Competence based assessment - Case Study Example

Although Finch initially denied having a drinking problem, he later revealed that he had a long history of drinking. His drinking problem had subsequently contributed to his lose of jobs and divorce. Upon conducting Finch’s examination a number of elements factored into the decision process. The general recognition that Finch was hearing voices was one of the most pervasive symptoms. Hearing voices has been prominently linked to symptoms of schizophrenia. While it is possible that Finch’s symptoms were physiological, the ear examination revealed that rather than being an actual physical issue, they were directly attributable to psychological dysfunctions.

As such the next effort was made to determine whether Finch suffered from schizophrenia. The DSM-IV distinguishes between paranoid, disorganized, catatonic, undifferentiated, and residual schizophrenia. It was easy to rule out catatonic schizophrenia as the individual was moving and speaking. Conversely, catatonic schizophrenia generally is comprised of immobility and silence among patients. Disorganized schizophrenia is recognized as constituting thought disorders as well as the flat affect.

The flat affect constitutes inappropriate emotion and affect. This is significant, as the flat affect does not exist in paranoid schizophrenia. Additionally, disorganized schizophrenia is recognized as an extreme form of schizophrenia that greatly limits social functioning. In this way it appears that Finch would not be diagnosed with disorganized schizophrenia. Conversely, paranoid schizophrenia is recognized by the Mayo clinic as constituting, a chronic mental illness in which a person loses touch with reality (psychosis).

The classic features of paranoid schizophrenia are having delusions and hearing things that arent real. With paranoid schizophrenia, your ability to think and function in daily life may be better than with other types of