Reaction Formation

Private Practice Ep. 2 The Way We Were
Thursday, October 8, 2009
10:oo P.M.

Violet is now back at home after her almost death incident with a psychotic patient. Violet is still trying to rationalize what had happen to her. Pete is at her house in the opening of the show talking with her and getting some feedback on how she is doing. During there conversation the doorbell rings and Violet drops here glass and go running into the closet. After Pete answers the door and went to the closet to let her know that she could come out. Violet is suffering from a panic attack, relating to her answering the door and begin stabbed, though she denies it. Her panic attack can also be associated with agoraphobia (fear of begin in a place or situation from which escape is difficult), which would explain why she ran for the closet. Violet seem to be very depersonalized from her normal-self. She stays at home disregards affection (emotion) to hers infant and sleeps throughout the day (depersonalization disorder). If not more so from the psychological factors relating to stress (uncontrollability, frustration, escape or withdrawal, the conflict, appraisal of the stressor). Pete and other friends try to get her out of house and talk, and just get her out and a-bout. Violet denies the offers and concludes that she is fine (reaction formation).
The reason I choose this episode is because while watching Violet isn't herself, since the attack. She was very depersonalized and could tell that she is frustrated about the incident, and how uncontrollable the attack was. Also her attention to her new child and her lack of emotion toward it, a kind of postpartum psychosis without the delusions, but more of a frustration possibly. This relates to the psychology and this module (Chapter 11 Stree and Health pg. 430-466) because it is about stress and how it affects a person(s).