The review on The Black Balloon - Essay Example

? The Black Balloon - Psychology - Number and Number Number of Words: 2,762 Introduction The movie “The Black Balloon is all about the Mollison family who has recently moved to the outer suburbs of Sydney. One of the challenges the couple Simon – the army dad and Maggie – the pregnant wife has to face is caused by having a child with severe disability. As a couple, they are living with their sons Thomas – a normal adolescent child and Charlie – an autistic child. For the purpose of this case study, related health and developmental issues particularly the psychological impact that Thomas is currently facing will be tackled in details. When we talk about developmental issues, we are not simply referring to the cognitive impact of having an autistic brother but also its psychological, social, cultural and physical impact. Thomas is 15-year old. As an adolescent, all Thomas ever wanted is to have a normal life. However, having an autistic brother makes it difficult for him to enjoy his adolescent life. In fact, it is understandable for Thomas to face a lot of emotional and psychological challenges not only with his desire to be accepted in school but also due to his limited knowledge about his brother’s health and mental condition. Using relevant psychological theories, this study will discuss how having a brother who is autistic including the idea of having another baby brother could significantly affect the psychological development of Thomas. Aside from discussing whether or not Thomas was able to adjust with the life of having an autistic brother, this study will also discuss some implications to practices that each of our Health Professionals should understand for them to effectively provide appropriate strategies on how they could assist Thomas in dealing with the psychological and developmental impact of having an autistic brother. Related Health and Developmental Issues Thomas is Currently Facing Several authors revealed the possibility that Thomas grew up having atypical social and communication development during the infancy stage which created both positive and negative impact over his social, emotional and behavioral development (Orsmond & Seltzer, 2007; Morgan, 1988). This explains why Thomas unconsciously grew up to be very quiet and shy. Despite growing together with his older brother, Thomas remained unaware about ways on how to effectively manage and deal with autistic people. For this reason, Thomas finds it very difficult to cope with the added responsibilities associated with taking care of his older brother with autism. As a result, Thomas is facing serious problems when it comes to social adjustments in life. Thomas’ older brother behaves like a toddler even though he is much older than Thomas. Having in mind that his older brother has severe disability, the first thing that would come to Thomas’ mind is to hide his older brother from other people. Contrary to Thomas’ instinct of hiding his brother from other people, Thomas also feels responsible in taking care of his brother’s physical and emotional needs. As days go by, Thomas’ love for his brother was being compromised by the embarrassment his older brother is causing him. There were just so many instances that made Thomas feel publicly embarrass each time he is around his older brother. In one occasion, the family members accidently left the door keys in the front door. When Thomas’ older started running out of the house (wearing only monkey ears cap, sneakers, and underwear) to invade a stranger’s house to use their bathroom, Thomas had to run after him. Furthermore, Thomas’ brother has the tendency to do unusual things like publicly introducing himself to their neighbors while sitting on the yard making annoying noise using some wooden spoons and sticks. Aside from not being able to communicate with other people nor control his rages, Thomas’ brother has the tenacity to unpleasant things such as: (1) rubbing his own feces into the carpet and all over his body; (2) throwing tantrum inside a supermarket; (3) masturbating in front of Jackie at the birthday tea; (4) trying to eat Jackie’s tampon; (5) running down the hall naked; and (6) spitting at people among others (McCulloch, 2009). The fact that Thomas had to clean all the mess his brother makes increases his frustrations in life as an adolescent. Because of the fact that Thomas’ brother would act like a toddler and do unpleasant things that can really be annoying to other people, teenagers such as in the case of Thomas would often feel embarrassed and humiliated each time other people laugh and see him walking together or just by simply being around his autistic brother. This is true especially each time some of their neighbors and schoolmates would see his older brother as someone who is abnormal. Thomas’ frustration about having an autistic brother was evident when he started pouring out all his negative emotions in his own birthday dinner. The biggest challenge that Thomas is facing is to be able to whole-heartedly accept his older brother for who he is. Even though Thomas loves his brother very much, growing-up with his older brother was very difficult on the part of Thomas. In general, the two types of coping strategies that can be use when dealing with siblings with autism spectrum disorder are known as: (1) problem-focused coping strategies; and (2) emotion-focused coping strategies. Problem-focused coping a.k.a. approach coping are strategies made in solving or managing the main causes of emotional or social distress whereas emotion-focused coping a.k.a. avoidant coping are coping strategies that focuses on managing or reducing emotional distress (Kilburn & Whitlock, 2011; Folkman & Moskowitz, 2004). In times of serious emotional distress, the use of positive emotions could make Thomas enjoy the benefits of psychological break. In fact, the use of positive emotions can make Thomas easily cope with his social, intellectual, emotional, and psychological challenges he is currently facing. For this reason, a lot of psychologists today are using these two coping strategies interchangeably since the proper application of emotion-focused coping could somehow increase the effectiveness of problem-focused coping (ibid). Kilburn and Whitlock (2011) explained that the use of problem-focused coping in adolescents is more functional in the sense that young individuals tend to be more open in accepting social support and advices that could help them solve their emotional problems whereas the use of emotion-focused strategies is more dysfunctional in the sense that excessive use of this approach can make adolescents socially isolized themselves and avoid solving the problem. Right after investigating the well-being of adolescents with siblings who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, Orsmond, Kuo and Seltzer (2009) explained that adolescents such as in the case of Thomas has a stronger tendency to seek for greater social support which somehow increases their use of their emotion-focused coping strategies as compared to the adults. Thomas belongs to a family who practices close family ties. In fact, Thomas being the younger brother of Charlie was constantly being reminded by his mother to be aware and put Charlie’s physical and developmental needs first more than anything else. In one occasion, Thomas had a serious argument with his mother when he wanted to stress-out his frustrations about having the need to take care of his brother each time he mess things up or throw tantrums in public. When Thomas told his mother that “he is not my responsibility”, the only thing his mother told him was “don’t be selfish”. According to Kilburn and Whitlock (2011), “those who consistently use a problem-focused or approach coping style reported fewer symptoms of depression while those who used a more avoidant or emotion-focused style reported more symptoms”. In the case of the Morrison family, the mother of Thomas applied problem-focused coping approach in making Thomas understanding and accept the disability of his own brother. When Thomas had an argument with his mother, his mom told him “your brother will never be able to do the things we can”. Upon analyzing Thomas’ situation, the statement of his mother is useful in terms of enabling Thomas realizes how lucky he is that he was born without disability. Furthermore, Thomas’ mother told him that “he will live together with us for the rest of his life”. This statement is useful in terms of making Thomas realize that there is no other way for him to escape the problem but to fully accept the situation as it is. Even though Thomas came to a point where he was isolating himself from other people (except for his girlfriend Jackie), the presence and emotional support he was receiving from Jackie encourages Thomas to learn to appreciate his brother more. As a girlfriend, Jackie was very supportive and loving. The fact that Jackie could tolerate Charlie’s behavior made it easier on the part of Thomas to accept and spend some time with Charlie. This explains why there were some scenes in the movie wherein Thomas was spending some time together with Jackie and Charlie (i.e. swimming in the river and walking around the community area among others). Aside from the strong influence of family culture and beliefs, the emotional support Thomas receives from Jackie are among the few reasons why Thomas started engaging more on shared activities with his brother. Furthermore, Orsmond, Kuo and Seltzer (2009) explained that it is important for Thomas to engage in more shared activities with his brother as it creates more positive affect in their sibling relationship. Based on the research study that was conducted by Rivers and Stoneman (2003), families who has been heavily relying on external formal support increases the risk wherein siblings could develop negative behaviors as compared to those families who are receiving low levels of external formal support. In the case of Thomas, he receives love and support coming from his own parents and girlfriend Jackie. Despite being embarrassed and frustrated about how his older brother behaves in public, Thomas ended up being able to accept Charlie for who he was. Upon analyzing the case of Thomas, it was the full-acceptance, unconditional love, understanding and emotional support that Thomas’ parents and girlfriend Jackie were giving to Charlie that made Thomas realize the importance and uniqueness of his brother. Even though Thomas could sometimes show hatred to his own brother because of mixed emotions between his love for his brother and his desire to have a normal adolescent life, Thomas was able to easily resolve his affection for his older brother. The Linkage between Developmental and Health Issues Aiming to develop a more comprehensive health care service, the World Health Organization (WHO) publicly announced the need to consider social, cultural, and environmental factors as important health determinants (World Health Organization, 1978). In response to the need to develop a more comprehensive health care service, Sabri (2000) exerted an effort to determine the possible linkages between health and developmental issues. As stated by Sabri (2000), “the contribution of health to overall development has two aspects: (1) the positive impact of health development; and (2) the negative social and economic consequences of ill health as a result of premature mortality, morbidity and disability”. It means that health promotion or the preservation of good health which includes the practice of healthy lifestyle, the intake of proper nutrition, and rehabilitation are all equally important in the sense that all these factors create a positive effect not only to the economic development of people within a workforce but also the developmental growth (i.e. cognitive, psychological, social and physical developments) of young individuals. On the contrary, developmental issues could also significantly affect the health of a person. In case a country is experiencing a negative economic development, there is a higher risk wherein problems related to housing, income, nutrition, literacy and environment would take place (Sabri, 2000). Because of declining economic condition, the presence of malnutrition, the absence of clean drinking water, poor living condition and increase anxiety, stress, and fear could cause a person to suffer from poor health. Specifically the linkage between developmental and health issues can be applied in the case of Thomas. Thomas belong to a middle-class Australian family. Thomas’ parents are facing a lot of challenges in life not only when it comes to taking care of their autistic child but also the additional expenses that would accumulate once their third child is born. To promote the cognitive development of Charlie, Thomas’ parents had to make him attend a school for disabled. Since Charlie is attending school for disabled, Thomas’ father had to work more in order to sustain the family’s financial needs. The socio-economic condition of the Mollison family has something to do with the added responsibility for Thomas. Since Thomas’ mother would be bed-ridden for some time, Thomas was made responsible to overlook his brother each time his father is not around. Implications to the Practice – Role of Health Professionals Having an autistic child significantly affects not only the life of Thomas but also the entire functioning and internal communication among the family members. As defined by Corsini (2002: 367), a family-systems model is “a paradigm that families can best be understood in terms of systems theory such that traits and disorders emerge as a function of the healthfulness and functionality of the family as a whole”. Since several authors suggest the idea that having a successful family adaptation is possible with the proper use and application of the family-systems theory (Rivers & Stoneman, 2003; Morgan ,1988), Titelman (1998: 7) strongly suggest that health professionals should carefully examine the close relationship between Bowen family-systems theory and family-systems therapy. According to Titelman (1998: 8), the main purpose of using the Bowen family systems therapy is to “increase the capacity of one or more members to adapt to and deal with the vicissitudes of life”. Through the use of therapeutic intervention, health professionals will be able to effectively guide one or more family members to become more determined in dealing with the all the challenges associated with having an autistic child as part of the family. In other words, the family-systems therapy aims to provide effective solutions to familial problems which can be triggered by the social, emotional, psychological, and physical challenges associated with having an autistic child and sibling. By learning more about how each and every member of the family reacts to the situation, health professionals such as in the case of psychologists could develop therapeutic intervention that can be use to effectively modify and improve the quality of an existing family relationships. Even though psychologists can interchangeably make use of problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping strategies, health professionals should be aware that the application of these two types of coping strategies could either “facilitate or impede each other” (Kilburn & Whitlock, 2011: 1). It means that health professionals can make use of emotion-focused strategies before they can make use of problem-focused strategies. However, excessive use of emotion-focused coping strategies could make health professionals unable to develop and implement problem-focused strategies. For instance: When dealing with Thomas, health professionals should make Thomas feels relax and free of negative emotions before allowing him to discuss things that bothers him most. The situation of Thomas can be very overwhelming. Using emotion-focused coping, the process of giving Thomas a break or the opportunity to decompress his emotions could make the health professionals able to come up with more effective problem-focused coping strategies for Thomas. Conclusion and Recommendations As an adolescent, Thomas had to face a lot of social, physical, and emotional challenges associated with the need to take care of his elder brother with autism. Aside from the physical, emotional and psychological support coming from Thomas’ girlfriend, a strong familial support coming from Thomas’ parents was necessary to enable Thomas easily cope with these challenges. The use of positive emotions could make Thomas easily cope with his social, intellectual, emotional, and psychological challenges. For this reason, problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies should be considered as equally useful tools when making Thomas understand and accept the disability of his brother. Although the use of positive emotions could make Thomas easily cope with his challenges, health professionals should be careful not to stay focus in using emotion-focused strategies as this could make them unable to directly address the main sources of problem. Instead, health professionals should carefully study the family structure and relationship among the family members before designing useful problem-focused intervention for Thomas. When designing a problem-focused intervention for Thomas, health professionals should consider not only the socio-economic status of Morrison family but also his social network. By carefully examining the close people in Thomas’ life, health professionals will be able to identify significant person who could effectively make Thomas understand and accept the condition of his elder brother. *** End *** References Corsini, R. (2002). The dictionary of psychology. NY: Brunner-Routledge. Folkman, S., & Moskowitz, J. (2004). Coping: Pitfalls and promise. Annual Review of Psychology , 55, pp. 745-774. Kilburn, E., & Whitlock, J. (2011). Cornessl Research Program on Self-Injurious Behavior in Adolescents and Young Adults. Coping - Literature Review. [Available online]: accessed September 7, 2011. McCulloch, J. (2009). The Black Balloon : Directed by Elissa Down, produced by Tristram Miall, Icon Home Entertainment, 2008. Psychiatric Bulletin , 33, p. 160. Morgan, S. (1988). The autistic child and family functioning: a developmental-family systems perspective. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders , 18(2), pp. 263-280. Orsmond, G., & Seltzer, M. (2007). Siblings of individuals with autism spectrum disorders across the life course. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews , 13(4), pp. 313-320. Orsmond, G., Kuo, H., & Seltzer, M. (2009). Siblings of individuals with an autism spectrum disorder: sibling relationships and wellbeing in adolescence and adulthood. Autism , 13(1), pp. 59-80. Rivers, J., & Stoneman, Z. (2003). Sibling relationships when a child has autism: marital stress and support coping. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders , 33(4), pp. 383-394. Rivers, J., & Stoneman, Z. (2003). Sibling relationships when a child has autism: marital stress and support coping. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders , 33(4), pp. 383-394. Sabri, B. (2000). Health and development. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal , 6(4), pp. 758-765. Titelman, P. (1998). Clinical applications of Bowen family systems theory. The Haworth Press. World Health Organization. (1978). Primary health care. Report of the International Conference on Primary Health Care, Alma Ata, USSR, 6-12 September 1978 jointly sponsored by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund. Geneva: World Health Organization. Student: Grade: Tutor: Marker: X Y Z Introduction Succinct, engaging introduction to the topic; sound grasp of the essay topic is evident Rambling and lengthy, too short, uninformative or unclear. Clear outline of scope and purpose of the essay. Topic not well introduced; scope & purpose of essay is not clear. Body One theory or concept in health psychology or sociology has clearly and thoroughly been addressed within the essay Essay topic is superficially addressed. 3-5 Key themes/issues are identified and discussed/explored Key themes/issues not identified Understanding is evident; accurate definitions and explanations of terms / concepts used. Understanding not evident; or incorrect definitions or explanations. Ideas & assertions are supported by argument and appropriate references. Generalisations are made without supporting evidence. The arguments are strong and clear with coherent themes. Lack of clear argument; not clear if main points are understood. Critical analysis and synthesis is evident. Critical analysis and synthesis is not evident. Conclusion Conclusion is logically drawn from preceding discussion and is related to the essay aim. Conclusion draws on new material or is not related to the preceding discussion or essay aim. Succinct summary of the main points & their relevance and implications for practice Conclusion is not clear, not stated; or relevance and implications not identified. Written expression and presentation Neat presentation; use of headings where appropriate; name/ID on each page; cover sheet and marking form included. Poor presentation; name or ID not included; cover sheet or marking form not included. Logical structure; material is well organised and sequenced; no superfluous information. Poorly organised or sequenced; superfluous information. Correct grammar, spelling and use of academic language. Spelling or grammatical errors and/or colloquial language used. Clear, concise and well constructed sentences; paragraphs develop a single theme; easy to read and follow. Poor sentence or paragraph structure. Unclear writing style, difficult to read and follow. Within 10% of word limit. Over or under length. Use of sources and referencing Referencing conforms to Harvard referencing style. Harvard referencing style not adhered to, not all references included. Correct acknowledgement of sources. Incorrect or no acknowledgement of sources. Relevant material & literature utilised; evidence of extensive supporting reading. Minimal literature utilised; or inappropriate sources. Read More