Schizophrenia case study: Ted

Schizophrenia case study: Ted essay assignment

Case Study: Ted

A single man of 40 years of age named Ted cut his carotid artery at home. He had suffered from chronic schizophrenia, dominated by paranoid symptoms, for 20 years. During his illness, Ted had spent a total of 12 years in mental hospitals; individual hospitalizations had varied in duration. While he was hospitalized, his bizarre delusions of altered body states and his experiences of being controlled by external, often invisible, agents rapidly disappeared. He had death wishes and suicidal thoughts since the onset of his schizophrenia. Death wishes also stopped soon after hospitalization.

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Over the years, opinion about Ted changed and his condition began to be regarded as hopeless. He was difficult to treat; he accused personnel, was unreliable, acted pretentiously, and reacted by acting out. Four years before committing suicide, he had to be transferred to another mental hospital. Two years before his death, he was transferred to a halfway house belonging to the hospital, because the staff feared that his dependence on the hospital might become excessive. After his transfer to outpatient care, his suicidal tendencies increased. Six months before committing suicide, he lost his long-term nurse. Subsequent treatment consisted of occasional office visits with a psychologist or psychiatrist.

Just before committing suicide, Ted tried to enter the hospital where he had been during the initial phases of his illness. He had suffered increasingly for a few months from paranoid fears of being murdered. He threatened to commit suicide unless he was admitted to the hospital, but the threat was considered demonstrative and hospitalization was brief.

The day before he committed suicide, he visited his childhood home and became afraid that a group of men had surrounded the house. He repeated his wish to enter a mental hospital. During his final night, his state changed. According to his father, the Ted was exceptionally calm on the day of his death. The father said, “He no longer seemed afraid of anything.”

Adapted from:

Saarinen, P. I., Lehtonen, J., & Lönnqvist, J. (1999). Suicide risk in schizophrenia: An analysis of 17 consecutive suicides. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 25, 533-542.

Assignment:

Create a 1,200-1,500-word safety plan for a client similar to Ted, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia that addresses potential depression and suicidality.

Include the following in your safety plan:

What symptoms would a client with schizophrenia exhibit? What symptoms did Ted display?
How would you have addressed Ted’s symptoms related to delusions, hallucinations, and depression?
What other diagnosis might Ted have been misdiagnosed with and why?
Describe which theories would have been most effective and which theories would have been least effective for treating Ted’s schizophrenia. Explain your rationale.
Describe treatment options for addressing all of Ted’s symptoms.
Explain how a client’s religious or spiritual beliefs come into play during the process of dealing with depression and suicide.
Include at least five scholarly references in addition to the textbook in your paper.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

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