Using one of the examples provided, clearly summarise the service user’s experience of distress.

Jack has suffered from a lot of distress in many aspects of his life. He experiences “highs and lows” in his moods, at his lowest feeling “hopeless” and “lapsing into tears”. He has been diagnosed with depression and suffers from negative thoughts about his life, as well as suffering from paranoia and delusions. This leaves him feeling very anxious to leave the house and worried about his and his family’s safety and financial means. He experiences mixed feelings when thinking about his estranged father which causes him a lot of confusion. He feels very isolated after leaving a close community and failing to meet new friends.

Provide a plausible explanation of the development and maintenance of the service user’s difficulties and how they may relate to one another, drawing on psychological theory and principles and details.

Unfortunately, Jack did experience a lot of trauma while in adolescence and growing up, which is a very important developmental period in terms of identity development, relationships and academic achievements. Due to a lot of trauma happening during this vital time, it could be that a lot of his problems have stemmed from the disruption of his normal development during this time. Also, Jack is maintaining his distress and difficulties through avoiding his past negative experiences, such as being abused, which he may see as a safety behaviour but it is hindering his ability to overcome his obstacles (Freeman et al, 2001).

Throughout Jack’s life, he has witnessed the rise and fall of his father’s business and the complications that have arisen from that. He did feel close to his father and his father’s personal issues have deeply affected him. He may feel anxious to become like his dad and this is something that is causing him severe distress when he looks in the mirror. This fear and worry are then maintaining the delusions that he has with regards to his dad.

Also, through failing his GCSE’s, he may constantly have feelings of disappointment and failure with many other things in his life. GCSE’s are also seen as a steppingstone to working in higher paid jobs and working scenarios and therefore the failure of this, means that he is unfortunately maintaining the cycle of getting different jobs and then leaving them as he has become unhappy with his life. He aspires to do more than a low-paid job.

Effectively outline the benefits and limitations of diagnosis – for explaining the service user’s difficulties and devising an intervention. 

Benefits of diagnosis:

– He will be able to access services that can help him overcome his distress

– Has previously complied with treatments and therefore may find it helpful in helping him overcome his difficulties

– Having a diagnosis may provide him with clarification on his experiences and help him to understand why he feels and behaves the way he does

Limitations of diagnosis:

– He may possibly feel some stigma after receiving a diagnosis from society and the people around him

– He may feel frightened by having his experiences labelled in a term that he doesn’t feel quite comfortable with

Briefly outline an intervention plan clearly related to the service user’s experience of distress and your explanation of the development and maintenance of the service user’s difficulties.

If Jack is still using alcohol and drugs, the first step would be to aim to get him to stop using them so that any treatments are able to be trialled without interruptions from substances. This can be done through using a detox or rehabilitation program. The next step would be to introduce and support Jack with the use of medications to help control his delusions while also receiving some Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help him to understand and identify his delusions and irrational behaviours. Once these unhelpful behaviours are identified, Jack may be able to reduce his distress around these experiences and recognise that these experiences are not real and therefore can move on with his life. It may also be useful to undergo some interpersonal therapy to help him build up relationships with his family and to make new friends.

References:

Freeman, D., Garety, P.A., Kuipers, E. (2001). Persecutory delusions: developing the understanding of belief maintenance and emotional distress. Psychological Medicine.