Question

Psychological Disorders: Coping with Schizophrenia The job was gone, the gun was loaded, and a voice was saying, "You’re a waste, give up now, do it now." It was a command, not a suggestion, and what mattered at that moment – a winter evening in 2000 – was not where the voice was coming from, but how assured it was, how persuasive. Losing his first decent job ever seemed like too much for Joe Holt to live with. It was time. "All I remember then is a knock on the bedroom door and my wife, Patsy, she sits down on the bed and hugs me, and I’m holding the gun in my left hand, down here, out of sight," said Mr. Holt, 50, a computer consultant and entrepreneur who has a diagnosis of schizophrenia. "She says, ‘Joe, I know you feel like quitting, but what if tomorrow is the day you get what you want?" And walks out. I sat there starting at that gun for an hour at least, and finally decided – never again. It can never be an option. Patsy deserves for me to be trying." (Carey, 2011, p. A1). Holt was diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia. What elements of his behavior seem to fit the description of this disorder? How might each of the perspectives on psychological disorders address the causes of his symptoms? Which perspective provides the most useful explanation for Holt’s case, in your opinion, and why?

Answer 1

Explanation:

Note, common symptoms found in patients with Schizophrenia includes;

• hallucinations
• delusion
• disorganized thinking/speech, etc.

Hence, the following elements of his behavior fit in:

• "a voice was saying" = hallucinations
• "my wife, Patsy, she sits down on the bed and hugs me, and I’m holding the gun in my left hand," = delusion