Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe mental disorder that affects the way a person thinks, acts, expresses emotions, perceives reality, and relates to others. While uncommon as compared to other mental disorders, it is often the most chronic and disabling. This chapter contains three cases of schizophrenia spectrum disorder and other psychotic disorders, including delusional disorder of two types. These cases highlight disorders that cause various degrees of distress and dysfunction in three adult males. Questions for consideration are included.

For a sexual problem to be considered a sexual dysfunction, the symptoms must be present for at least 6 months, cause significant distress, and cannot be caused exclusively by a nonsexual mental disorder (e.g., substance use, depression), significant relationship distress, medical illness, or medication. The three cases in this chapter represent various sexual dysfunctions, such as female sexual interest/arousal disorder and erectile dysfunction disorder, and their respective treatment. Questions for consideration follow each case.

Trauma and stressor-related disorders are a group of emotional and behavioral problems that may result from traumatic and stressful experiences such as exposure to physical or emotional violence or pain, including abuse, neglect, or intense family conflict. This chapter contains five cases related to trauma and stressor-related disorders including posttraumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, reactive attachment disorder, and adjustment disorder. The clients in this chapter also includes a broad range of ages and demographics, ranging in age from 8 to 68, and they are urban, rural, and suburban dwellers with a variety of family constellations, strengths, and challenges. Specific traumas related to child sexual abuse and neglect as well as questions for consideration are also included.

Gender dysphoria is the feeling of discomfort or distress that might occur in people whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth or sex-related physical characteristics. The cases in this chapter include two cases of adolescent gender dysphoria. In the first case, the adolescent is considering future transition against the backdrop of family acceptance and cultural issues while the other adolescent highlighted in this chapter has transitioned and manages depression and a history of child abuse. Questions for consideration follow each case.

Bipolar disorder is a mental disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, concentration, and the ability to perform daily tasks. This chapter contains three cases of bipolar disorder in adults. These cases illuminate how the same disorder manifests in different people with different backgrounds, including an African American woman, a Caucasian man, and a young Caucasian woman. Discussions of intersectionality, substance use/abuse, and questions for consideration are also included.

Race, ethnicity, and culture influence client identity and life circumstances. Other factors, such as gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic status, religion, and ability may also play into the context of a client’s mental health or personal issues. The four cases in this chapter feature cultural aspects that have a significant role in the treatment and conceptualization by their clinicians. Culturally competent clinicians practice cultural humility and understand that clients’ backgrounds influence the ways in which they view the world and that the clinician’s role must change to accommodate these perspectives.

Feeding and eating disorders are characterized by eating behavior that results in health and/or psychosocial problems. This chapter includes two cases of diagnosed eating disorders—anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is characterized by restrictive eating that leads to dangerously low body weight and disturbances in self-perceived shape or weight. Bulimia nervosa is a disorder that includes episodes of binge eating and compensatory behaviors (e.g., purging, exercising). Questions for consideration follow each case.

This chapter includes a case on narcolepsy as experienced by a college-aged female. Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder that affects the brain’s ability to control sleep–wake cycles. The client in this case felt rested after waking, but then feel very sleepy throughout much of the day.

Narcolepsy greatly affected the daily activities and may impact the future of the client who had hoped to be a typical college student. Questions for consideration follow the case study.

Neurocognitive disorders describe decreased mental function due to a medical disease other than a psychiatric illness. In this chapter, cases related to substance-induced major neurocognitive disorder and major neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer’s disease are presented. Questions for consideration follow each case.