Paranoid Personality Disorder Case Study

were necessary but not aggressive, remain polite to clients and remember that the client for all

Phoenix is a 28 year old woman who is currently a full-time student and unemployed. She is in a domestic partnership and she has a son, which is not legally her partner’s. She stays at home most days and waits for her son to come home from school and her partner to come home from her job. Phoenix constantly ponders thoughts of her partner’s fidelity to their partnership.

The foundation of therapy starts by building rapport with the client and applying strategies when necessary to overcome a variety of barriers. It is imperative to have rapport with a client and to be aware of barriers to facilitate a good treatment outcome. This will take practice and the use of methods and strategies ready to be implemented when needed. There are many components to building a good client rapport such as: intimacy, vulnerability, exploration of inner challenges, self-awareness, staying present; inner resiliency, empathy, anxiety management, and self-integration, and relationship acceptance. The two types of barriers are internal and external and this is for both the client and the therapist. The common barriers to rapport are countertransference and transference. Strategies for overcoming barriers are: Pause Moment and self-awareness. It also requires skills such as being genuine, sensitive, open, and

Suicidal ideation is a medical term for thoughts about or an unusual preoccupation with suicide. The range of suicidal ideation varies greatly from fleeting to detailed planning, role playing, and unsuccessful attempts, which may be deliberately constructed to fail or be discovered, or may be fully intended to result in death. Although most people who undergo suicidal ideation do not go on to make suicide attempts, a significant proportion do.[1] Suicidal ideation is generally associated with depression; however, it seems to have associations with many other psychiatric disorders, life events, and family events, all of which may increase the risk of suicidal ideation. Recurrent suicidal behavior and suicidal ideation is a hallmark of

Different client problems appear for different reasons and there are various theories used to identify the client’s problems. No one is exempt from problems, this much is a given. Problems are a part of the everyday life,

Intrapersonally, I consider the functionality, effectiveness, and adaptiveness of my client’s thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. I seek to understand the interplay between these intrapersonal dimensions and how they support or hinder the client’s healthy interaction with their

In conjunction with group therapy, at least one individual session for each patient should be implemented prior to discharge. This occurrence can help move patients toward increasing self-awareness. Individual therapy allows a therapist to focus on the patient’s stressors, barriers, and intended plans after discharge in an intimate setting. Additionally, individual sessions allow for room for the patient to explore past or current concerns in a private setting without feedback in group setting. Some patients are not comfortable in group settings. This can hinder a patients progress because they lack the ability to gain insight and understanding due to the group dynamic.

Schizophrenia derives from the Greek words “split” and “mind”. Despite its name, it does not mean what it seems. When people hear the two words “split” and “mind’ they may automatically think of a multiple personality disorder, but that is different from schizophrenia (Barlow & Durand, 2015). Schizophrenia is actually a brain disorder in which reality is not interpreted correctly. Many people with schizophrenia hear voices, believe they are being stalked or watched by others, and do not always make sense when conversing. It has been discovered that those who suffer from schizophrenia, have dysfunctional neurotransmitters within their brain. This affects the message system in their brain (Nordqvist, 2015). Schizophrenia also affects the emotions of a person. Many times people with this disorder may seem withdrawn, or socially inept. It is hard for families, coworkers, and friends to keep a good relationship. There is even evidence showing how families’ actions and emotions

One of the 5 subtypes of schizophrenia in which the person has a false belief that they are in danger of being exploited, harmed, or otherwise deceived by something or someone that is “out to get them” and their loved ones. May also strongly believe in conspiracy theories so much so that they may act upon the “bad guys” and harm innocent people, or themselves.

If you are unable to build this rapport, you will go nowhere with a client that is either too embarrassed or not confident enough in your ability to help them.

Schizoid Personality Disorder (SPD) is a disorder than is characterized by “lack of interest in social relationships, a tendency towards a solitary lifestyle, secretiveness, emotional coldness, and apathy” (Perry 6). Other providing information about this disorder states that SPD can characterize people as “comfortably dull and at the same time sensitive.” Many are described to have “shut-in personalities” and incapable of common discussion of events (Akhtar 500). Some psychologists struggle to determine if SPD is considered an illness or an actual personality disorder (Panagiotis 46). Others argue that in fact individuals presented with difficulties may tend to keep relationships at a distance, choosing to be more self-reliant while they feel discomfort with intimacy and interdependence (Panagiotis 47).

Paranoid personality disorder is a mental disorder that is classified as a “Class A” or “abnormal behavior.” This means that individuals with a paranoid personality disorder are "overtly" arrogant, mistrustful, suspicious of others, driven, industrious, and even successful in solitary careers, unromantic, typically high-minded and severely observant towards the external environment (Akhtar, 1990). The first descriptive case study of paranoid personality disorder began in 1893 when leading French psychiatrist Magnan distinguished paranoid psychoses into two types: "chronic delusional state of systematic evolution" and "delusional states of the degenerates" (Akhtar, 1990). He divided the latter category into three subtypes: paranoia associated with mental defect, chronic delusional states with a good long-term prognosis, and the delusional states of degeneracy (Akhtar, 1990). According to Magnan, the short-lasting, paranoid developments emanated from a constitutional degeneracy or a "fragile personality" that showed individual thinking, hypochondria, undue sensitivity, referential thinking, and suspiciousness (Akhtar, 1990). Thus, the reason I chose this topic because I knew a neighbor diagnosed with paranoid personality disorder. This tragic event happened during 1992 and in Atlanta, Ga. I recalled that my neighbor was a very difficult individual to be friends with. For instance, he acted suspicious and unfriendly

The Anxious personality disorder consists of three sub personality disorders. The first one is the Avoidant personality disorder. Individuals will typically be afraid to get too close to anyone. This has to do with early trauma, and assumptions that they will be negatively evaluated. They will feel overwhelmed in social situations. Individuals will usually seek therapy on their own in order to feel affection and acceptance. It can get tough treating these patients because eventually they will begin to avoid sessions. The first step for the client is to be able to feel like they can trust their therapist, which will lead to treating the patients social anxiety and any other type of anxiety they are feeling. Group therapy followed by cognitive

As seen in this case, some patients like to be able to have someone to talk to, someone who listens to them, and have someone to understand them. Clancy was able to understand himself better after being in this type of therapy. He was able to pursue more have a social life within the community. Patients will be motivated to engage others, once they learn to open up one on one with a therapist.

The purpose of this study is to examine patient Othello for Paranoid Personality Disorder. There are seven signs that signal that an individual has this illness and Othello clearly displays at least five of these signs. The signs consist of the patient suspecting that he is being harmed without sufficient evidence, is preoccupied by doubts about friends and associates, persistently bears grudges, suspects that his/her spouse are cheating on them without any real evidence, and perceives others actions as attacks and retaliates violently. It is recommended for patient Othello to be diagnosed with Paranoid Personality Disorder and receive immediate treatment for his condition.