Success and Family Issues

Family

The Hays family appears to be successful and normal on the surface. However, underneath it all are considerable issues which impact the quality of life of the individuals and their ability to cope with critical issues. The mother and father are Jack and Pam. They have been married for 50 years and started out with nothing by building a successful electronics business. They have three children Suzanne, Debbie and Cindy. Suzanne has a PHD in economics. Yet, she is very anti-social and judgmental of others. This has hurt the quality of her life and ability to receive promotions at work. Debbie has a law degree and used to practice as an attorney. However, in the last 10 years she has not worked and sits at home all day. Cindy is unable to walk and suffers from depression. She has issues related to her weight and works inside the family's store. She has only one friend and has never had a significant romantic relationship because of her physical / emotional issues. Jack and Pam are proud of their children and continue to believe that they are more than they really are. When the family gets together, everyone puts on and act to live these kinds of lifestyles. However, beneath the surface, they are all dealing with considerable challenges and not realizing what is happening.

A family assessment using the Family Systems Stressor-Strength Inventory (FS3I)

The FS3I is showing how the family is facing significant challenges which are impacting their underlying levels of mental health. This is based upon a number of stressors the most notable include: depression, delusional behavior, the failure to realistically face / deal with problems constructively and infighting among themselves. Under the FS3I approach, the perception scores are showing how each person suffers from different emotional hang-ups. Each person wants to appear to be more than they really are. Yet, the problem is that they will mask these insecurities to make themselves feel better. This is taking place with Jack and Pam believing that their kids can do no wrong because they have college degrees. However, beyond their education, each one of them has failed in their lives and wants to appear to be more successful than the others. (Kaakinen, 2010)

The family stressors are indicating that everyone suffers from a form of depression. This is because they are competing against each other and will hide what is happening with them. Jack and Pam encourage this behavior by enabling their kids through giving them added financial support. The kids are only there for their parents based upon what they can receive and often ignore them. Jack and Pam want someone to keep them company and connect with, now that they are becoming older. (Kaakinen, 2010)

The strengths of the family are that Jack and Pam encourage their children. This has helped them to do something with their lives to a certain extent. The result is that they were able to transform themselves. As all of them have the ability to obtain good jobs / careers in the process. (Kaakinen, 2010)

Identification of health issues

The biggest health issues are depression, delusional behavior and the inability to cope with the realities in their lives. These variables are impacting everyone as they feel bad about themselves and cannot overcome their demons. To hide them, they will often put on the appearance that they are doing well financially and live more empowering lives. This makes it more difficult for them to address critical challenges and transform who they are for the better.

In these situations, all of the family members have mental disabilities. This is because they are enabled to a certain extent by their parents and cannot come to grips with their depression. To make matters worse, they do not understand how this hinders their capacity to live empowering lives in the process. This serves as a crutch to justify certain behaviors and thoughts. (Berven, 2004) (Odom, 2009)

If there was a change in the family's behavior and thoughts, they could help each other to become stronger. This can occur through enabling Cindy to see how her disability is not the end of her life. Instead, she can still achieve a variety of objectives and become stronger by realizing. That it is a gift to assist her finding people who really care about her. (Berven, 2004) (Odom, 2009)

Suzanne and Debbie are suffering from a form of mental disabilities. This is because they feel that Cindy receives all of the family's attention and want the same. The problem is that these views will lead to disempowering thoughts and they want to show off in an effort to feel greater amounts of control. (Berven, 2004) (Odom, 2009)