Relatórios de Microbiologia Médica

Psychological intervention for a Brazilian female patient with anxiety and depression symptoms

Alexandre Aguiar Victuri

Anxiety and depression are globally common disorders that often simultaneously occur. Brazilian prevalences for these two disorders are alarming if compared to the rest of the world. This report aims to present a clinical case of a female patient who participated in clinical research involving analytic behavior psychotherapy for anxiety and depression. That participant worked in the financial sector of a health institution. She was married and had one 12-year-old daughter as well. Her complaints were centered on the domestic interactions, with her husband and daughter, and she was overwhelmed with her tasks. She was not practicing regular physical exercise or using psychiatric medicine during the process. The intervention focused on interpersonal interactions and social skills, including training on behaviors such as giving compliments, asking for favors, negotiating, establishing rules and limits, and self-controlling. The participant was evaluated for four consecutive months before the beginning of the intervention and presented consistent clinical levels for anxiety and depression according to GAD-7 and PHQ-9 scores. The intervention was individual and took approximately six months of weekly 80-minute sessions. In the middle of the intervention, the levels of anxiety and depression were no more clinical, what was maintained for the evaluation that occurred at the end of the intervention, as well as three months later, at the follow-up measure. Through developing a more adaptive repertoire to deal with tasks and her everyday interactions, she recovered herself. Future cases similar to the one presented here might benefit from similar interventions.