Table of Contents
Bipolar Disorder in particular and other forms of depressive disorders in general influence individual’s interpersonal relations in a significantly negative way. In most cases, people with the above mentioned issues experience certain difficulties as regards forming or maintaining relationships, and therefore feel isolated from the rest of the people. It requires understanding of one’s mental condition in order to be able to sustain interpersonal communication given the extreme behavior variation. Bipolar I patients tend to experience manic and mixed episodes that include depression, possessing distinctive behavior characteristics that influence the way they acts. Hence, due to the extreme behavior variations caused by mental condition, such individuals have rather complicated and dysfunctional interactions with others. Cognitive behavior therapy proves effective in assisting bipolar patients to deal with the behavior variations associated with the mental condition if clear treatment plan goals and objectives are set.
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Literature Review Bipolar Disorder I
While the symptoms of Bipolar Disorder vary depending on the type of disorder, several of them may coincide thus complicating the interactions of the patients. Bipolar I is mainly associated with manic or hypomanic symptoms, including increased self-esteem and aggressive behavior, irritation, poor judgment, racing thoughts and speech, hyperactivity and riskiness (Lam, Jones & Hayward, 2010). As for the other symptoms, the following are distinguished: lack of sleep, delusions, drug abuse, and psychosis or a condition which causes the person to break from the reality. Furthermore, Bipolar I patients experience mixed or manic episodes intermingled with depressive states, such as sadness, anxiety, fatigue, irritability, poor concentration, as well as suicidal thoughts and behavior (Zlotnick, Kohn, Keitner & Della Grotta, 2000). Overall, the wide variation in behavior where an individual can either be extremely active or quickly employ a completely different way of acting makes the process of forming and maintaining the social relationships very complicated. The biggest issue in the management of Bipolar disorders is significantly the fact that the majority of patients are frequently misdiagnosed and treated inappropriately which results in perplexing Bipolar disorders therapy procedures at the time of correct diagnoses (Rosa et al., 2010).
Hypothetical Case Study
Mary is a college student obtaining a degree in Anthropology. She was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder I at the age of twelve, after two years of misdiagnoses. At first, Doctors had identified Mary with having Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder (ADHA), and later the anxiety disorder. Apart from that, she had demonstrated a mania personality from the age of ten. At early stages, Mary’s mother noted that her daughter was extremely active, aggressiveness, confident even being wrong, and at other times irritable and agitated. In a few occasions, Mary would also encounter the episodes of sadness, anxiety, unstable sleep patterns, irritability, frequent school absence and fatigue. Finally, the girl was correctly diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder I, mainly characterized by episodes of mania.
Such wide variation in behavior made it extremely difficult for Mary to form social or interpersonal relations. The majority of people would consider her way of acting rather odd and would fail to understand the underlying condition. In fact, Mary is Bipolar I patient and mainly demonstrates aggressive behavior, quick irritability, and agitation. Most of the time, she is isolated, and maintains a quiet and secretive life with few social interactions. Moreover, the girl tends to demonstrate depressive symptoms such as sadness, hopelessness, and irritability. Despite the condition Mary is a tough and athletic, and a top scorer in the College Basket Ball team. Usually teammates complain about her aggressive nature and a tendency to start conflicts over arguments or corrections in practice. In Colleges competitions, Mary is frequently booked for the rough and aggressive handling of other players resulting in injuries. She is also quickly irritated, thus encounters the situation where the majority of misunderstandings lead to fights. Besides her teammates, coach and opponents state that Mary has an excessively high self-esteem and confidence in her decisions thereby making it difficult to reason with her. For instance, she can break concentrations and pattern in competitions or training which costs the team points and creates other problems. Taking to consideration all the above mentioned, it can be inferred that due to Mary’s variable behavior and the lack of understanding of her medical condition by social surrounding, her interpersonal relationships are rather unhealthy.
Goals and Objectives
Treatment Options
A variety of options are explored by medical professionals in the treatment of Bipolar Disorders. The type of disorder and the kind of symptoms demonstrated by the patient define the particular method of therapy. Bipolar I or manic disorder includes mixed episodes of manic and depressive episodes thus making it exceptionally perplexed to deal with. The treatment options are the most effective when the condition is diagnosed at an early stage. Bipolar disorder curing mainly involves the use of drugs or medicine as well as therapy. Treatment has a higher probability of success in managing the condition if both are utilized simultaneously (Lam et al., 2010). In this case, therapy is the best solution for Mary’s interpersonal skills challenges.
The First Goal
The first goal of treatment plan is to regulate Mary’s reaction to stimuli and her ability to interpret different types of information from people in her environment. As seen in the case study, the girl has problematic relationships with classmates and teammates due to the variation in responses.
To obtain desired outcome, certain objectives should be accomplished. Firstly, regulating the patient’s reaction to different stimuli will have several benefits regarding her social and academic life. In the session, Mary will be able to respond to questions, instructions and requests in a positive way, therefore impacting the outcome of the session greatly. Secondly, cognitive behavior therapy will influence her attitude towards therapy sessions as beneficial rather than controlling. It will help her in both facing and responding to criticism in a calm way and without conflicts. Aggressiveness, easy irritation and anger are the major characteristics of patients with Bipolar I (Zlotnick et al., 2000).
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