Essay on the Bipolar Disorder Case

The relevant facts in the case

The case was about a 15-year-old Ian who is suffering from bipolar disorder and concurring with alcohol abuse. The condition is genetic as his mother, and other family members have had a history of the Bipolar disorder. Unfortunately, he is in denial that he has the condition, which makes it difficult for him to seek professional support. Mickey, a married man with a child, was one of his gay partners who at the time left his family to be with Ian was the first to discover that the patient was having symptoms of bipolar disorder. The patient is also gay but has been keeping that secret since his society cannot accommodate that status and may lead to his disownment. His family is dysfunctional which is contributed by his father and mother who are both drunkards, and only his elder siblings and neighbors are working hard to put food on their table and keep them at school. For this reason, their family is considered extremely poor and can barely meet the necessary life minimum. For instance, his sister Fiona has to work in multiple odd jobs to try and settle the bills in the family, which is extremely overwhelming. He has little social support but relies significantly on his brother lip, who for instance has been helping to secure a place in the army. Ian has revealed weakness in the ability to perform academically, maintain a reliable friendship, and keep jobs. However, Ian was referred to a mental health facility to undergo treatment for his condition to prevent the occurrence of a tragic event in future.

The feelings evoked by the case circumstances

While reading the case study, several feeling was invoked by the mental image as a result of the encounters of the member of Gallaghers family. Some of the feelings included anger, empathy, and worry. I was very annoyed to see a 15-year-old living in a dysfunctional family where both parents are less concerned about his future and practice binge drinking. I was also angered by the fact that Ian was dating an old married man who was not ashamed of the act. Additionally, when Mickey decided to leave his young family to be with Ian, it was so annoying that instead of helping the bipolar guy he was too selfish also careless about stabilizing his life. When their relationship got worse, Ian stole Mickey's child that landed him in jail. This was so annoying considering that Mickey had been loyal to Ian and attempting to harm an innocent child was a bad option. I also felt empathy seeing how Ian and his siblings had to struggle to pay the bills in the family. They were extremely poor that neighbors had to intervene to keep the family running. Ian was expected to perform well at school despite all these challenges which he could not manage and therefore performed poorly. He at one time worked at a strip club and sold himself for money. I was also worried how his moods changed openly which kept his committing crimes repeatedly and was jailed multiple times. His life and deliquescence as a teenager were dangerous and if not managed he would become a criminal when he becomes an adult and the sentence would be much serious. I was also worried by the fact that his secret about being gay might erupt and since his society does not approve his status, he might be disowned and become a street child. The case revealed that Ian stepfather once had a serious argument with him considering that his biological father was his father's brother his life was not safe. I was also worried about Mickey being the one who discovered that Ian was bipolar and not his family who he had been with for the past 15 years. This confirms that member of the family was either ignorant or less keen on watching over the young members of the family. For this reason, I believe his denial of the condition despite relating his symptoms to those of his mother who was suffering the same condition, was motivated by the need to reduce the burden of his treatment.

However, when these feelings are unmonitored, they may overwhelm someone and therefore the need to treat them sooner. For instance, people who over empathize with others may fail to recognize personal needs and concentrate on what other people undergo. To deal with this condition emotional intelligence is required to be able to recognize own and emotions of others and balance them to avoid over-focusing on one side (Abe, Evans, Austin, Suzuki, Fujisaki, Niwa, & Aomatsu, 2013). To avoid being over absorbed in people feelings self-management is required to ensure a focused mind that places a boundary on when to start and limit the number of emotions displayed. Since the anger and worry are also feelings based on what other people encounter the emotional intelligence, which is a vital skill for self-management can also be applied. This will help avoid self-harming as someone may be too immersed in a situation even more than the client. Therefore all feelings should have a limit to enable someone to help and enough to allow someone to meet personal needs.

The important values and ethical issues were raised in the case

Ethics are professional obligations that guide the performance of healthcare providers in the services delivery. Dealing with mental health patients various ethical consideration has been observed, for instance, consent of the client, maintaining confidentiality, and being culturally aware among others to help support the patients effectively. In our case, Ian is a minor and therefore consent should be sort, but his guardian or family members are the only ones eligible to confirming his involvement in the treatment program. The informed consent requires a therapist to seek approval from client or clients representative before initiating treating (Hebenstreit, 2017)). This agreement defines all the procedures that will be taken during the treatment plan and maybe side effects and anticipated outcome. Without an informed consent, the client may sue the provider which may affect his/her career negatively. It is a legal requirement to seek consent before starting the treatment. Additionally, Ian was from a culture where being gay was seen as a social disorder, and people could be disowned if discovered they were not straight in their sexuality. This is the point where a therapist needs to be culturally sensitive. A provider like that understands and accepts the diversity of cultures, and there is no wrong culture which is important during treatment of a patient. Being cultural sensitive makes it easier to understand the connection between culture and occurrence of the condition. Being gay for Ian was a major contributor to his misconducts and emotional imbalances. Therefore without understanding his unique sexuality diagnosing the right problem would be a challenge. In mental disorder, treating the underlying condition is very important as they are considered risk factors for the main problem. This can be achieved by a therapist who is culturally sensitive. Confidentiality is another ethical requirement that guides the conduct of therapist. The providers are meant to keep the information about the client safe and only disseminate it to the authorized parties only. Being gay is the fact that Ians family would not stomach and hence the need to ensure that Ians sexuality remains confidential for his safety. Despite his parents being among the authorized parties to access his information, some details can be kept discrete since they are sensitive and the clients recovery depends on it. For instance, if his parents realized he was gay they would not have revealed a concern for his health or recommend a healthcare facility for him. Therefore confidentiality is an ethical issue that arose from the case study and vital to consider (Hebenstreit, 2017). Since bipolar disorder is a condition characterized by a frequent shift in moods, the therapist needs to be aware that it might be challenging to handle such a patients. Bipolar disorder makes people to lose interests in things very fast and hence unable to show consistency in anything. Ian could not retain a single job or relationship for a long time. He was also not consistent in his academic performance. Dealing with such a patient requires commitment professional commitment to meet the needs. Professional commitment to the patient is an ethical obligation that ensures a provider puts the clients needs first. This is also facilitated by the ethics of beneficence which compels the provider to be patient and put the clients needs first. Therefore the therapist will have to endure the challenges presented by Ian during treatment and not give up but show creativity in dealing with such unpredictable client. However, the therapist should evaluate when to stop the treatment and issues a referral to a more qualified person to enhance the treatment. Referral is also an ethical requirement in times where the provider detects elements that may compromise the intervention process.

The process and the progress of implementing your intervention plan

Ian was suffering from a bipolar disorder which was related to his family status including his alcohol abuse problem, which was had not grown into an addiction. This means that he is a minor and still lives with his guardian who is major triggers and risk factors for this problem. Therefore designing a treatment program that would enable the family supports him during his recovery would be beneficial. This is because if the family continue pushing him toward behaviors that facilitate the problem such as having to hide his gay status his recovery will be a challenge and hence relapses. For this reason, family therapy will be the appropriate intervention for Ian. It will also be a chance to help his entire dysfunctional family to start operating in harmony. Additionally, since his mother has the same problem, it would be a right environment for Ian to get support and give the same to his mother which will increase the chances for recovery. The family therapy is a 21 session program where the therapist interacts with a family member of the patient who will be the support environment during recovery and also the client. During the training the parties in the intervention are equipped with communication, problem-solving skills to enhance their interaction. The process is referred as psychoeducation, where the parties are trained on identifying the triggers of the condition, psychological therapist, the signs of warning, the medications to use and the possible side effects, and healthy lifestyles that a person should embrace to limit the chances of the problem from occurring (Miklowitz, Axelson, Birmaher, George, Taylor, Schneck, & Brent, 2008). These skills should be provided to all members of the family who are possibly the ones who will care for the bipolar patient. The session should be spread on a weekly basis where the family members will be trained, and his family has a different level of understanding the process can start with stabilizing the bipolar mother and treating alcohol problem for both parents. The siblings can also be empowered separately before being united with Ian for combined sessions. For instance, the first nine sessions would focus on psychoeducation the remaining will be split between learning to prevent relapse for the patient and to enhance the communication skills of the household members. This it is vital especially where Ian and his stepfather do not get along, and hence he may find it less important to care for his stepson's recovery. For this reason, the two will need s session that will help deal with their differences. Especially the father should be made aware that Ian had no part of being born outside the wedlock. Since bipolar is a condition with people losing interest in everything easily, it would be vital for the therapist to promote the need to adhere to th...