Cases That Test Your Skills
Cases That Test Your Skills
Unrelenting depression: ‘I would rather be dead than feel this way’
Mr. J, age 56, presents to the ED with suicidal ideation. He reports that his current depressive episode is the most severe he’s ever experienced...
Cases That Test Your Skills
Manic after having found a ‘cure’ for Alzheimer’s disease
Mr. A, age 73, has been irritable, impulsive, grandiose, and sleeping very little. He claims to have found a ‘cure’ for Alzheimer’s disease. What...
Cases That Test Your Skills
The emotionally exhausted physician
Dr. D is a high achiever who says she 'feels stuck,' emotionally exhausted, and that she is 'spinning her wheels.' She is otherwise healthy. How...
Cases That Test Your Skills
Bugs on her skin—but nobody else sees them
Ms. L, age 74, presents to the ED with multiple excoriations after attempting to kill bugs on and in her skin. Clinicians are unable to find any...
Cases That Test Your Skills
Is this adolescent suicidal? Challenges in pediatric inpatient consultation-liaison
Nine months after emigrating from Yemen, Ms. S, age 16, overdoses on pain medication. She denies having anxiety or stress, but says she previously...
Cases That Test Your Skills
Sudden-onset memory problems, visual hallucinations, and odd behaviors
Ms. D, age 62, is disoriented, distractible, tearful, and tangential. She reports that 'aerialists' are climbing through her windows at night and...
Cases That Test Your Skills
Aggressive outbursts and emotional lability in a 16-year-old boy
Mr. X, age 16, is having increasingly frequent aggressive outbursts that are almost always preceded by inappropriate laughing or crying. How would...
Cases That Test Your Skills
Visual hallucinations and severe anxiety in the ICU after surgery
After major surgery, Mr. B, age 42, has visual hallucinations of someone placing a drug in his IV line, and develops severe anxiety. What could be...
Cases That Test Your Skills
A 10-year-old boy with ‘voices in my head’: Is it a psychotic disorder?
M, age 10, reports hearing 'voices in my head' that tell him he is going to choke on his food, and this causes fear and anxiety. Is a psychotic...
Cases That Test Your Skills
Decompensation in a 51-year-old woman with schizophrenia
Ms. A, age 51, has schizophrenia that for years had been stabilized with haloperidol. She recently became agitated and refuses to take medication...
Cases That Test Your Skills
Rapid weight loss, irritability, and nausea after restarting ADHD treatment
Mr. L, age 58, reports being distracted and forgetful after stopping his ADHD medication. After restarting treatment, he experiences rapid weight...