Mental illness treatment Plan
Mental illness is a common health problem affecting people from different parts of the world. Mental disorder affects both young and aged, regardless of someone’s social class in society. Mental illness causes impairment of personal functioning. Different signs and symptoms accompany various mental disorders. Diagnosis and treatment of mental illness require high skills for proper treatment of a disorder. Cultural and religious believes have to be taken into account when diagnosing or treating any mental illness. Clinical social workers arrive at an appropriate treatment plan of any mental disorder after questioning and observing the behavior of the client. Dimensional treatment plan is both an art and science that requires both skills and insight to arrive at a treatment plan that satisfies both the long term and short term treatment goals.
Symptoms and Behaviors of the Client
Tony is a young man who is currently my mental illness client, and he is showing signs of depression. Tony is a 32-year older man and a father of three children. Currently, Tony has abandoned his family due to mental disorder. Tony has been my client for the last two weeks. After carefully interrogating Tony, he has decided to seek medical assistance because he has suicidal feelings. Also, having difficulties in social and family life is another key reason that has made Tony seek medical assistance. Tony has become an alcohol addict in the last one year. In the interview session, he explains that it is almost impossible for him to spend a whole day without drinking alcohol. For every little coin he gets, Tony spends it on buying alcohol. He explains that he likes drinking alcohol because it helps him to relieve the stress he is going through. In the last interview with Tony, I explained to him that alcohol could not relieve stress, but it exposes its users to other health risks such as liver disease (Andersen, 2018). Also, from the interview with the client, I have realized that the client has relationship difficulties. Tony has divorced from his wife because of his mental illness, which is currently causing him to have a feeling of social isolation. Mental illness is not something new with my client. While he was twenty years old, Tony wanted to commit suicide, but he sought medication. After the medication, Tony had been living well with his family until two years ago when he started to feel sad, and he divorced his wife. Currently, Tony does not communicate with his wife and children. Also, Tony cannot stay a whole day without drinking alcohol.
Family Background and Physiochological History of the Client
Tony was brought up in the family of four children. Out of the four children, Tony was the firstborn and the only boy. Tony’s mother died when he was twelve years of age. Tony’s father, being a low-income earner, could not sufficiently provide for the kids. Tony being the firstborn, had to drop out of school to search for a job to provide for the other siblings. At the age of 15 years, Tony was sexually abused by his father. The sexual abuse affected Tony psychologically (Ports & Ford, 2016), and he had a feeling of committing suicide while he was twenty years. After seeking medical assistance, Tony lived a healthy life, and he married. After seven years of marriage, Tony suffered a mental illness again because of the sexual abuse he suffered while he was young, and because of the difficulties, he undergoes while trying to provide basic needs to his family. After divorce with his wife, Tony has now decided to seek medical assistance. Currently, Tony has not undergone any medication on his mental illness. Feeling to commit suicide is a significant safety concern with my client.
Diagnosis and Treatment
I will diagnose Tony with clinical depression disorder. Feeling to commit suicide, feelings of sadness, and isolation are major symptoms of depression mental illness. Anxiety disorder is normally characterized by a feeling of fear (Bandelow & Michaelis, 2015). In this case, I cannot diagnose Tony with anxiety disorder because from the interview, he does not show any signs of fear. Therapy is the major treatment plan that I will offer to Tony because of his willingness to say his problems. From therapy, I will meet a long-term goal, which is to enable Tony to socialize with others and continue with his family life. I will allow Tony to express the type of intervention he expects so as to achieve evidence-based intervention by creating a favorable interview environment. Weekly advice sessions will help in achieving a short-term goal, which is to prevent Tony from having the feeling of suicide. Offering social support to my client will help him to move from the abuse of alcohol. Prescribing some daily exercise activities to the client will help him to move from alcoholism.
Conclusion
Mental disorder is a common health problem affecting people from different parts of the world. A proper treatment plan is required in the treatment of any mental illness to improve the health of the client. In this particular case, I created a favorable environment for my client to express his mental problem. From the interview with my client, I diagnosed the client with depression. To achieve short-term and long-term goals, I will offer a treatment that is client-oriented. I will offer advice to the client and provide social support to ensure that the client does not have any feeling of committing suicide. Client-based treatment will help to achieve evidence-based intervention, which will improve the health of the client.
References
Andersen, S. L. (2018). Stress, sensitive periods, and substance abuse. Neurobiology of stress, 100140.
Bandelow, B., & Michaelis, S. (2015). Epidemiology of anxiety disorders in the 21st century. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 17(3), 327.
Ports, K. A., Ford, D. C., & Merrick, M. T. (2016). Adverse childhood experiences and sexual victimization in adulthood. Child abuse & neglect, 51, 313-322.