Linda
Case Study Eight
Psychology and Counseling Principles
Presenting Information
Linda, age 30, is recently divorced from Thomas, a marriage that lasted
eightyears. She is a registered nurse and works in the Oncology Department at a Kaiser Permanente health facility.
Linda visits tanning salons four times per week, session, 12 minutes per session,and has been warnedby two dermatologists that such frequent and intensive ultraviolet exposure may lead to melanoma skin cancers. Linda has been unable to stop this behavior. In fact, her visits to tanning facilitiesincrease during the winter months. Lindahas two-year membershipswith three different tanning salons.
Linda is a member of Romance.com and has gone on three unsuccessful dates; however, one man complemented Linda about her “terrific” tan.
Linda is isolating at night and during the weekends; and has unintentionally lost twenty pounds during the past five weeks. Also, her coffee intake has tripled during the same period.
Based upon the presenting information, provide the following:
Diagnosis and Etiology:
1) DSM-IV assessment. List four possible disorders.
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2) Probable etiology. List three reasons.
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3) Emotional needs attempted to be met by frequent tanning.
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4) Linda’s inability to controlfrequent tanning. List three reasons.
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5) Indicators of process addiction to tanningbeds. List four indicators.
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Treatment Strategies
6) Treatment strategies for helping Linda abstainfrom tanning/process
addiction. List five.
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7) Counseling principles and skills for establishing trust with Linda.
List four.
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7) Available resources and referrals. List three.
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Tanorexia:
Definition and References
Tanorexia is the term often used to describe a condition in which a person participates in excessive outdoor sun tanning or excessive use of other skin tanning methods (such as tanning beds) to achieve a darker skin complexion because they perceive themselves as unacceptably pale.
Although the syndrome has not been officially described by the medical community, tanorexia may include the following reported symptoms: intense anxiety if a session of tanning is missed, competition among peers to see which can get the darkest tan, and chronic frustration about the color of one's skin, with the affected person being convinced his or her complexion is constantly lighter than it actually is.
1) Tanorexia « Healthy Skin
blogs.webmd.com/healthy-skin/2012/05/tanorexia.html - Cached
2) Tanorexia - Medical Dictionary - The Free Dictionary
medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Tanorexia - Cached
3) Indoor Tanning, Skin Cancer, and Tanorexia: Development of U.S. ...
- Cached
Similar
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