Case Summary Mrs. Lee is a 42-year-old first-generation Chinese…

MajorRam1757Case Summary Mrs. Lee is a 42-year-old first-generation Chinese…Case Summary Mrs. Lee is a 42-year-old first-generation Chinese American woman. She has been married for 17 years to her husband, also a first-generation Chinese American. They have two children, a daughter, age 16, and a son, age 11. Their third child, a daughter, died unexpectedly at the age of six after a brief battle with cancer. Mrs. Lee grew up in a small community. Her parents were both immigrants to the U.S. after World War II. Her father worked as a pipefitter, and her mother worked out of the home as a seamstress. Mrs. Lee was one of three children. However, her sister died at the age of four due to smallpox. Mrs. Lee describes her relationship with her parents as “good” and with her brother as “close.” Mrs. Lee works as an accountant for a large, predominately White, insurance firm. During the first six months after the death of her child, she continued to work without problems in performance or attendance. When Mrs. Lee was asked how she was feeling, she always reported that she was doing well, causing her coworkers and supervisor to believe that she had successfully mourned the death of her child. Mrs. Lee found solace in the support of her coworkers. However, during the last six months, Mrs. Lee felt as if her daughter’s death is now forgotten by all, and her work has been affected. Mrs. Lee has called in sick on six separate days over the last six months. Her boss has become worried that her work performance, which has always been exemplary, was slipping. When he approached Mrs. Lee about her absences and poor performance, she appeared embarrassed and said she had been feeling ill with stomach pains and headaches. He recommended that Mrs. Lee see a medical doctor. During a medical exam, Mrs. Lee acknowledged the death of her child but focused on her physical complaints. She told the doctor about her stomachaches and headaches, which were causing her to lose weight and have difficulty sleeping, and were contributing to her poor work performance and absences. After ruling out any physical foundations to the somatic complaints, the physician referred Mrs. Lee to a therapist. During the clinical interview, Mrs. Lee stated that after the death of her child, she found it difficult, at times, to function. She started feeling nauseous and had chronic headaches. She described a depressed mood, insomnia, decreased concentration, feelings of worthlessness, impaired short-term memory, irritability, and decreased appetite. At home, she could not keep up with her daily household routines, such as cooking the family meals, and sometimes neglected her personal care routines (such as bathing and personal grooming). Mrs. Lee confided to her husband that she believed their daughter was speaking to her through toys still in her room. Mrs. Lee knows it is her daughter because they discuss things that only her daughter could know. She reports that these visits reinforce her loneliness and grief and at times wishes she could die to be with her child. Her husband became very agitated and was embarrassed at his wife’s disclosure. He told her, “That’s crazy!” and that “toys don’t talk.” He encouraged her not to discuss this with anyone else and assured her that this problem would go away in time. With no one to turn to, Mrs. Lee became increasingly more depressed and started having thoughts of suicide and fantasized that she would soon join her daughter. Mrs. Lee adheres to a traditional hierarchical family system. She would like to seek the advice of her parents and awaits her husband’s permission to do so. This has been a source of distress for Mrs. Lee, who wants to discuss her complaints with her mother, but who has been forbidden by her husband to mention her conversations with their deceased daughter. Having read the case study:In what ways does culture play a role in the assessment of Mrs. Lee?How might you work with Mrs. Lee to better understand her experiences and symptoms?Social SciencePsychology