Download Many motion pictures have depicted different forms of mental illness

Type responses to questions in the response boxes
Born on the Fourth of July
Overview
Just out of high school, Ron Kovic enlists in the Marines to serve in the Vietnam War.
The trauma of battle leaves Ron not only paralyzed from the waist down, but emotionally
and mentally scared as well. His trauma continues during his recovery period in a
veteran’s hospital where patient neglect is a daily occurrence. Ron is further confused and
alienated upon returning home by the antiwar movement, which sharply contrasts with
his deep sense of patriotism.
He spends the next decade adjusting to disability and a changing culture while living with
the burdening trauma of combat memories. His journey of emotional anguish takes him
through many struggles, eventually to experience healing and reawakening of his political
passions.
Client name: Ron Kovic
Psychiatric diagnosis: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
DSM-IV-TR Criteria:
1. Client has been exposed to a traumatic event in which both of the following were
present:
 The person experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event or events
that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the
physical integrity of self or others.
 The person’s response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror.
2. The traumatic event is persistently re-experienced in one (or more) of the
following ways:
 Recurrent or intrusive distressing recollections of the event, including images,
thoughts, or perceptions.
 Recurrent distressing dreams of the event.
 Acting or feeling as if the traumatic event were recurring (includes a sense of
reliving the experience, illusions, hallucinations, and dissociative flashback
episodes, including those that occur on awakening or when intoxicated).
 Intense psychological distress at exposure to internal cues that symbolize or
resemble an aspect of the traumatic event.
 Physiological reactivity on exposure to internal or external cues that
symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event.
3. Persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and numbing of general
responsiveness as evidenced by three of the following:
 Efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings, or conversations associated with the
trauma.
 Efforts to avoid activities, places, or people that arouse recollections of the
trauma.
 Inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma.
 Markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities.
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Born on the Fourth of July - 1
Type responses to questions in the response boxes
 Feeling of detachment or estrangement from others.
 Restricted range of affect.
 Sense of foreshortened future.
4. Persistent symptoms of increased arousal as indicated by two of the following:
 Difficulty falling or staying asleep
 Irritability or outbursts of anger
 Difficulty concentrating
 Hypervigilance
 Exaggerated startle response
5. Duration is more than one month.
6. The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social,
occupations, or other important areas of functioning.
Copyright 2008, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Born on the Fourth of July - 2
Type responses to questions in the response boxes
Date:
Your name:
Name of the client you are assessing: Ron Kovic
Name of the movie: Born on the Fourth of July
What is the chief complaint?
Response:
What questions would you raise during history taking? You might base your questions on
the:
History of your client’s present (and presenting) illness
Past psychiatric history, its treatment, and treatment outcomes
Psychosocial history
Past significant medical history
Response:
What observations do you have about the client’s behavior?
Response:
In your opinion, is the diagnosis given above accurate?
Response:
Could the client have any other psychiatric disorder? If so, list and include supporting
DSM-IV-TR criteria.
Response:
What treatment plan would you outline?
Response:
With what expected outcomes?
Copyright 2008, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Born on the Fourth of July - 3
Type responses to questions in the response boxes
Response:
Copyright 2008, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Born on the Fourth of July - 4