As a clinical therapist, I recently received a call from a woman who was concerned about her husband's deranged delusions and hallucinations and who was looking for help to figure out what she could do to help. She explained to me that she had noticed that he suffered from a disconnection from reality and a withdrawal from others. The next day, she brought her husband, a man named John Nash, to the psychological center to receive help for him. At first, he showed no interest in speaking with me and mentioned that he didn't think he needed therapy. After he agreed to visit me for a few sessions, I was able to discover a lot about him and his underlying issues. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayI was able to assess some of the client's main issues through his wife's description of some of John's atypical behaviors and by analyzing their behaviors and cognitive notions. in session. Before therapy began, Alicia (John's wife) explained that she often found Nash talking to imaginary people, even yelling at the fictional characters. In a session with Nash, he revealed other issues in his life, such as social anxiety and awkwardness and lack of concern for what others had about him (especially his fellow graduate students). As Alicia also mentioned, he noted that he often spoke to people who were just his hallucinations and that he faced a prevalence of false delusions that continually impact his cognitive thoughts. » (2001), John Nash experiences both delusions of grandeur and delusions of persecution. When chatting with a character existing only in John's head (Charles), John shouts from the balcony to a group of Princeton University graduate students and expresses, "I can't waste time with these courses and these books, to memorize the weak hypotheses of lesser mortals. » (A Beautiful Mind, 2001). People responded with laughter, because it seemed to them that he was only talking to himself. This scene was important because it highlighted the idea that delusions of grandeur can create a social barrier between affected and unaffected individuals, as well as a disconnect from the reality that John faced. Later in the film, John experiences another episode of delusional thinking when he tells Alicia that someone is out to get him. She is greeted by John aggressively demanding that she turn off the lights, as he is convinced that he and his wife are in danger. He goes crazy, yelling at another one of his hallucinated characters as she frantically demands to know who he's talking to. John's paranoia is very evident in this scene, as it became noticeable to Alicia, in which she perceived her as abnormal and deviant from the norm). With the insight I have into John, I used the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. (DSM-5) to diagnose him with paranoid schizophrenia. Schizophrenia can be described as a chronic psychotic disorder that disrupts an individual's thought processes and emotions. Nash showed clear evidence of a serious distortion in his cognitive thinking by revealing to me his paranoid ideas that people wanted to harm him. In support of this diagnosis, the DSM-5 states that "the diagnostic criteria [for schizophrenia] include the persistence of at least two of the following active phase symptoms, each lasting a significant portion of a period of at least a month: delusions, hallucinations, speechdisorganized, overtly disorganized or catatonic behavior and negative symptoms. John demonstrated underlying false delusions, hallucinations of imaginary characters that he recently learned were not actually real, and disorganized speech during our sessions as he often changed ideas. quite quickly and talked about ideas in loose association with each other. He described particular experiences of social withdrawal from other graduates of the school, in addition to his lack of caring about what others thought of him, both of which represent common negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Additionally, the DSM-5 includes that to qualify for a diagnosis of schizophrenia, the patient must exhibit impaired functioning in interpersonal relationships, self-care, or decreased function in the workplace. In sessions with me, John mentioned that he often had interpersonal conflicts with his wife due to her delusional thought processes and hallucinations. He has recognized that this is a serious problem and does not want to argue with his wife, but his delusions are so deeply ingrained that he cannot change his underlying perceptions at the time of the arguments. Finally, the DSM-5 requires that there be continuous signs of schizophrenia for at least 6 months. John verified in the session that he had experienced his symptoms for most of his life. Additionally, I chose to diagnose Nash with paranoid schizophrenia due to the frequent discussions of his intense worry that someone was constantly after him. As I developed ideas about some of his possible treatment options, I asked him to identify if he had any psychosocial issues. triggers that could have triggered more intense episodes of unrealistic thinking. A tense aspect of his life that he described was his feelings of intense distress and extreme pressure to publish his own original idea, but he does not know what to write about. (Movie note: In the movie, Nash was socially excluded several times by the other graduate students, and this could also have triggered schizophrenic symptoms). He even discovers that he feels significant pressure during social interactions with others. Additionally, he explained to me that when he has a serious argument with his wife, he tends to see and hear three different people at the time of the argument. A pattern of psychotic symptoms follows many of Nash's socially difficult interventions, suggesting that these are actionable psychosocial triggers for his episodes. John did not have any current health problems at the time of the sessions, but he informed me of a time when he experienced an episode and his delusions and hallucinations led him to self-harm. This is a behavior commonly seen in people with schizophrenia. John's delusional thoughts led him to physically harm himself with strong objection, and although he admitted to no recent injuries, this created great concern and I decided to refer him for treatment options alternatives that will meet their individual needs. Psychological treatment helps people with schizophrenia live with it and enjoy the best quality of life possible. From my personal meetings and discussions with John, I concluded that some form of cognitive psychotherapy (aka cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT) would be very helpful in treating his symptoms. I suggested she try Ellis' Rational Emotional Therapy. This type of goal-oriented therapy specializes in leading clients toward negative philosophies and replacing pessimistic thinking with realistic,flexible. By practicing rational and realistic thinking, people who use this therapy can find happiness and view negative life situations in a more sensible way. The techniques behind this therapy were developed by Albert Ellis in his ABC model. To further explain this prototype, the “A” stands for “activating events”, which are linked to rational or irrational “beliefs” (B). Beliefs involve "consequences" (C) which, if the belief is irrational, may be emotional disturbances. To be more elaborate, this model aims to help clients understand how their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are related so that they can view the world rationally and increase their overall happiness. The underlying theory behind why RET works so well is due to clients' teachings of not being bothered by unfortunate events, while informing them that nothing is good or bad, but that how we perceive a situation can do it. Albert Ellis defends this idea and states that “men are not disturbed by things, but by the opinion they have of them”. Additionally, I think this form of therapy would be helpful to John Nash in teaching him not to be bothered by his delusions or hallucinations and to see things realistically. By changing some of his obstructive perceptions, he will be able to identify more successfully with optimistic considerations rather than negative ones. A second form of cognitive psychotherapy that I would suggest is called stress inoculation training (SIT). Developed by American psychologist Donald Meichenbaum, this therapy model aims to help individuals strengthen their current coping skills and introduce them to new and effective ways of coping with life's disruptions and distress. Individuals in SIT will learn to identify triggers and manage situations rationally. The technique behind the operation of SIT is identified in three phases: 1) conceptualization, 2) skill acquisition and rehearsal, and 3) application. The conceptualization phase is the stage in which a therapist identifies triggers causing stress or anxiety. The second part of this type of therapy focuses on cognitive restructuring and behavioral activation, as well as the therapist helping the patient feel better. The final stage, application, is where the client actually practices the skills in session and may include role playing, practice and application of the skills learned. The theory behind why this method works is due to the way SIT makes patients more resilient to stress. Additionally, SIT allows clients to better identify when stress arises and how it affects their behavior so they can adapt to the situation accordingly. This form of psychotherapy could benefit John Nash because when he experiences his psychotic episodes, he can recognize his psychotic attacks and implement newly acquired coping mechanisms. Additionally, this treatment can help relieve distress related to one's delusional experiences and hallucinations. Due to the key differences between each form of CBT, rational emotional therapy would be most preferable for this client. RET involves ongoing work on the uncomfortable notions that accompany schizophrenia. RET is longer term, and the constant struggle to resolve the problem means that the more time passes, the stronger the effects. In comparison, SIT deals with stress as it occurs in the moment and does not help resolve challenges as much,.