Masters of Social Work

Masters of Social Work

            Social workers are important professionals in the community because they provide counseling and administer therapeutic procedures to community members with mental related problems. Mental problems are commonly caused by stress and drug and substance abuse. The information the social workers gets from their clients is useful in determining the therapeutic procedure that will be administered to the clients. Professional community workers create a friendly environment with their clients so that the clients can freely provide information about their mental condition, which helps the social workers to administer the most effective therapeutic procedure to the clients. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that affects how someone behaves, and it mostly affects males at the age of early twenties. DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia outlines the symptoms of a client who is suffering from schizophrenia mental disorder. From the case study, Mr. V shows signs of visual hallucinations, and as a professional social worker, I will seek information about the behavior of Mr. V from his mother, which will help me to apply DSM-5 criteria to diagnose Mr. V for schizophrenia mental disorder.

Collecting all the necessary information about Mr. V will help me to determine the diagnostic method to apply (Carkhuff, 2017). All parents are focused on raising their children to become useful members of society. When children develop weird behaviors, their parents get concerned as in Mrs. V’s case. Mrs. V required a therapeutic procedure to be carried on his son because Mr. V had changed his behavior for the last six months. The child upbringing method is critical in determining the character that the child will develop in the future. I will interrogate Mrs. V on the upbringing method she used while bringing up Mr. V and the family environment where his son was brought up in. The information about how Mr. V was brought up in his childhood will help me to determine whether Mr. V’s disorder is caused by drug abuse or the disorder is as a result of the child upbringing method. In addition, I will seek information about the recent behavior of Mr. V. Mr. V ‘s friends can provide how the current behavior of Mr. V is different from the past behavior. Also, I will seek information on whether Mr. V’s condition has been diagnosed in the past. Information about whether Mr. V’s condition has been diagnosed in the past will help me to choose the most effective therapeutic procedure. Creating a friendly environment with Mrs. V who is seeking help for his son will help me to understand Mr. V’s condition in depth for a proper diagnosis and treatment.

Mr. V is 23-year old male who studies on a college that is near her mother’s residence. Mr. V’s behavior has changed, and he does not want to associate with family members and his friends anymore. Mr. V’s college friends are concerned about his condition, and they are saying that Mr. V has become too secretive and has developed a weird behavior. Mr. V girlfriend says that the last time she met with Mr. V, she was surprised of his behavior because he looked gaunt and unkempt. Mr. V had some unclear and disorganized speech as stated by his girlfriend.  Mr. V appeared to be in a hurry when she visited her girlfriend, and after a short while he pulled at his driveway at high driving speed, and he disappeared. Two other college friends say that they realized the same behavior with Mr. V in two nights ago. Mr. V did not had enough time with his friends, and he told them he cannot stay in residence for more than 240 seconds, and immediately Mr. V rushed to his car and drove away. Also, Mrs. V noticed the same behavior with her son. Information from Mrs. V   shows that Mr. V does not even exactly know his father because the parents divorced a long period ago. Friends suggest that Mr. V may be abusing cocaine because of the behavior he is showing. I checked the records to establish whether Mr. V had been diagnosed before. The records showed that seven years ago Mr. V had received a cognitive behavioral intervention because he had shown signs of depression and he responded well to the treatment. Visual hallucinations symptoms revealed by Mr. V are common with schizophrenia clients of his age, and therefore, DSM-5 criteria for schizophrenia will be used to diagnose Mr. V for schizophrenia mental condition.

DSM-5 criteria will help me to determine whether Mr. V requires schizophrenia intervention or he requires a different form of intervention. DSM-5 outlines the criteria for the diagnosis of schizophrenia (Kendler, 2016). Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that causes a client to have disorganized thoughts and change of behavior. According to DSM-criteria, schizophrenia is associated with cognitive, behavioral and social symptoms. DSM -5 criteria define schizophrenia as a mental problem that affects males at their early twenties and females at their late twenties (Kendler, 2016). DSM-5 criterion for schizophrenia diagnosis outlines that for a client to be diagnosed with schizophrenia, the client should show symptoms of hallucinations, disorganized speech, and delusions for at least one month. The client should also show signs of impairment at the workplace or in interpersonal relations for more than one month to be diagnosed of schizophrenia according to the DSM- 5 criteria for schizophrenia (Kendler, 2016). DSM- 5 criteria for schizophrenia further states depression is not a sign associated with schizophrenia condition. Hallucinations and delusions are the primary symptoms of clients who have schizophrenia according to DSM-5 criteria for schizophrenia diagnoses.

Mr. V who is 23-years old has shown hallucination and delusion symptoms for the last two months. DSM -5 criteria for schizophrenia diagnosis state that the client should display hallucination and delusion symptoms for more than one month. Therefore Mr. V satisfies DSM-5 criteria for schizophrenia diagnosis. Mr. V has signs of disorganized speech that is revealed during his conversation with her girlfriend. DSM-5 criteria states that for a client to be diagnosed for schizophrenia condition, the client should show signs of disorganized speech for more than one month. Mr. V has had disorganized speech while conversing with his girlfriend and college mates; therefore Mr. V meets the DSM-5 criteria for schizophrenia diagnosis. Because Mr. V’s symptoms are in accordance with DSM-5 criteria for schizophrenia diagnosis, I will diagnose Mr. V for schizophrenia disorder.

I will administer an effective therapeutic disorder to Mr. V to ensure that he recovers from schizophrenia condition. The primary goal of the intervention is to change Mr. V’s current behavior to normal behavior, which is the wish of her mother. Mr. V symptoms for schizophrenia are extreme, and I will use a medication approach to control the symptoms at the first stage of the intervention and later use psychosocial therapy to enable him to recover from the schizophrenia mental disorder (Bustillo, 2016). For proper intervention, more resources will be required. I will need a psychologist and psychiatric nurse to properly coordinate the treatment (Bustillo, 2016). I will also need antipsychotic medicines in the first stages of the intervention to control Mr. V’s schizophrenia symptoms. After the medical treatment, I will then engage Mr. V for a long psychosocial therapy, which will enable me to determine whether drugs are the cause of his schizophrenia condition. If I realize that Mr. V is using drugs, I will then counsel him on the harmful effects of drug and substance abuse. After an extended psychosocial therapy, Mr. V will then recover from schizophrenia mental disorder.

In summary, social health workers provide counseling and administer therapeutic procedures to clients with mental-related problems. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that mostly occurs among males while in their early twenties. In Mr. V’s case study, Mr. V had changed his behavior and had become more secretive. I used communication and listening skills to create a friendly environment with Mrs. V, which helped me to get the necessary information concerning the condition of Mr. V behavior. From the gathered information, Mr. V showed signs of hallucinations and disorganized speech for two months. Symptoms revealed by Mr. V were in accordance with DSM -5 criteria for schizophrenia diagnoses. Medication and an extended psychosocial therapy will assist Mr. V to recover from schizophrenia disorder.