Discussion board #2 should help you to better understand just how complex personality disorders are and the impact they have on your clients and their family and friends. Review the scenario below and, using your guidelines found in the syllabus, respond appropriately. Discussion questions can be found at the bottom of the scenario.
Thank You!
Ms. Campbell
Katrina A, 33, has been admitted to the inpatient unit after a suspected suicide attempt. She is crying uncontrollably.
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Katrina’s husband, Phil, has brought her to the hospital, and when it is clear that she is out of physical danger, she is moved to the psychiatric unit for evaluation. Her husband attends intake to the unit but does not stay long. Phil seems only disgusted by Katrina’s situation.
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“Stop crying,” he tells her. He looks at Maya, the nurse conducting the intake interview. “Don’t be impressed by her tears. It’s nothing new. Believe me. She cries all the time. She wears me out.”
He watches her a moment as she continues to cry and then reluctantly puts an arm around her shoulder. “Hey. I love you. But you wear me out. Stop the damn crying, would you?”
Katrina is unwilling to speak at the moment, so Maya asks Phil if he thinks Katrina has been depressed, and if so for how long.
Phil shakes his head. “Who knows? She’s always been a big crier. When we were dating, I just thought she was, you know, young and overly sentimental. You know, like girls are. We met on the base. Her dad was a lieutenant colonel in charge of the unit I was in. I thought the way she doted on her dad was kind of sweet—especially since, in my opinion, he’s a bully—a cold, controlling butthead. I can say that now. I’m out of the service, out from under his big thumb.
“I sort of felt like I was rescuing her—but I loved her too. I loved her. I thought that, once away from her old man, she’d be happy, and then she’d stop being so clingy, once she was free and with me.”
“I am happy,” Katrina says. “I love you! I need you! Don’t leave me! I’ll die!”
Phil doesn’t respond to her. He puts his hands over his face.
Maya tries to keep Katrina talking and tries to direct Katrina’s attention to Maya, but Katrina just looks up at Phil. Her face is a mess, and she bends at the waist and cries, “Don’t leave me! I’ll do anything!”
Maya waits.
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Phil goes on, watching Katrina, who’s bent double now, crying so hard that she says, “I’m going to be sick!”
Phil nods, almost pats Katrina’s back, but then leans away from her, tentatively draping his arm across the back of her chair. “But it didn’t change, did it,” he says. “It wasn’t her old man. It was just her. We’ve been married eleven years now, and she still cries more than anyone I know. Maybe she’s depressed. I don’t know. But if she is, she’s always been.”
“What do you think you need, Katrina?” Maya asks.
Finally Katrina calms down enough to speak.
“What do you need me to do, Phil?” she says.
Phil rubs his face vigorously, clearly frustrated.
“Katrina,” Maya says. “We’re talking about you first. What would you like help with? What do you need?”
“I just need for Phil to not leave me.”
“Is that why you tried to hurt yourself? Because you’re afraid he’s going to leave you?”
She nods and starts to cry again.
“Stop it!” Phil says and removes his arm from her chair. “You’re too needy! I can’t keep living like this!”
“Phil,” Maya says, “What about you? What do you think you and Katrina need?”
He glares at Maya. “I don’t need anything. Or, okay, what do I need? What I need is for Katrina to stop being such a—child. She wants me to tell her what to do constantly—what she should wear, what she should say in every encounter she anticipates. She won’t make a single decision on her own. I’m suffocating!”
Phil leans forward across the desk. “Look, she’s right to be scared I’m going to leave her. Tonight I told her I can’t take all her helplessness any longer. Look at her. She’s intelligent—you’re intelligent, Katrina—yet you act like you can’t do a single thing, not one single thing, without me. It’s no wonder I go off and get high with my friends sometimes. Or that, sure, okay, I do look at other women—“
Katrina cries louder.
“—but I didn’t marry you to be your damned babysitter! Grow up, will you!”
Phil stands to leave and Katrina cries out and grabs his arms. He stands there, looking miserable, as she hangs from him.
He looks at Maya.
“See this? I can’t take it.”
Katrina most likely has a Dependent Personality disorder and maybe other mental health issues.
What causes could be responsible for Katrina’s suspected personality disorder? Keep in mind, there are many suspected causes.
What information would you most like to provide Phil and Katrina? Explain why you feel this way.