When assessing and diagnosing, here is an important concept to understand: two people can have the same diagnosis, but present very differently. This is because not every individual experiences the same symptoms of the disorder.

Here is an example of two people with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).

Client #1 - A 40-year old female may present the following symptoms lasting a span of 5 months: excessive crying (sadness), stopped walking her dog (diminished interest), waking up at 4am daily (sleep), feeling tired (fatigue), and having negative self-talk (worthlessness).

Client #2 - A 15-year old male may present the following symptoms lasting a span of 7 weeks: feeling angry more often than not (a common alternative to feeling sadness for male teens), stopped hanging out with friends (diminished interest), stays up all night (sleep), feeling too heavy to move (psychomotor agitation), eating a lot more (appetite), and thinking about dying (recurrent thoughts of death).

Use your DSM-5-TR. First, choose between either posttraumatic stress disorder (page 295-319) or Adjustment Disorder (page 319-322). Next, using the disorder you chose, create one short description. Include the following:

• Client's demographics (age, gender, race, family background)
• Diagnostic Criteria (signs and symptoms, time frame)
• 1-2 Z codes