Gwen’s diagnosis (at age 7) with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
example given by professor from past student should be like this Gwen is a 33 year old, newly engaged and recent college graduate. For most of her life, she has struggled with various emotional and behavioral issues ranging from difficulty in social interactions, to strained relationships with her family, to being bullied throughout her entire school career and being fired from numerous jobs. Gwen’s diagnosis (at age 7) with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been a constant appendage in her life that has, at times, hindered but also motivated her to work harder and jump more hurdles in her quest to achieve her goals. As a young child, Gwen exhibited behaviors that gave her the desсrіptions of being “fussy” and easily agitated. She was an only-child, and while there were many children of her age in her neighborhood, she had difficulty “playing nice” with many of them; often resulting in many tear-filled outbursts and dramatic fits of running home to her mother’s arms. She often threw wild tantrums when she did not receive toys or clothes that she wanted and often felt like she was always being treated unfairly. Throughout her schooling, this was much the same. Gwen had few friends and they were always deemed the “outcasts”. She was picked on and bullied almost daily; pushed around, tripped, her belongings thrown into garbage receptacles, and getting into fights because she had trouble with controlling reactionary comments to others in her defense, which were often inappropriate and vulgar. She was even held at knife-point in high school because a group of girls thought she was “weird”. This type of school environment only deflated Gwen’s ability to attempt to do well in her classes, which overall, she did not. She had difficulty concentrating, fidgeting in her seat often and struggling to understand the content of her courses, not to mention the major distraction of whether or not she’d make it through the hallways without being harassed or beat up. Gwen felt hopeless, alone and insignificant; every day in school was agony. The effects of her less than ideal schooling career followed Gwen into the adult workforce. She had difficulty holding down random jobs for more than a few months; resulting in being fired for poor attitudes and anti-social behavior. Gwen often felt depressed and like a failure. She rarely felt joy and was indifferent to most events and people. She gained excessive weight and found herself relying on others, such as her mother, for financial dependence. She also attempted to seek comfort through a string of unhealthy relationships with men. In regards to Gwen’s ADHD, some risk factors may have played a part in this diagnosis; (1) temperament, (2) marital discord/divorce and (3) peer relationships. At an early age, (per her mother) Gwen presented with an irritable disposition; she cried often and was deemed “colicky”, but also never seemed to be comfortable unless she was held certain ways and never appreciated excessive noise like the vacuum cleaner (1). This behavior proved taxing on her mother, as she was her primary care-giver and her mother found herself breaking down often because of her own frustrations; resulting in an environment that was deficient of optimal loving care and attention that babies require to grow emotionally sound. Our text concludes that in regards to the five dimensions of temperament in babies/toddlers, irritability/frustration can be related to dimensions of adult personalities, such as neuroticism or negative emotionality. This factor could be a direct correlation to Gwen’s early diagnosis of ADHD in that her difficult temperament laid personality foundations that hindered a healthy emotional development. Gwen’s parents divorced when she was 3 years old (2) and it was an on-going thread of negativity that persisted throughout her up-bringing. Gwen’s mother was resentful and would often talk poorly of her father in her presence and around others. In-turn, Gwen’s father showed poor levels of emotional support towards her when she perhaps needed it most. Gwen’s mother had primary custody and only saw her father every-other weekend and some holidays. Her father re-married one year after the divorce and Gwen developed a cold relationship with her step-mother, due to a resentment of a new authority figure who was not very accommodating to Gwen’s outbursts and demands. While there was never outright mistreatment, Gwen suffered emotionally due to the lack of nurturing support and attention from her father. Her mother did the best she could but often allowed her own pain and anger from the divorce spill over into the relationship with her daughter. Gwen felt insecure and had very low self-esteem; she often sought comfort in her pets rather than in her parents. Due to Gwen’s increasingly erratic behavior, ranging from outbursts to shutting down, she began seeing a psychiatrist at the age of 6 and shortly after, was diagnosed with ADHD. The effects of the divorce and lack of stability and support in Gwen’s home life at such a young age was a probable factor in perpetuating her problematic issues with her mental health. As a potential result of the effects of her parent’s divorce, as well as the stigma of being a child in therapy, Gwen’s ability to make and keep friends was a difficult achievement (3). As a child, Gwen was at opposite ends of the spectrum with peer relationships; she was either bullied or excluded or she had to be the center of everyone’s attention and often smothered people with excessive desires for affection and praise. Gwen found it difficult to handle situations like birthday parties and events with many people around; she felt like there was too much to focus on and it was an impossible task to master. She found that she could never say the right things to people for fear of rejection or negative reactions, so this would cause her to retreat and play alone with her dolls. This behavior followed her into grade school and high school and she never really felt comfortable in the presence of large groups of people. She made few friends; however, some would take advantage of her kindness and generosity as she had no real sense of “reading” people and seeing their intentions. This lack of developing meaningful friendships had deprived Gwen of feelings of belonging and camaraderie, intimacy and trust, as well as the joy and laughter good friends bring into your life. These deficiencies of necessary emotional interactions during childhood and adolescence are another probable factor for Gwen’s mental health issues. In spite of her difficult childhood, with the aid of now-limited medications and therapy, also with the benefit of time to reflect; she has been able to manage her ADHD to where she has found her “niche” in life. She has completed her college program and found a career where she is passionate and can flourish. She has also secured a healthy and loving relationship where she recently became engaged to be married.