Introduction
A clinical psychological evaluation and analysis involves gathering information regarding the mental health status of an individual, about his/her past and present attitude, emotions, history of the person’s problems and the circumstances that surround the life of such a person. Most of the people who suffer from mental illnesses that entirely affect their psychological disposition and temperaments have their behavior related to precipitating occurrences, family compositions and history. Persons with mental heath issues have their sexual development and orientation, religious beliefs, cultural concerns, educational achievements and their social interpersonal relationships affected.
Clinical officers and medical practitioners conduct a mental status examination to the patient to try and identify the mental health problems, so as to assess their conditions and prescribe the required medical attention. This is usually done in a friendly environment between the patient and the medical person, where various assessments are done on the patient using a comprehensive interview session. The interview involves simple unstructured or semi-structured questions that allow the clinicians to elicit important information about their clients (Binder 23).
This psychological assessment was carried out in an hospital in Florida, which involved an outpatient by the name James. He is 29 years old and was diagnosed with brain tumor ten years ago. He has been receiving specialized treatment in various hospitals in the United States, but his condition has been worsening over the years. The frequent chemotherapies and radiotherapies that he has undergone have greatly degraded his mental capacity to execute most of his daily activities. The condition affected his eyesight and other several body functions, rendering him exposed to the world of disillusionment and mental health deterioration. He was diagnosed while undertaking his course in Civil Engineering and ever since, his education, family life and cultural orientations were thwarted. The assessment will focus on a comprehensive description of the interviewee, according to the clinical interview framework and a vivid explanation of his mental status as per the mental status evaluation framework used by the clinicians, to help them make an informed summary of the same (Dart 12).
James’ description up to the mental status evaluation
Based on the clinical interview framework, an interview was conducted with James for about one hour, which helped solicit information on the life of James based on his mental disposition of the brain tumor condition. In the first instance during the quest to request him for a clinical interview session, he looked scared and worried about what the interviewer wanted, citing that he had just undergone chemotherapy a week ago. A clinical interview framework provides that an analysis should assess such important parameters to clearly demystify all personal characteristics of the patient such as appearance, behavior, mood, thought process (the flow of speech, clarity and content), intellectual functioning (reasonable vocabulary and memory) and sensorial (general awareness of surroundings such as date, place, time, and knowledge regarding him).
James is a United States national in his late 20s and a person who has gone through the education curriculum, though the diagnosis of his condition affected his education and he had to call off his educational activities to nurse his deteriorating medical condition. In the first encounter, he looked nervous and weak as he seemed scared about what I was about to ask him.
The condition which he said was identified about 10 years ago had caused physiological and psychological uneasiness within his body. He looked restful with not much of expression in terms of activities that most people with mental health problems are found to engage in. His style of dress depicted a person who was haunted by disillusionment because the dressing depicted him as a person who is somehow untidy, as his jacket and pair of trouser looked old. His level of cleanliness was wanting as expressed by how he was dressed up. The brain tumor condition usually comes with specialized treatment that involves a series of therapies done to the patient. Therefore, it has associated effects such as a feeling of being weak, back pain and mild or sometimes severe headache which may even cause death. The general physical appearance of James was just an exhibit of a young person who has been weakened by a brain related condition, affecting his way of talking and expression, tidiness and the general presentation of a person (Enelow & Scott 14).
His behavior was apparently controlled, with the level of appropriateness remaining wanting. The normal personal coordination seemed to be weakening and altered as his condition continued to suppress his courage and the strength to engage in harmonious constructive information exchange. The condition had rendered James to exhibit a high level of anxiety, revealed by the sweating of his hands when I had a handshake with him. As he answered some of the questions, he was not relaxed and anxiety loomed deep within him. This collectively affected his eye contact, especially when answering questions. Despite him having been trained in school, expressing himself was a problem, showing that his condition had depressed his motor neuron’s activities that coordinate communication. Low level of rapport and lack of interpersonal communication skills were depicted as he responded to some of the questions.
Some of the questions elicited his level of aggression coupled with abnormal movements and distractibility. His speech in terms of audibility, rate and tone was also wanting. He could not express himself well and took quite some time to complete a sentence with notable stammering. He could not concentrate well during the interview session, and this was demonstrated by his queer acts of anxiety and being absent minded whenever a question was posed to him. He could answer a totally different question from the one that was asked, showing that the brain condition that he has been undergoing treatment for was causing mental distress and forgetfulness.
His moods seemed abnormal and he looked emotional about what he has been going through, prompting deterioration of his mental and overall wellness of the body. He seemed to have worries in his mind, subject to the fact that he was separated from his peers in school after his condition became lethal, and specialized treatment was to be accorded to him to try and lessen the pain. For example, when asked, “Do you have any worries on your mind presently?” the question made him become more emotional with an absolute abnormal mood as he remembered those days that he could do everything for himself, attend lectures and pursue his career of choice (Platt & Geoffrey 18).
James’ personal mental status depiction
His mental capacity to remember and give responses though full of anxiety, denotes that his mental status was at high risk of deterioration due to the brain tumor condition which comes with radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Response from questions related to thoughts of harm critically showed that the level of his condition was worse and his life was, and had been hanging on the balance. Asked about whether he had thought that life is not worth living, he said that it’s better to die than to go through such pains and frequent headaches. He said that in many instances, he had thought of going to sleep and never to wake up in the morning just to bring to an end the suffering caused by this condition.
James seemed to be in his conscious mind although his level of cleanliness was going down, but he could articulate issues well. He explained that the brain condition ruined his future career and objectives in marriage and economic freedom. He cited that his mental status has marooned all his plans and he has just to wait for his final demise if he doesn’t improve for the better. He cited having at sometime failed to take medication due to the severe state of lost hope and suffering. These questions made James to express some kind of psychic anxiety with an unpleasant effect, subjective tension and increased arousal of his mental anguish. His worries were whether he would get treated, as his mentality is alienated to erratic hopelessness and negative moods on his worsening situation (Platt & Geoffrey 18).
Conclusion
The psychological status of the respondent in this analysis presents a patient who has developed psychological disorders associated with the medical condition of his brain. His lack of concentration and high levels of anxiety reflect a person who has been grossly affected by the health condition. Regular therapy and drugs that the patient uses to treat the condition seemed to continue weakening his capacity as an intellectual to present and talk his mind rather than engulf himself in uncoordinated talk.
Works Cited
Binder, James. Pediatric Interviewing: A Practical, Relationship-based Approach. London: Springer, 2010. Print.
Dart, Michelle. Motivational Interviewing in Nursing Practice: Empowering the Patient. London: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2010. Print.
Enelow, Allen, & Scott Swisher. Interviewing and patient care. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. Print.
Platt, Frederic, & Geoffrey Gordon. Field Guide to the Difficult Patient Interview. London: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2004. Print.