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Case Formulation Paper II On Schizophrenia

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Gabrial Davies
Professor Aaron Grusonik
Abnormal Psychology 340
April, Spring, 2017

Case Formulation Paper II
Study on Schizophrenia

Hypothetical Patient
The patient is a 38-year-old Caucasian male, with a history of Schizophrenia for the past 24 years. While the patient has a history with recreational drugs i.e., marijuana and methamphetamines, he has had the diagnosis of schizophrenia when he was 16 years old. He has been in and out of outpatient substance abuse treatment programs. The patient has had run-ins with the law after being found in a hotel trying harm himself by slamming his head against the window to the indoor pool. The police were trying to get the patient to stop while the patient persistently yelled the devil was…show more content…
These episodes can persist for hours or days. (Comer, 2015, p.272). The DSM-V maintains that a patient must exhibit symptoms of Schizophrenia for six months or more and the type of Schizophrenia will depend on whether the symptoms are negative or positive.
The Biological Model Studies in recent decades have looked at the genetic and biological angle to how it could be more prevalent in family members who are closely related. The closer you are related to someone the more likely you could have the symptoms of Schizophrenia. A spouse has a 2% chance of being affected compared to a child born from two schizophrenic parents at 46% or an identical twin with 48% (Comer, 2015, p. 477). Less than 50% of children of parents with schizophrenia can later develop schizophrenia. Researchers discovered that when dopamine receptors fire too often they can transmit far too many messages which in turn would produce symptoms of schizophrenia. (Comer, 2015, p.480), known as the dopamine hypothesis.

Treatment for Schizophrenia The use of pharmacotherapy is important to help reduce delusion and hallucinations in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Antipsychotic medication like Haldol and Thorazine and Serentil were some of the first antipsychotic medicines to come out with strong effects on calming patients down. However, there are well-known side effects of these first-generation drugs such as tardive dyskinesia (tic-like
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