The Mental Status Examination - Essay Example

 The Mental Status Examination My interviewee is called Joni. He is 27 years old as at now. Joni always uses cocaine and this has taken place for the last nine years. Initially, Joni was smoking the drug, but with time in the last five years, he gradually started injecting himself with it. He currently does this two to four times a day. Personal Status The middle aged man, Joni is the first among the four siblings. He has a sister who is his immediate follower, and two other brothers. He has been constantly having problems with his widowed mother since his father’s death, almost ten years ago. His family is rich and as the first born, after the death of his father, the mother trusted him and was given a lot of money. He was finally taken to the rehabilitation centre after along struggle. Education Level Joni finished high school and was enrolled in a middle college. However, he dropped from the college after two semesters due to drug influence. In the college, he had other friends whom they were taking drugs together. Because of this, they were suspended and warned of arrest incase they proceeded with the act. However, he stated that the administration was just suspecting and he had to move away fast before any action. However, he seems to be above average because he reports that he had passed well in high school. The language proficiency and fluency were evidenced since he could coordinate well with little difficulty. Therefore, he can be considered as brilliant. Current Crisis Data and Past History on this Drug Joni initially started using the drug while at the age of eighteen. Before, he started drinking alcohol every weekend. Gradually, his interest shifted to smoking cigarettes until he graduated to cocaine use while in the college. This practice proceeded and the frequency increased daily. He did not realize that he had become addicted until one day when he missed taking the substance he became very sick and started trembling. On taking the drug, he felt good and was then motivated more to continue with the drug usage. At the age of twenty two years, the body’s demand went higher and he introduced the injection. He stared doing the injection once a day, but later in a few months the rate of usage increased to about three to four times a day. Joni is still struggling to abandon the drug use because he has started feeling the consequences and challenges. The challenges he faces are mental in nature. Since I can understand his responses, he now has some small mental challenge cases that needed to be addressed. The Mental Status Examination Joni appeared to be older than his age and was looking frustrated. He had soiled and bad odour from his body. He smiled constantly and winked at various intervals during the interview. He was unable to remain stable and constantly had mild tremor in the process. Joni reported that he was feeling miserable in the previous few months. His is not jovial, but is in a sad mood. He rarely smiles and does not change expression. His has a monotonous voice and no much reaction in attempts to humor. He feels desperate though the urge to take injection of the drug still lingers in his mind. Evidently, his mental ability is generally not a hundred percent. Substance Abuse Treatment History Data Moreover, Joni was taken to a recovery center situated in California in last year. He stayed there for one month. Upon completion, he proceeded to Narcotics Anonymous meetings where he also took some two months. The rehabilitation process was tiresome for him and reducing the drug intake through injection was very difficult on his side. When he was tested at the rehabilitation centre, there was high intoxication of his blood with high narcotic drug concentration level. He was then admitted to another detoxification program in a different facility where he took about one week. He is now under a complete and intensive outpatient program to ensure full recovery from the ailment. Medical History of the Person In fact, Joni reported that before he started using the drug, he had a sound health and had never been admitted to any hospital for long term duration apart from the outpatient program. Family Background History Joni was the first child in the siblings of four, raised in a household in a rural set up. The religion of the family was of catholic of Irish, and was of Scottish descent. Joni’s father was taking alcohol, but he was not an addict. The family was of high and upper middle class. His father was a working business man in the housing estate agency. He worked there until his death in the last one year. Joni’s mother is a food nutritionist and is due to retire in the next one year. His mother has tirelessly tried continuous support for the whole family and in his treatment. She is the sole bread winner of the family and is the one who pays fee for the last born in that family who is finalizing her college. Joni has not married, but he says that when he is through with the whole rehabilitation process, he would be able to do so when accepted. Delinquency and Crime Joni was arrested on one occasion when he was drunk. He was also disorderly and this prompted the arrest in some occasions, although he could not recall the number of times. He was arrested when he was overpowered with the injected narcotics and was taken to the rehabilitation center before he went home. Employment Currently, Joni is not employed. However, in the past, he worked for two years as a sales agent when he dropped from the college. He was fired due to continuous misbehavior and absenteeism, which made him miss the sales target. After he was fired, he had never secured employment. This was because the drug intake capacity gradually increased and could not allow him to work in various places. Joni was twenty seven year old and single, white origin. He dressed appropriately for the setting. He wore jeans and a black leather belt and gray T- shirt. He had no adequate grooming. Generally, he was very cooperative in the interview, though; he had an anxious mood and was defensive. Joni was stressed over his situation and had difficult time in stating or addressing certain strong points. He had an overage tone and all the issues he said could be heard. From his looks, he demonstrated psychotic symptoms and admitted that he was experiencing olfactory. For instance, smell of something burning (Dale, 2009). He also developed auditory problems which involve hearing of some hidden police sirens while under the influence of the narcotic drug (Dale, 2009). He was oriented on the interview in terms of time, person and place. His memory was not sharp. The therapist was concerned with this client because he demonstrated some willingness to drop the drug use and could be realized in his response. Reference Dale, J. (2009). A Compendium of Psychosocial Measures, (1st Ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. Kindle Edition. Read More