Chemical Use Assessment - Essay Example

Chemical Use Assessment/History and Treatment Recommendations DOB/Age: s of Interviews: Evaluator: Reason for Assessment This assignment was carried out to find out whether Jay is in any addictive cycle, abuse or use. This will be mainly done through addressing the psychosocial, spiritual as well as the genetic aspects of Jay’s behaviors. Sources of Information Information will be received from secondary sources like books, website, as well as journals. The person’s medical records will also be employed to know the patient’s history. Background Information The patient, Jay W was born on May 2nd, 1994. Jay’s mother , Beth W. did not have any complications when he was born. He excelled in school and employed very little effort to get the current report card. However, in his first year, he began flunking his exams. His mother also noticed that Jay had began drinking. He drunk heavily or went for binge drinking when he was not on duty. Current Status Jay began drinking at the age of 12 years. It started as an experiment but not it has grown to be excessive. The drinking is so serious that he has totaled two cars after his sixteenth birthday. Indicators of Use/Abuse/Dependency Most of the addictions that occur in most instances begin with just a social or casual drug use. It can be noted that there are times an individual may bear the symptoms and not mean that they are under the influence of drugs. Some of the symptoms may also be a sign of adolescent development (Kaminer & Winters, 2010). The individual may have behavioral signs like having challenges at school. The individual may either loose interest in school activities, hobbies or school work. Consequently, this may make him/her start missing classes or drop in the school grades. In this case, Jay began dropping in his school grades after years of excelling in school without requiring much effort. He lost his passion in becoming a chemical engineer despite it being his childhood dream career. Secondly, ther are various complaints from either friends, teachers, parents and neighbours. Jay had several complaints from the teachers who stated that he lacked interest in his studies. He broke up with his girlfriend of 2 years too. His girlfriend complained of Jay’s friends and his bad drinking addiction. This is also another sign of addiction. The person ends up having a sudden change in friends, hobbies, hangouts e.t.c. Jay’s parents also complained of how his grades went down and how he was drinking excessively. Another sign is that the person has an unusual or unexplained need for finances. Consequenlty, this makes them steal to buy the substance or solve their money problems(Kaminer & Winters, 2010). Jay’s friends were thieves and so was Jay. Jay only agreed to go for reharb when his parents told him that they would stop financing his college education. This is a clear indication that he was desperately in need of money. His money also could not be able to last till the end of the month. These people also get into a lot of trouble with the police or people. In this case, Jay was frequently getting into trouble for driving while drunk making him loose his licence. These young people get involved with friends who also employ drugs. Various studies carried out have indicated that whenever a young person involves themselves with antisocial peers, they are more likely to be using alcohol, tobacco or other drugs. They may also be involved in risky sexual behaviors as well as criminality. Attitude and Behavior Most people who are drug addicts are impulsive. Impulsivity may be defined as the tendency of an in dividual to be involved in behaviors that are inappropriate or maladaptive. It functions mostly as a normal behavior. This behavior could either be connected to drug use or as a result of drug abuse. As a determinant, the impulsive nature may cause a person to be unable to stop taking drugs (Sher et al.,2000). It may result in an increase in the utilization of drugs. It is this impulsive nature that makes them not be able to stay with people who are trying to break their addiction. In this case, Jay refused to go for counseling and AA sessions. He says that they are boring and talk about war stories. Rebellion is another attitude that alcohol addicts have. This is an uprising, or when a person refuses to be obedient or orderly. Young people who tolerate deviant behavior are more likely to get involved with drug use. They are incommunicative, very secretive and often opt to stay with their friends instead of their families(Sher et al.,2000). This behavior and attitude was mostly found in Jay who hang out with bad friends. From the case study, Jay’s friends are also deviant. He brags of how they drink out together and how their driving licences have been revoked. Social Functioning Social functioning is the ability of an individual to be able to construct representations of the relations between themselves and other people. They are then able to employ those representations flexibly to guide how they behave socially. Complex behaviors such as social and personality conducts are obtained from functional circuit’s multiple distributed networks(Sher et al.,2000). In this case, Jay sees his professors are people who do not know anything. That is why he was not going for lecturers. Such people are insensitive. Jay depicts this by stating that the money he was being given by his parents was not enough. He also says that his parents are overreacting when they complain of his lost licences and the friends that he kept. Occupational Functioning Jay is a student doing chemical engineering. Financial Aspects Jay’s is dependent on his parents who give him $1000 per month. Familial Relationships Jay has a father and mother who are undergoing counseling and AA sessions. The alcohol abuse has resulted in a distance between them and their son. Legal History Jay and his friends have lost their licences and was charged with DUI. Health History The health history can be defined as the current collection of organized information for a patient. The history may comprise of demographic, sexual, physical, biographical, sociocultural, mental, piritual as well as sexual information. The health history assists both the health care givers as well as individual patients by giving the necessary information which will help in treating, diagonizing, and establishing trust between medical professional(Kaminer & Winters, 2010). The information also assists in knowing what is normal and what is not in the patient’s life. From birth, Jay was okay and was born without complications. Beth’s pregnancy was normal up to delivery time. However, there is a family history of alcohol abuse from Jay’s grandfather, to his father and now him. His father, Don only quit drinking three years ago when he realized that Jay had a serious challenge. Spiritual History Spirituality can be defined in a number of ways. It may be seen as a belief in a higher power that is greater than the power of human beings. It may also be deemed as the awareness of meaning and purpose in life. Third, spirituality may connote the growth of individual values. This is how most people find comfort, hope and inner peace(Ksir et al.,2002). In most instances, it is usually linked to aspecific religion. From the background given, Jay’s family does not belong to any religion. However, their commitement to the AA and Al-Anon hows a strong religious background. The fellowship believes in a higher power and is compatible to any relious belief that their members may belong to. Diagnostic Impression Jay is a 20 year old boy, a college student boy who has a serious alcohol addiction. The boy has a change in his attitude and personality. Unexplained use need for money and withdrawal from significant activities has been noted. Jay also has a sudden change of friends who take a lot of alcohol like him. Furthermore, an observation of increased interpersonal as well as legal problems has been noted. Recommendations Some of the programs that Jay can be given are cognitive behavioral therapy. This can assist in helping patients identify and cope with the drug abuse situation that they are involved in. Jay and his family can also be given multidimensional family therapy(Kaminer & Winters, 2010). This was created for adolescents who have drug abuse issues together with their families. There is motivational interviewing which mainly focuses on the readiness of individuals to change their actions and begin treatment. There is motivational incentives which aims at giving positive reinforcements for their to be change. Joe may also undergo detoxification. This is a safe and comfortable medical withdrawal that aims at assisting the individual break the addiction. This can be done mainly before any inpatient treatment. Secondly, it is imperative that Jay has a long stay at a reharb. This will assist him inculcate the right behavior necessary for him to break his addiction. Addictions are in most cases learnt over a period of time (Ksir et al.,2002). This makes it important for the person to stay for a long time learning and delearning the wrong behavioral patterns and attitudes. It also makes the abstinence be a lasting one that causes change. Jay’s family may also be supportive in the process. Addiction is mainly a family addiction hence it is imperative that the individual receives family and friend affection and attention regadless of what they had done(Kaminer & Winters, 2010). For a recovery that is long lasting, it is vital that the family be involved ijn the entire process. The family is the support group that will be there in future when the individual is out of reharb. They will require the assistance of the family to repair their broken lives and become better individuals. Signature Date References Kaminer, Y.& Winters, K.C.(2010). Clinical manual of adolescent substance abuse treatment. American Psychiatric Pub Ksir, Oakley Ray; Charles (2002). Drugs, society, and human behavior (9th ed. ed.). Boston [u.a.]: McGraw-Hill. Sher, K.J, Bartholow BD & Wood MD.(2000). Personality and substance abue disorders: a prospective study. J Consult clinpsychol 68:818-829 Read More