Analyzing the Case of Depression Treatment - Essay Example

Teacher Analyzing Mr. X Mr. X's reluctance to apply for a job because he is worried what his workers make think about him even though he had previous experience in the field is irrational. His anxiety that he will fail at a higher position is confusing given he has worked in the real estate field for eighteen years with no documented problems at this job reported in his case study. Mr. X's fear of his mother's scorn and sadness hinders his ability to spend time with his co-workers outside of the office. Finally his hesitation to ask a woman to marry him, the fear of rejection is understandable but can be conceived as irrational if he is already partaking in a long term relationship with this woman. Mr. X's behavior can be accredited to two separate fields of study, psychology and sociology, three explanations, a disorder, a economic stats problem, and the obligation of men, but with one plausible explanation, therapy. The DSM-IV (Diagnostic Statistical Manual) can define Mr. X's symptoms as generalized anxiety disorder, a disorder that affect about six point eight million American each year. This is where a person excessively worries about everyday problems for over six months, these people can go through life with overt concerns, can have anticipatory anxiety, have difficulties in the work place and at home. Their days become consumed with this anxiety even though there is no point of reference to provoke their feelings. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, GAD (generalized anxiety disorder), is accompanied by physical symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, twitching, sweating, hot flashes, etc. However, Mr. X only exhibits the mental symptoms of the disorder. His feelings about leaving his mother can be best described as separation anxiety disorder, which is defined by Anxiety Disorder Association of America, as excessive, age-inappropriate fear of being apart form family members, especially parents. The problems that can occur with this disorder is that the person who may experience the symptoms, isolate themselves, have difficulty making friend, and their anxiety can result in an impact on their school or work life. If this is left untreated then the person's future friendships and romantic relationship can experience a negative effect. However separation anxiety disorder is most common in children, form the ages of six to eleven. Despite his age of forty-five, this doesn't mean that Mr. X did not experience this anxiety as a child which offers the explanation of why he has difficulty leaving his mother and proposing to his girlfriend, his inability to make friends and socialize as a child has hindering his adult relationships. Another explanation offered is by William Grieder, an American economic writer, who says that, "Modern Americans are remarkably capable people, skillful and inventive in many ways, but they are not so good at talking to one another across their vast differences of social class and economic status." Meaning that policy makers, other classes are unaware of each other's situations and thus are unable to fix economic and social disparity. In Annette Lareau's book, "Unequal Childhoods, " her close observation of twelve black, white, middle-class, working-class, and poor families with a fourth grade child provides textual evidence of the inequality in our society through the analysis of two different parenting styles; concerted cultivation and the accomplishment of natural growth. Lareau redefines childhood through class differences and cultural resources as children from each class strive to reach the American dream. Perhaps what raises both questions and answers are the different approaches to childbearing and parenting by class because it reinforces the social classes, making it harder for children to break out of the mold presented before them. Based on her observations in working class and poor families, the children are more accepting of their situation and parents find no reason to offer an explanation for their families' situation. These children are more independent as they must be dependants on themselves for entertainment and thus are seemingly more content with their lives. They do not answer back to their parents, and do not fight as much with brothers and sisters. Whereas, in the middle and upper class families the children are more apt at social etiquette for proper social situations but are more selfish in their needs. And never content. However these children will experience more stress and the poorer families will miss out on extra-curricular activities. Unfortunately the poor children will suffer more because they missed an activity, which equates to missed opportunities, missed connections, which can theoretically lead towards the "land of opportunity." She points out the powerful implications that these parenting styles have on the children's performance in their respective schools, their ability to talk to adults, and eventually their careers. She states it best at the finale of the book that the only way to find a solution to our society's problem is to, "enlarge our truncated vocabulary about the importance of social class." (257). In comparison, Mr. X could have conceivably been raised in a poor household, where he wasn't able to experience all of life's opportunities, was content with how his life was and is, but fails at being selfish to accomplish his own needs. Sociology, he has trouble leaving a comfort zone, leaving the eighteen years he worked as just a real estate agent to a managerial position is unsettling and if he is working with people from the same economic class as himself, his worry that he will be treated differently, scorned for trying to achieve new goals for himself, or worried that he is forgetting about the people who have supported him by working with people in a higher economic class, is warranted. His fear that leaving his mother to spend time with colleges will upset her can be due to his obligation to a mother who has raised him, taken care of him, fed and clothed him, helped him through his education, is warranted. There is the possibility of his mother passing away while he is out, which would lead to overwhelming guilt that he wasn't by her side. X may not have any other free time to visit his mother during the week and if he has no brother or sisters, then his mother will feel lonely and it would be insensitive for him to think only of himself and his wants or needs when his mother always put him first when he was a child. Finally, the stress of the rejection of his marriage proposal can be due to his worry that his future bride will not be comfortable that he doesn't make a large amount of money, that she might be put off about his concern and attachment to his mother, or that he hesitates to make large decisions that will ultimately have a positive effect on life, such as applying for a managerial position. Mr. X's fears can be due to the environment that he grew up in, which affect his decisions. Finally in Michael Schwalbe's book, Remembering Reet and Shine: Two Black Men, One Struggle, he defines two men, "Atwater and Mason wanted respect as men. As southern black men, they had to contend with forms of racism that made it difficult to achieve this respect in equal proportion to white men of lesser caliber. They adapted, as they had to, using the resources they possessed.It meant acting, being double mean, and suffering a chronic self-doubt because of it." (248) Found in the epilogue, Schwalbe clearly defines the struggle that both men went through as men in the Jim Crow era, as ultimately black, working -class men who desired only what they had been taught, to command respect and achieve control. Unfortunately, for them that could only be partially achieved through the personas of Dr. Reet and Shine and when they failed, they lashed out at the only people considered lower than themselves, working-class black women. The dominant theme within this book revolves around how boys are waiting to grow into their manhood and once they do, they must exert their dominance, their masculinity. It appears that the same problems experienced by Reet and Shine, Mr. X struggles through the same need and wanted to exert his masculinity and dominance in his career, family, and romantic relationship but is constrained by chronic self-doubt. Given he has been working in the same job for eighteen years, he cold be placed in the working class, where he wants to achieve respect and control over his life but is hindered by those working above him and surrounding him. Granted his race is not defined in the case study, the parallel he feels and that experienced by the individuals in Schwalbe's book are comparable. X's dominance is threatened by his inability to achieve a higher work status, which he wont leave the working-class economic status, he feels as though he cannot break away from the female connection in his family, his mother, and combined fear from the previous condition, he cannot taker the role of the husband and father as of yet. The way he is nurtured throughout his life affects how he views himself and the decision he makes to better himself. From the possible explanations given fro Mr. X's behavior, it appears that his environment is likely explanation for his angst, worry, and anxiety, not his nature. Treatment possibilities for Mr. X can include behavior therapy or the clinical application of hypnosis. Therapy is a positive application to identify problems in an individual and see where they stem from but hypnosis is a powerful treatment for mental, emotional, and physical anguish that can help promote self-esteem, increase motivation, ending fear and panic, and visualizing goals. As defined by Dr. Michael D. Yaoko, in his book, Hypnosis and the Treatment of Depression: Strategies for Change, in a state of hypnosis a person is a state of extreme relaxation that relies on access to a person's subconscious can affect change. Yoko describes the process and individual would have to go through during hypnosis therapy. First Mr. X would have to identify a hypnotherapist, establish a positive rapport, so the two can discuss the goals of the session, identify the problems and the desired solution, then therapist can clarify misconceptions about the treatments, and then the therapist must understand the clients situation, words or imagery that may affect the client. The hypnotherapist would then guide Mr. X through the four stages of hypnosis. The first is induction where the therapist would guide their client through a state of complete relaxation, then there is deepening, which is simply continuing the induction stage and be compared to the client being under an anesthetic. Next is utilization where the hypnotherapist makes verbalized statements of the client's desired outcome. For Mr. X this would include suggesting that applying for the manager position in his real estate firm will not make anyone harbor any negative feelings towards him, that his mother will not be upset if every once and a while he went out with co-workers instead of visiting her, and that he does not need to fear that his girlfriend will reject his marriage proposal. Finally there is the termination stage, where the therapist leads the client gradually back into consciousness. As Dr. Yapko states, hypnosis is an effective treatment because hypnosis as a flexible and enlightened tool that offers precisely the multidimensionality that the problem demands Works Cited American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Revised 4th ed. Washington, DC, 2000. Grieder, William. One World Ready or Not: The Manic Logic of Global Capitalism. New York: First Touch Stone Edition, 1998. Lareau, Annette. Unequal Childhoods: Class Race and Family Life. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2003. National Institute for Mental Health. March 13, 2007. National Institute for Mental Health. March 9, 2008 [http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad/index.shtml]. Schwalbe, Michael. Remembering Reet and Shine: Two Black Men, One Struggle, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2004. Yapko, Michael D. Hypnosis and the Treatment of Depression: Strategies for Change. Portland: Routledge, 1992. Read More