Treatment Plan for Cooccurring Disorders
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develop a treatment plan for Jennifer focused on stabilization of the co-occurring disorder and prevention of relapse
Jennifer is a married woman with three adolescent children. She has been married for 16 years. During her marriage, Jennifer did not work outside of the home. She focused on caring for the children. Her husband Rob traveled extensively in his work. Jennifer had one episode of hospitalization after her third child was born when she was diagnosed with postpartum depression and was briefly unable to care for her children. During that time, Jennifer's alcohol use increased significantly and she would often consume 5 to 6 alcoholic beverages on the weekends after her children were asleep. One week ago, Rob told Jennifer that he was leaving her and the children for another woman, Jennifer's best friend. Jennifer was devastated and began drinking heavily that evening. Over the next two days she became depressed and very agitated. She was unable to eat or sleep. The third day, Jennifer began to believe that she was responsible for the change in Rob. She believed she was evil and that she was being pursued by the devil who would take her soul.
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Solution Summary
This article describes a case of co-occurring substance abuse and mental illness and provides the instructions for developing a treatment plan. Examples of treatment plan content for the case are included.
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In order to develop an effective treatment plan for Jennifer, it will be necessary to give her a provisional diagnosis. She has documented alcohol problems that go back more than a decade, so it is likely that at the very least she meets the criteria for alcohol dependence. She is vulnerable to depression, having had postpartum depression severe enough to require hospitalization, and her response to Rob leaving suggests that she is spiraling into a depressive episode with psychotic features. Her paranoid thoughts, however, are also consistent with not sleeping, and, therefore, being deprived of REM sleep for three days. The severe psychosocial stressor of her husband and best friend leaving have precipitated the perfect storm for her co-occurring alcohol dependence and depressive disorder.
Treatment planning has to take all of this into consideration. I am recommending that you use the ...
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