Prior to beginning work on this discussion, please read Chapters 2, 6, and 7 in DSM-5 Made Easy: The Clinician’s Guide to Diagnosis. Additionally, please watch the video Beer Is Cheaper than Therapy:
I will be making a call to a mental health professional concerning the deterioration of a patient’s health. It was due to her continued use of alcohol. Alcohol abuse has led to the patient having alcohol-use disorders as well as having her lungs affected. Some of the signs and symptoms that have been witnessed in this patient include alcohol abuse affecting biological processes such as protein synthesis, enzymatic activity, wound healing, and immune function (Kronenberger, Pg. 56). These effects are as a result of the substance abuse affecting the functionality of zinc elements in the human body. The continued usage of the drug by the patient has caused sedative effects on the patient as well as defects in coordination of motor.
The patient has been experiencing depressants effects on the central nervous system which affects the transmission of neurons and autonomic activity by ensuring decreased GABA-A receptor function and up-regulating NMDA receptors (Kring, Pg. 67). This functionality in the body has great negative consequences on one’s health. Alcohol abuse also has tremendous negative implications on a fetal development and outcomes for a mother who takes it. The patient discovered later on that she was pregnant and this alcohol abuse affected the development of her pregnancy. The effects of alcohol abuse on the patient were seen to cause a lot of health-related problems. It was seen that the alcohol-abuse disorder seemed to worsen on the patient.
According to the patient’s transcript of a call, she has been seeking personally to overcome alcohol addiction and besides the health-related effects which the drug has caused to her, the issue of wanting to overcome alcohol-abuse addiction was a reason of pursuing psychotherapy. A positive response from the mental health professional will be received greatly by the patient because it will help in recovery of her health. In recording the screencast of the transcript, the patient talked about the problem. She said that alcohol abuse was a challenge to her because of the many ill-health related problems that affected her as a result of the drug (Butcher, Pg. 72). She was weak in her body and hence was using a low tone implying the effects of the drug on her body. The patient was not able to speak fluently because of the disorder as well as lung problems. The message was understood despite the patient being weak to talk because of the health issues she had.
Generally, substance and alcohol abuse should be discouraged in society. The negative implications that addiction of these drugs cause to the users and their families are enormous. They are known to cause violence in homes and even accidents which can be avoided if it’s users take it responsibly. People should be aware of its adverse effects on one’s health and, therefore, one should consider what excessive use of the drug can cause to him or her.
