Essay on Maladaptive Behavior and Psychopathology part 2
Essay on Maladaptive Behavior and Psychopathology part 1
An Individuals experiencing hypomania will most likely be viewed as pleasant to hang around, because they will be the one making jokes, taking more of an interest in people and activities. The negative aspect of a hypomanic episode is it can lead to excessive spending, erratic behavior, the seeking out of sex, and other behaviors with dangerous consequences. Joanne indicated she partied and socialized a great deal. (5) She found herself preoccupied with sexual thoughts and found sexual implications in whatever people said to her or what she saw on TV. During hypomania, the experience of euphoria can be present. (6) Joanne mentioned she was very talkative and felt euphoric except at those times when she became extremely irritable and “cranky” towards people. (7) She found herself striking up conversations with complete strangers. Hypomania left untreated could last for a couple days to several months.
Joanne is hallucinating as the result of her bipolar disorder along with the depression or mania she is experiencing. She began to feel like she could hear people that actually weren’t there talking to her, and she began to think that her apartment could be haunted. These voices would sometimes tell her to do things, like line objects up in a certain order, or take a different route home, or start saying certain words aloud. She also felt like she could read other people’s thoughts and was sure they could read hers and that they would answer her thoughts even when she didn’t say them out loud. “I’m sure I’ve always been psychic,” she said, “but it just really took off. I could sense all kinds of things.”
Treatment
Joanne said her friends became concerned and took her to an emergency room. She was hospitalized for several days and put on lithium. Most of her symptoms seemed to abate. Although she felt more fatigued and “slowed down,” her sleeping pattern improved, and her appetite increased. In the course of the move to the Chicago land Area, she had discontinued her use of the medication she’d been given—the prescription had run out, and she had lost contact with the prescribing psychiatrist. She has been noticing that she has been having difficulty sleeping, feels “jittery,” has been getting concerned about what other people are thinking, and is having difficulty focusing on work projects because her thoughts are racing.
The main goal of the treatment of the bipolar disorder is threefold. First, the treatment of the bipolar disorder aims at making mood episodes less frequent and severe. Second, the treatment aims at helping patients to function well and enjoy their life at home and at work. In addition, the treatment goal is to prevent self-injury and suicide of patients because in their depressive condition they may trigger the patient’s decision to commit a suicide or cause another self-injury.
The key element of the treatment of the bipolar disorder, as is the case of Joanne, is medication. The first in the treatment of Joanne is the prescription of medicines that are called mood stabilizers. These medicines will help her to avoid mood swings from the deep depression to happiness. However, there is a risk that Joanne may feel better shortly after she starts taking these medicines. For instance, symptoms of mania of being haunted, for example, are likely to fade away soon that can lead Joanne to the wrongful decision to stop taking drugs. However, as she stops taking these drugs, symptoms are likely to return, unless the course of treatment is fully completed.
To enhance effects of medicines antipsychotics or antidepressants may be prescribed too. These medicaments may facilitate the treatment based on the use of mood stabilizers and enhance the stability of the patient’s mood and behavior. However, antipsychotics and antidepressants alone are not enough to cure the bipolar disorder Joanne is suffering from. Instead, they can be used only as the complementary medication to mood stabilizers.
In addition, the assistance of family members and close relatives of the patient is needed. First of all, relatives and family members can help to trace changes in her behavior and notify swings to depressive moods and mania as well as swings to extreme happiness. They can also help the patient to keep taking medicines on and on until the medication course is fully completed. They can also assist in determining the full recovery of the patient from her current problems. Anyway, their psychological support will be very helpful for Joanne and she will recover faster and more effectively, in case of her family’s extensive support.
Ethical and Cultural Diversity
People who live in urban areas such as Chicago have more people with bipolar disorder than expected. A study of 1,157 primary care patients revealed that one in ten patients had bipolar disorder. The New York State Psychiatric Institute study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Feb 23) revealed less than 0.1% of these patients had ever been screened for bipolar disorder, suggesting those who live in the deprived inner city might have higher numbers of illness than reported (The Times, 2005).
In this regard, Joanne’s problems are not unique and she has to come prepared to the long lasting treatment of her condition. Her position and condition is aggravated by the fact that her social environment and lifestyle are likely to be very stressful that triggers the extremely high rate of patients with the bipolar disorder. In such a situation, Joanne should be aware of the fact that her health problems are not abnormal and many other people in her community suffer from these problems too. This is why she should take her treatment for granted, while her cooperation will facilitate her full recovery. At this point, Joanne should understand that the bipolar disorder is not something incurable. On the contrary, this health problem can be resolved successfully on the condition of the fulfillment of all recommendations of health care professionals, proper medication, change of her lifestyle and worldview, and her family’s support.
At the same time, Joanne can count on the full anonymity and confidentiality of her treatment and her health problems because health care professionals working with her cannot uncover her private information to third parties. She should not be embarrassed of her health problems but she should rely on health care professionals and complete her treatment successfully.
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