Case Study of Ben (Part One) Ben is a 46-year-old computer scientist at a large university. In recent weeks, his wife has noticed that he has been "different." He is being seen on your service at the local hospital, where you are asked to evaluate him. Ben is a hostile interviewee. He does not want to talk to you, and has made it clear that he is here against his will. In recent weeks, according to his wife, Cindy, he has been moody, irritable, and increasingly inappropriate in his actions and comments. For instance, Cindy tells you that last Friday night at a neighborhood party, he went up to an attractive young neighbor and, after asking if she was having as good a time as he was, put his hand on her breast. She reacted furiously, and Ben seemed surprised at her reaction. The young woman's husband pushed Ben away, and Ben became furious and struck the man. Cindy is embarrassed and says Ben has never been like this before now. In the past, she says, he has always been kind and respectful, "even a little shy." Yesterday morning, Ben began to eat his breakfast cereal with his fingers. Cindy says he left for work much later than usual and seemed to be having a hard time organizing his briefcase, his keys, and so on. "Lately, he has been making all kinds of plans and then just not following through on them, which is so unlike him. He has always been real careful, real well-organized, and when Ben makes plans, he always keeps them." But yesterday, after Ben left the car running in the driveway and took the bus to work, Cindy became alarmed. She called their family doctor, who sent Ben to the hospital for this evaluation. Cindy says nothing has happened to Ben that might explain his change. Ben admits he has had lots of work stress lately, "because of my goddamn boss's stupidity." He is surly. He snaps at his wife, "What do you mean, nothing has happened? You idiot, what about that asshole boss of mine?" His wife is embarrassed at his crude language. When you ask Ben if anything else has gone wrong lately that might explain his irritability, he snaps, "Isn’t that enough?" but then considers the question. He starts to speak, then seems distracted by something on your bookshelf and shrugs his answer off. Cindy mentions that about six months ago, Ben was in an auto accident in which his car rear-ended the vehicle in front of him. Ben, who was a passenger, hit his head on the rear-view mirror. Ben was taken to the emergency room for an X-ray, which had negative findings. Cindy was instructed to monitor him for 24 to 48 hours for any signs of brain injury, but nothing appeared. Other than a slight headache, Ben was his normal self the next day. The irritability and erratic behavior did not start until about five days ago, nearly six and a half months after the accident. No other traumas were noted. Ben works 50 hours a week for a software company, earning about $130,000 per year. He has always had excellent reviews and never missed a promotion. H ...