Alvarez, Arianne S.

July 6, 2021
Advanced Abnormal Psychology Class Assignment No. 3

Case 1: Your neighbor, J.G., a 25-year-old male, single, college graduate, Adventist, living on
your street suddenly started throwing stones at your other neighbor’s gate. As you peeped
through your 2nd floor window, you saw that J.G. had disheveled hair, was wearing a Barong for
his top but only shorts for his bottom, and a slipper on one foot and a rubber shoe with black
socks tied to it, on the other foot. He was normal the day before. Today, he carried a knapsack,
had a TV remote control and a bible on his left hand. After throwing stones at the gate, he
brought out what appeared like a TV antennae from his bag, put it on his head then opened his
Bible and started shouting in English, “In the name of the great Yoda, get out alien! Begone and
leave planet Earth! Begone!” He then closed his Bible and placed his antennae inside his bag. He
would then say “shhh” to his left, as if someone was standing there. He then threw stones again
at the gate before going through the same routine.

• Question 1: Given these facts, what is your diagnosis for J.G.? Defend your answer using
inclusion criteria based on DSM-5. (10 points)
Based on the case study above, I can see that J.G. is experiencing a Brief Psychotic
Disorder. There is presence of 4 criteria which are hallucination, delusion, disorganized
speech, and disorganized behavior for 1 day as mentioned above that the day before he
was normal. His disorganized behavior was seen on how he dressed and carried himself.
His disorganized speech showed up when he called on the name of Yoda and ask of
power to call alien out of the earth. This is also an evidence of delusion of grandeur. He
has also auditory hallucination and maybe has visual hallucination because he noticed
someone standing but there is none.
• Question 2: If you saw J.G. four weeks earlier and he related to you how miserable and
hopeless he felt as his fiancé left him for another man. As you invited him to play
badminton, his favorite game, he refused saying that he has lost interest in it already. He
further tells you that he had been losing sleep and appetite over the matter, and that he
was contemplating on ending his life, what would your diagnosis be today? Defend your
diagnosis using inclusion criteria. (10 points)
From this scenario, I can see that J.G. is experiencing Major Depressive Disorder with
Psychosis because of the presence of 5 symptoms which are sleep disturbance, anhedonia
(no pleasure), depressive mood, energy loss, and suicidal ideation that persists for about a
month and his sudden behavior showing 4 criteria of brief psychotic disorder that I have
observed a day ago. His hopelessness is an evidence of depressive mood. His refusal to
join playing his favorite game is both anhedonia and energy loss. His losing sleep which
means having insomnia or sleep disturbance and lost of appetite. His thoughts of suicide
may also lead him to commit it. And experiencing it more than 2 weeks makes it a Major
Depressive Disorder. His psychosis was manifested through his hallucination, delusion,
and disorganized speech and behavior.
• Question 3: If you know for a fact that his mother had a similar illness in the past and
that he had been physically abused by his father as a child, write a possible
psychodynamic (biopsychosocial) explanation for J.G.’s illness – use either Sigmund
Freud, Anna Freud or Erik Erickson’s models. (10 points)
Knowing that J.G.’s mother had been in a very traumatic and stressful life event in the
past has great impact on how J.G. could also adapt certain mental illness. Because of the
major depressive disorder with psychosis of J.G.’s mother, J.G must have a combination
of chromosomal defect combination 1q32, 1q42, 9q31, 11q23, 11q25, 13q13, 15q12, 15
q13, 18p11, 21p11, 22p11 coming from his mom. His mom’s affect and mood of being
depressed and having psychosis because of the physically abusive father had great effect
on his growing relationship with J.G. since he was a child. Also, having been exposed to
the traumatic scenes of the abusive father, J.G. may have also experience separation
anxiety that led him to neurotic anxiety of too much dependence on a partner and feels
like losing a life without the partner. Without an established good relationship with his
mom, J.G. may have experienced as well being treated differently. He may also caused a
neurotic way of dealing with his girlfriend that became the reason why they broke up.
Because of not experiencing love from his mother, J.G. may long for it to experience
through his girlfriend. There maybe defense mechanism such as regression, reaction
formation, or projective identification portrayed by J.G. towards his girlfriend during the
relationship. The girlfriend saw it as toxic and decided to broke up with him. Also,
without having a good childhood experience J.G. may have not developed a sense of
identity that is why entering into an intimate relationship for him was a failure.
• Question 4: What is your treatment plan for J.G.? (10 points)
As a Psychologist (in the future), my treatment plan for J.G. is to let him undergo a series
of counseling and psychotherapy with me and see how it may change his course of
looking on his situation. Once his past stressful life event is processed through applying
psychodynamic therapy, then I will shift to reality therapy for him to shift in and go back
to the real world and cognitive behavioral therapy so that I may guide him on how he
wants to live his new life. I will also be there to motivate and cheer him up applying
Supportive psychotherapy. Give Family psychoeducation to his siblings and suggest to
them that they may also send back their mom to a psychologist. Or maybe his siblings if
there are needs also a counseling after some observations. I will advise J.G. to have a
change of lifestyle. We will coordinate and design a lifestyle plan where daily prayer,
devotional, exercise, blend of healthy juices and smoothies, eating raw and delicious
vegetarian dishes would enhance his appetite. I would also require him to live with a
family member who has great care and love to support him on his journey to recovery or
if some lifestyle wellness psychological institute can accommodate him that follows this
protocol. I envision to design an integrative approach on dealing with mental illness,
where lifestyle medicine and Christian way of counseling harmoniously goes together.