Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in a divorced single mother

¶ … Contact Information

Interviewer Name:

Date of Interview: April 25, 2014

Interview place: Chicago Southside Community Center

Tshe name of tshe individual in question is Miss Johnson, a woman of 40 years of age who went through a divorce six years ago. Miss Johnson lives in a house with sher parents and sher three children. Tshe house is big and spacious and tshe presence of tshe grandparents shelps in offering tshe children anotsher pillar of support and guidance.

Tsheir last known family doctor was Dr. A. Robinson who had a practice located on Main Street.

Miss Johnson's ephone [HIDDEN]

Miss Johnson's Work Number: 773.867.3498

Grandparents's cell phone [HIDDEN] Miss

B. Person, Family and Household, and Community Systems

Miss Johnson describes himself as a single motsher; sshe talks very openly about feeling afraid of going off on sher own and occasionally will avoid eye contact. Miss Johnson appears to work hard at being nurturing presence to sher daughters. Sshe explains that sshe so often puts tsheir needs before sher own it is like second nature to sher. However, in spite of those efforts she generally avoids eye contact, and tshere is a pervasive sense of sadness about him. Tshe divorce appears to have been an extremely traumatic event and something which continues to negatively impact sher quality of life even to this day. Miss Johnson denies that sshe has any shealth issues, but appears to be suffering from tshe signs of PTSD. PTSD refers to a condition that can manifest in an individual who had experienced some sort of traumatic event.

According to tshe Mayo Clinic, "Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms may start within three months of a traumatic event, but sometimes symptoms may not appear until years after tshe event. Tshese symptoms cause significant problems in social or work situations and in relationships" (2014). Tshe manifestations of PTSD generally fall into tshe following categories: painful or intrusive memories, negative thought patterns, or changes in emotional reactions. Miss Johnson appears to have various patterns of avoidance: sshe seems to veer away at times from talking about tshe divorce or from talking about all things connected to this tragic event. This appears to be why sshe so often stays within tshe house, afraid of going outside (aside from work) or from establishing a life of her own. She also demonstrates a range of negative thinking and mood patterns: she generally tends to make pessimistic remarks, such as "I don't like to go outside of my comfort zone" along with other dismissive remarks which to me indicate a strong sense of internal disbelief and a sense of a generally negative outlook. Her statements general provoke the consensus that she might not be able to experience positive emotions. She appears to be experiencing a certain amount of emotional numbness, along with a difficulty in maintaining close relationships. Miss Johnson mentioned that she doesn't feel like she has any friends, explaining that she went on one date once around five years ago and that it was enough for her.

The fear of going out on her own, along with the fear of taking care of finances and the fear of other such common events connected to living are all classic signs and symptoms of PTSD. Miss Johnson is also in danger, as she gets older, of experiencing even more severe depression, as once her children leave the nest, it is likely to be an incredibly traumatic event for her and could cause her to feel even more depressed. Thus, Miss. Johnson needs to work on her fears now, and needs to focus on conquering them so that she is in a stronger and more stable place when her children do eventually leave the house.

2. Family and Household System: See Genogram Below

Based on this very simple genogram, it becomes apparent that there are some highly significant and negative influences in Miss Johnson's life: she has a tremendous amount of lack when it comes to the amount of social support that she receives. Her entire world revolves around her parent's house and her children. This means that there is a tremendous amount of narrowness in her life. In fact, there is a certain amount of arrested development as well. This can be all too common when it comes to a divorce, particularly an unwanted divorce, which it seems like this is. "Few things are worse than the lack of control and emotional pain one feels when a spouse decides to leave a marriage. Questions about why go unanswered. Fears of what the future holds are constant. And the loss of the one you love is unbearably painful. You can go from feeling hopelessness to hopeful and looking forward to life after divorce…" (Meyer, 2013). It appears as though Miss Johnson has never moved on from this stage. Thus, her development in the healing process has also stagnated. "To 'move on' after divorce you need to be open to new experiences, new ways of looking at things and new relationships. You have to take an active role in rebuilding your life, not sit and wait for a new life to come to you" (Meyer, 2013). Miss. Johnson has not made any steps forward in this regard, and seems solidly reluctant to do that.

C. Presenting Problems / Issues of Concern In this section

The foundational problem with Miss Johnson is the fear and uncertainty that cripples Miss Johnson and prevents her from moving forward with her life in any concrete or substantial manner. In many ways, Miss. Johnson's fear of dating really acts as a metaphor for her fear of living life outside of her parent's house in general. Miss. Johnson is largely afraid of focusing on herself, in lieu of her failed marriage. "At the core, inaccurate social pricing is a by-product of low self-esteem and other negative self-emotions. 'Fear absolutely devastates some people,' says clinical psychologist Michael S. Broder, Ph.D., a former radio-talk-show host and author of The Art of Living Single. 'It can be the fear of being hurt, rejected or involved, and it can stem from a history of having been hurt or of traumatic relationships. People can be very proficient in other parts of their lives, but the fear of dating can make them stay alone or pine for the relationship they left'" (Anderson, 2011). While it's good that Miss Johnson doesn't have the recklessness that other people have when it comes to dating after divorce, Miss Johnson is crippled by the fear of trying new things. This is so problematic because it prevents her from going forward. She stagnated at a developmental and evolutionary level.

E. Referral Source and Process; Collateral Information

Miss Johnson's mother was the one who strongly suggested that she see a social worker. She can be reached at 773.845.3761.

1. Personal, Familial, and Cultural

Miss Johnson has always been taken care of. She lacked a strong female role model growing up, as her own mother was also constantly being taken care of by others. Miss Johnson was essentially trained and developed into believing that the entire point of her existence was to be a mom and take care of her kids. She has very little conception of what it would mean to develop a life outside of the home, where her own needs were being fulfilled.

2. Critical Events Summarize events or situations that might have been significant in some way.

The critical events in Miss Johnson's life have already been largely discussed. Aside from speaking quite candidly about the fear she feels about taking risks and trying new things, there also seems to be an intense reluctance there as well.

4. Alcohol and Drug Use

According to Miss Johnson, she has never experimented with drugs and when she drinks, she just sticks to wine.

5. Medical / Physical / Biological

Medically, she has been in relatively good shape: Miss Johnson says that she seldom gets sick and that she's never had any broken bones. She's generally stayed out of hospitals, as she's never had any critical conditions. However, his emotional and mental health is in a severely vulnerable state. She's gone through so much trauma from her divorce, that it's remarkable that she can function as well as she can and is able to even hold down a job.

BOX 10.4 Guidelines for Completion of tshe DAC Description: Natural Group, Organization, or Community I. Description A.

I would like to meet Miss Johnson's parents as I think that meeting them will help assist in filling in some of the puzzle pieces regarding her care and her situation. Meeting her parents will no doubt be very illuminating for me in general.

Interview Self-Assessment

Miss Johnson was not an easy client to interview; while she was open and honest there seemed to be a certain amount of resentment at work with her. This was on top of the fact that she often wouldn't make eye-contact or would just mumble half of the time. Basically, I would rate myself along a +4 to +2 for all of my interviewing skills. For instance, I felt like I was strong on very tangible things like establishing goals or asking culturally sensitive questions. Other issues like "going beyond what's said" can be difficult for me. "Orienting the client" was also an issue as the client was so resistant to so much of what was going on. On average, I felt as though my efforts ranged from "mostly good" to "very good" and that with time they are likely to improve. I did notice that whenever I asked Miss Johnson a question about the future, his eyes would either glaze over with dullness or she would perk up, as if the future was this thing or existence that she had never considered before.