Lily describes herself as a worrier. She would worry about everything in her life and found it very hard to dismiss those worry thoughts. For example, she would worry about her academic projects until they were done. Because of such constant worry, she found herself very exhausted. If you were a clinical psychologist, you would suspect Lily had which of the following disorders?

Question

Lily describes herself as a worrier.  She would worry about everything in her life and found it very hard to dismiss those worry thoughts.  For example, she would worry about her academic projects until they were done.  Because of such constant worry, she found herself very exhausted.  If you were a clinical psychologist, you would suspect Lily had which of the following disorders?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The question describes Lily as a perpetual worrier who obsesses about nearly every aspect of her life and struggles to dismiss those worry thoughts, to the point of exhaustion. This pattern points toward a generalized pattern of chronic, excessive worry that lasts across multiple domains (schoolwork, personal life, etc.) rather than being tied to a specific situation or phobia.

Option considerations:
- Since the answer options are not provided in the data (the list of options is empty), we cannot evaluate alternative diagnoses directly from given choices. In a real assessment, we would weigh other possibilities (e.g., panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, OCD, or a mood disorder with anxious features) by looking for distinguishing features such as episodic panic attacks, performance- or situation-specific anxiety, compulsive behaviors, or mood symptoms.
- However, the description strongly aligns with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD): excessive worry occurring more days than not for at least several months, about multiple areas of functioning, with accompanying symptoms such as restlessness, muscle tension, fatigue, concentration difficulties, and sleep disturbance. The key element is worry that is pervasive and difficult to control, not limited to a particular trigger.

If we compare common alternatives conceptually:
- Panic disorder would involve unexpected, recurrent panic attacks and a fear of having more attacks, rather than pervasive, uncontrollable worry across domains.
- Social anxiety disorder centers on intense fear or anxiety in social or performance situations, with avoidance or distress specifically linked to social evaluation, not broad, general worry across many life areas.
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder features intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions) aimed at reducing distress, which is a different mechanism from the generalized, diffuse worry described here.
- A mood disorder with anxious distress could be possible if depressive symptoms co-occur, but the core description highlights pervasive worry as the primary issue rather than a primary mood symptomatology.

In sum, given the pervasive, uncontrollable worry across multiple life domains leading to exhaustion, generalized anxiety disorder is the most fitting clinical label for Lily’s presentation, assuming chronicity and functional impact are present. This reasoning aligns with standard diagnostic distinctions among anxiety disorders and differentiates GAD from more episodic, situation-specific, or compulsive symptom clusters.

psyc_100_120251_246086 Practice Exam 3

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