A Case Study
April 2019
Abnormal Psychology is the study of behavior, emotion, and thought, usually precipitating a mental disorder. Many behaviors may be considered abnormal however most abnormal psychology studies focus on symptoms of a clinical nature. In this essay I will evaluate Mark, a 33-year-old man exhibiting signs of erratic behavior, mood swings, depressive and extremely happy episodes, and binge spending followed by disinterest in the things he will monetarily dedicate himself to. He claims his depression-like symptoms began in college but have grown more and more prominent as he has aged.
Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder coming from unusual shifts in mood, energy, and activity levels that can negatively impact daily life and function. Bipolar is commonly undiagnosed and when it is, treatment is difficult as patients tend to see different effects from medications and not take well to certain forms of therapy. This shows a need for an individually based approach for the treatment of bipolar disorder in order to achieve an effective result in patients.
Mark is a 33-year-old man with no previous psychotic history that we are aware of. The psychological concept of mood disorders in this case take form in that of Bipolar Disorder. Mark’s wife tends to see “three versions of mark.” This is common in patients with Bipolar Disorder as their illness can cause them to act like completely different people at times, not just in terms of views or opinions but in actions and core beliefs. Subjects with bipolar can experience excessively intense emotions and unusual behavior along with irregular sleep and varied activity levels. Bipolar can come in the form of manic and/or depressive symptoms, each of which require individual treatment in order to steer personality back on a normative course. Mark goes through phases where he will binge spend on unnecessary electronics. His wife shared that he invested thousands of dollars into a home theater system that he ended up giving up on while still setting it up. His inability to commit to a task as well as maintain interest in a topic are tell-tale signs of a bipolar personality.
Through psychoanalysis, the structure of Mark’s personality can be addressed in order to see which elements of his unconscious could be swaying his judgement and causing these actions. I believe Mark act’s out of his Id. The Id is the most basic, animalistic, core of our personality. It seeks instant gratification and when we do not receive what our minds crave the Id causes us to be tense or angry. In Mark’s case, his Id leads him to happiness rather than anger or tension, but his happiness is equally intense. Marks moving to the roof of his home to proclaim his happiness is extremely abnormal which is why it causes him to be looked at as someone other than the “true” Mark that his wife has known and loved for such a long time.
Mark’s disorder seems to come from an insecurity possibly. I believe this because of his desire to proclaim his happiness to complete strangers, possibly in hopes of validation for himself. Also, he spends excessive money on hobbies he isn’t even sure of his interest in. Mark may be searching for self-meaning in his actions, because of his underlying and previously undiagnosed mental illness a lack of treatment has quite possibly caused an “eruption” of manic behavior due to the accumulation of stressors or withheld emotion.
In terms of treatment, Mark would certainly benefit from short term anti-psychotic medication management from a licensed psychiatrist. For the short term an anti-anxiolytic Benzodiazepine medication may help relax Mark, however over time these medications tend to lose efficiency and require increased dosage which can result in extreme dependence. Commonly in subjects suffering from Bipolar Disorder will be administered Lithium as medication or some form of SSRI. The medication should be able to stabilize Mark for some time until a longer acting medication may take effect. If a longer acting medication is not preferred by Mark, such as an anti-depressant, he should follow a regimen of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. CBT can help a patient verbally open to his or her own subconscious and face the issues that are causing them to act erratically or feel anxious and depressed. Mark may realize he needs to find purpose or direction in his life, or even just learn to appreciate where he is at the current time.
