Interview a Person Who Has Mentally Ill

Mental Illness Interview SWK 354 Midterm Interview Assignment FACE SHEET Name Age DOB SS# Religion Sex Race George Tirebiter 35 Oct 17, 1975 - Roman Catholic M. White Current Address Phone Permanent Address 1445 Fleming Walloon Blvd. - West Roxbury, Mass. Education Level Employment None currently Current Important Activities (school, community, etc.) Wife and family; writing poetry Financial Sources: Spousal support Important Medical Information In Case of Emergency Notify: Relationship: Worker: Wife: Ki-Sook Tirebiter Diagnosed schizophrenic, April 2001 Treatment Plans (Do Not Complete) Client Identification.

35-year-old adult white male George Tirebiter (see face sheet) Person, Family and Household, and Community Systems. Person system. I observed that George is extremely overweight and has difficulty moving around: he ascribes the weight gain to the medications he has been on for the past decade. George describes himself as an "artist" which seems to be his emphatic way of coping with a sense of shame and loss at being unable to work or operate among those who were his social peers before his diagnosis. 2. Family and household system.

George is married to, and lives with, a 34-year-old Korean-American woman, Ki-Sook Tirebiter. Within George's general area live his parents and his two siblings (each of whom is also married). 3. Community system. George has followed the advice of state-designated social workers to try to maintain contact with college friends (with limited success). He sends letters to magazine or newspaper editors frequently (seldom published). C. Presenting Problems / Issues of Concern. George does not always make sense conversationally.

George's own imaginative life apparently revolves around his "poetry" -- samples shared with me make it seem like classic schizophrenic "clanging." D. Assets, Resources and Strengths. Strong family structure and support. Especially George's wife. George and Ki-Sook were only married for a little more than a year when George was diagnosed. The Roman Catholic faith that George and Ki-Sook share made divorce extremely unlikely. Ki-Sook's family is rather well-off; George's is solid lower middle class. E. Referral Source and Process; Collateral Information.

George was suggested to me as an interview subject by a friend: apparently George sends frequent e-mails to publications he reads online, and occasionally gets into discussions over e-mail with these people. F. Social History 1. Developmental George was apparently a gifted student in high school, and attended the prestigious boys' prep school Roxbury Latin School on scholarship. He then attended Yale University. Socially he was always very well-connected and regarded as handsome and popular.

George was regarded as a "ladies' man" in high school and college -- his sexual development was, if anything, precocious. 2. Personal, Familial, Cultural. George's family had apparently worried about potential alienation from him when he attended prep school and Yale, since they are not particularly intellectual or rarefied -- to a certain degree, George's illness has repaired this alienation. George's classmates from Yale (according to Ki-Sook) largely avoid him. 3. Critical Events. George was apparently a regular smoker of marijuana from about the age of 15 or 16.

He did not use any other drugs until his final year at Yale, when he was induced to try L.S.D., which he enjoyed at first. But eventually a "bad trip" is what he credits with the psychotic break that landed him in the hospital, eventually leading to a diagnosis of schizophrenia. 4. Sexual. George and his wife enjoy ordinary marital relations.

Ki-Sook confided in me privately that one of the events leading up to George's diagnosis was a strange behavior where he would be found in bars talking to women, and swearing that he was not married. Eventually George came clean about the ideation that had led to these episodes, which was part of what led up to his diagnosis. 5. Alcohol and Drug Use. George is now a regular drinker, but Ki-Sook keeps his consumption light to moderate. George no longer uses recreational drugs of any sort. 6. Medical/Physical/Biological.

George is on anti-psychotic and other medications. 7. Legal. George is legally on Social Security Disability. George's father is a lawyer -- mostly criminal law, but he handles George's legal issues gratis. 8. Educational. George feels like his illness has impaired his ability to spend time with people of his own similar educational background. 9. Employment. George has held brief jobs here and there, but at present he is on disability and writes poetry. 10. Recreational.

George's chief activity -- recreational, but it also serves as his "work" -- is the writing of "poetry" (in reality a form of symptomatic "word salad"). His wife claims that it is the one thing that truly relaxes him and makes him happy, though. 11. Religious / Spiritual. George's initial psychotic break leading to diagnosis -- after his "bad trip" -- was primarily religious in character: he believed God had spoken to him personally. George attends Catholic mass regularly and his faith gives him an extra handle on coping with his condition. 12.

Prior Psycholoigcal, Social or Medical Services. Before diagnosis, George had no psychological problems (unless one counts the recreational drug use). No use of social services at all before diagnosis: now he meets semi-regularly with a social worker. 13. Other. George considers himself "disabled" rather than "mentally ill." This is clearly important to his pride in terms of self-definition.

SUGGESTED RESOURCES If George is tempted to use marijuana or other drugs again, I would refer him to the list of complications that come when drug use interacts with his illness: http://www.schizophrenia.com/prevention/street.html.