Schizophrenia Case Summary

Introduction The client is a 28-year-old female named Candice James. She has suffered from many traumatic situations as a child and is of a socially disadvantaged portion of the population. She has never been married. Candice has experienced sexual and physical abuse all of her life, by men. She suffers from Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD). She has no job at the current time and receives social security benefits for her mental diagnosis. She resides in an area that is known for low-income people. Candice has no family or friends that she can depend on for support. She is on her own. Also, Candice has no belief in a “God”. There is no stability and support that can guide her or assist her, in managing everyday living skills.
She has
Candice has shown that she will chase the “high” at any cost by putting herself in the dangerous situation of being with a male for sex and getting beat up. She placed herself in the position because she wanted to get “high”. Her neuron transmitters are not providing the natural dopamine’s to feel good, without her using the drug. It is said in Addiction, Theories of. 2006, that the inadequate functioning of the frontal cortical systems in the brain result in addictive behaviors.
It can be said that Candice lost control of her usage when she went from drinking alcohol to doing “crack”. She had to begin using a stronger drug to get the “high” feeling she used to get from alcohol. Experiences from other individuals confirm that an addict has to keep using to get the “high” and that the usage continues growing in abundance as long as the addict is using (Thombs, D., Osborn, C., 2013, p.44).
I would recommend inpatient treatment, counseling, and AA/NA meetings to this client based on her profile and using The Disease Model of Addiction Theory. It is recommended because as seen she has all the signs of an addictive personality. She has gone to extreme lengths to stay “high”. Candice has lost control of her behavior and has taken a risk with her life.
R., Dingel, M. J., Ostergren, J. E., Nowakowski, K. E., & Koenig, B. A., 2012). Candace was probably raised in a home environment where drinking had been a daily routine for her parent(s) and felt that it was “normal” to drink and socialize so she started drinking at a young age. Hammer, R. R., Dingel, M. J., Ostergren, J., E., Nowakowski, K., E., & Koenig, B., A., (2012) stated that 19% of people surveyed had thought it was a normal routine to drink and socialize at a young age, that it was inherited, and that they assumed everyone behaved that way. 7 out of 12 women found the disease theory model of addiction assisted them in finding an answer for their addiction (Hammer, R. R., Dingel, M. J., Ostergren, J., E., Nowakowski, K., E., & Koenig, B., A., 2012, p.717). So Candice has a high chance of benefitting from this theory of addiction. She has an average success rate of being sober and learning something about her