Social Psychiatry, Vol. 54 No. 2, 2026.
Meeting abstract
https://doi.org/10.24869/spsih.2026.302
From Omnipotence to Helplessness: A Case Report of a Patient With Exhausted Adaptive Capacity
Katja Galić Ćaleta
; Neuropsychiatric Hospital „Dr. Ivan Barbot“ in Popovača, Jelengradska 1, 44317 Popovača, Croatia
*
Ivana Benić
; Neuropsychiatric Hospital „Dr. Ivan Barbot“ in Popovača, Jelengradska 1, 44317 Popovača, Croatia
Ante Silić
; Sisters of Charity University Hospital, Vinogradska cesta 29, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Branka Vidrih
; Sisters of Charity University Hospital, Vinogradska cesta 29, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Dalibor Karlović
; Sisters of Charity University Hospital, Vinogradska cesta 29, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Contemporary society imposes various ideals on
a daily basis, in which it is sometimes difficult
to find one’s way. Expectations that are at times
imposed on women by partners, family, and society
may exceed the individual’s ability to fulfill
them. In their clinical work, the authors increasingly
encounter female patients who complain of
difficulties in everyday functioning accompanied
by symptoms within the spectrum of anxiety–depressive
disorder. This case report describes one
such situation, in which a young woman aged 29
presents to the emergency psychiatric outpatient
clinic due to difficulties with falling and staying
asleep. However, through more in‑depth exploration,
it emerges that, over the past six months,
she has had low mood with pronounced anxiety.
Her condition worsened dramatically in the days
before the examination, when the patient reported that she had been unable to sleep despite taking
anxiolytics and zolpidem, and at the peak of
her distress she described suicidal thoughts and
ideas of carrying them out in a bizarre manner.
Burdened by real‑life problems and encouraged
by her family, she attends her first psychiatric
evaluation at the Emergency Psychiatric Clinic,
after which she is admitted for her first inpatient
psychiatric treatment. During hospitalization,
the indicated psychodiagnostic assessment was
performed and psychopharmacotherapy initiated.
After stabilization of her condition, she was
discharged with a recommendation to continue
psychiatric treatment in the Day Hospital, where
she was included in group therapy and provided
with individual psychological support. Over time,
the depressive mood faded, and the patient reported
satisfaction with the improvement in her
condition, emphasizing better everyday functioning
and a happy return to her role as a mother.
Keywords
anxiety; depression; suicidality
Hrčak ID:
352996
URI
Publication date:
15.6.2026.
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