (ASD). She is numbed and detached from her boyfriend due to the past traumatic event. She is also "re-experiencing the trauma" with flashbacks she has not thought about for some time. She is afraid of sexual activity because her ASD causes her to avoid stimuli associated with the event. She has also experienced intense anxiety and irritability.

http://allpsych.com/disorders/anxiety/acutestress.html


Treatment

It is recommended that Joanne seek psychotherapy and give the disorder time. In general ASD resolves itself with time, but may, if totally untreated, develop into a more serious disorder like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Emperor Caligula of Rome: More Nuts than Nero

Emperor Caligula of Rome (AD 12-41) was Emperor for four years. According to ancient sources, his first two years of rule were normal enough, and he was a thoughtful ruler. In the second year of his reign, Caligula suffered a mysterious illness, and Rome was distraught over his health. He was thought to be dying. However, he recovered in a few months, but was never the same again. The last two, though, were marked by his descent into insanity and depression, which culminated in his eventual assassination by his own bodyguards. Caligula is thought to have had epilepsy, a disorder wherein the victim is subject to seizures induced by flashing lights. Caligula had a daily fear of seizures, and often spoke to the moon. He was also afraid of water. One recorded incident of his insanity was his introdution of his favorite horse into the Senate as a consul. He ordered the senators to treat his horse as their equal. Needless to say, the people were shocked. This kind of behavior continued to grow in intensity and frequency, whereupon his closest took it upon themselves to save the Roman State from his ineptitude. They assassinated him while he watched a play.

In my opinion, Caligula was victim to a cornucopia of diseases including epilepsy. That does not change the fact that he was psychologically insane. His disorder may garner some pity for him, but it garners even more pity for his Roman subjects. When living an emperor with absolute power who is also absolutely insane, a peasant would, and should, get antsy.

Caligula's rule, of course, was pock-marked by his ridiculous behavior. He has, as a matter of course, gone down in history as one of the most insane rulers ever to take the throne. In life, his existence was miserable, and so too is it in death, as he is now nothing more than a laughingstock now that Rome is a thing of the ancient past.


http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/caligula.html

http://www.roman-empire.net/emperors/caligula.html