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Case Study PSY480 Case Study: Elvis Presley The concentration of clinical psychology is to evaluate and treat a collection of psychological as well as behavioral abnormalities (Plante, 2005). The procedure of comprehending how and why abnormalities evolve is the objective in this area. Also, treating the patient is not only the important factor; however, investigating the probable causative measures versus abnormalities is also another factor. When undertaking the responsibility of comprehending the etiology of an abnormality, it is vital to be knowledgeable to the idea of multiple causalities. No abnormality has a single component; however, there are many that add to its commencement. There are usually predisposing factors, like former circumstances and incidents that the person sees and installed in the mind in a certain manner. There may also be precipitating reasons in which present effects exists that causes the behavior to appear. Also, there is a link between what the individual perceives in his/her mind and the biological mind functions that precede or turn out to be an outcome. How an individual believes, like one’s thoughts, values, beliefs, attitudes, etc., has everything to do with interconnectivity of signs and symptoms. In this article, I will investigate polysubstance abuse and its etiology in the case of Elvis Presley’s. Elvis Presley: Case Overview In 1935, Elvis Presley was born to a needy couple in Mississippi (Meyer, Chapman, & Weaver, 2009). Elvis grew up in a fairly usual family, in spite of his father being imprisoned for three years which made Elvis distant to his father. By 1954, Elvis began his career in astronomy. He became extremely popular and altered the record of rock and roll. Important events like being enlisted in the army, the loss of his mother with whom he has an intimate relationship with, and the failure of his marriage were issues that affected his problem. Elvis Presley depended extremely on various prescription pills. His mother also relied on prescription medication for anxiety and to be able to get to sleep (Meyer at al., 2009). Elvis passed away in 1977, at the age of 42. Elvis’ toxicology result has shown occurrences of numerous kinds of drugs. In lieu of traditional scientific psychology, Elvis Presley would have been diagnosed with polysubstance dependence. Polysubstance dependence includes the utilization of three or more substances but does not involve caffeine or nicotine and should have been taken for at least half a year (Meyer, Chapman, & Weaver, 2009). Applying the idea of multiple causality, biologic, behavioral, cognitive, and socio-cultural mechanisms of polysubstance dependence will be tackled. Etiology of Polysubstance Dependence Biological Factors The biologic style to misuse of substance involves various justifications. First is the neurotransmitter system that regulates the center of the mind is the one mostly affected with the utilization of almost every drug (Hansell & Damour, 2008). Over a period of time, the mind stores memories of the pleasures inherited from the drugs, leaving a biologic mechanism of drug usage. Ecological factors, which will be tackled later, can activate the biologic memory and produce desire to repeat the effect of the drug again. The disease model also adds to the biologic style with self-medication philosophy. This philosophy of using substances to change the brain chemistry is biologically deficient in a brain chemical or to relax unpleasant emotional conditions (Hansell& Damour, 2008). Hereditary factors are also connected to substance abuse. Just as mental abnormalities are connected to family inheritance, likewise is substance misuse. Genes can also have an impact on the susceptibility of effects of substances, like the level of pleasure and the level of presence of withdrawal effects (Hansell & Damour, 2008). A few individuals take pleasure in the effects of a substance whereas others might mostly not like it, and withdrawal of “hangover” manifestations differ widely from person to person. Elvis Presley’s reliance on prescription drugs can be connected to hereditary factors with multiple probabilities. Social stress and self-medication philosophy might fit and other genetic aspects that can be identified to his parents. Behavioral Factors Operant and classical conditioning are two conventional philosophies pertinent to substance use. With operant conditioning, drugs can have a great impact on the person for both the positive and negative reinforcement it gives. Drugs can give an extremely pleasant feeling while using them, and at the same time relieves any bad emotions, also known as tension reduction (Hansell & Damour, 2008). Classical conditioning can also add to the behavioral mechanism of substance use. With the case of Presley, the on-stage surroundings and elements of rock and roll lifestyle could easily have conditioned his intellectual processes into connecting it with drug usage. Also, aside from conditioning and hereditary factors, modeling drug usage through Presley’s mother might have had a vital impact on his personal substance dependence. Presley saw his mother take alcohol and drugs to get by, as well as in conclusion manage to utilize drug to help him get by as well. This is classified as social leaning (Hansell & Damour, 2008) Cognitive/Psychological Factors The cognitive factors, like low self-esteem and self-efficacy, have much to do with the possibility of drug usage in people. Presley, in spite the love of his fans and attaining a bright future in his chosen profession in life, still turned out to be an unhappy and lonely individual who attained a poor sense of self-efficacy. Dysfunctional cognitive schemas and negative automatic thoughts evolve throughout the substance user’s existence, as well as therefore make the opportunity and the downward spiral of substance utilization as well as abuse. Meyer, Chapman, and Weaver (2009) recommended suicide as probable reason of death, although autopsy results do not say so. If this is the case, suicide is also connected to psychological factor and low self-esteem and self efficacy, as well as the not being satisfied with life. Socio-cultural and Family Systems Factors The socio-cultural model looks at substance abuse as an outcome from social environment. Socio-cultural pleasures as well as stresses can be an adding factor in substance use and the eventual reliance on drugs. The family systems technique is quite the same; however, the main issue of substance abuse originated inside the family. Family may not admit or overlook the situation, or they might unconsciously allow the substance abuser. Any of these probabilities might have taken part in Elvis’ polysubstance dependence. His mother, who loved him dearly, might have not admitted that her child had any kind of problem because she herself had a dependency issue. Later in Elvis’ life, after his mother had passed away, his spouse might have primarily been an enabler to the problem that eventually detached that bond. Case Study and Clinical Psychology: Adaptation Clinical psychology, like any other areas of work, is continuously developing and constantly adapting with the changes of the society. The case of Elvis Presley might have been dealt differently now than it was 50 years ago. The recent investigation and understanding connected to prescription drug usage and the result on mixing these drugs has come a long way. Now and in the upcoming years, clinical psychology should adjust to the standard of society, involve and integrate up to date investigation findings, as well as continue and attempt to comprehend the psychological procedures behind individual’s behavior. Conclusion Elvis Presley became dependent on several prescription pills. The reason of this dependence, and ultimately his death, has several issues as well as probabilities. It is vital to remember and perform the concept of multiple causalities that involves mechanisms like neurotransmission, genetics, cognitive processes, behavioral conditioning, environmental influences, and family effects. All of these ideas had an impact on Presley’s life in various levels at various episodes in his life. Unfortunately, if only the problem was addressed right away by close family and friends, even his physicians, then intervention techniques might have been done to alleviate the situation and gave Presley a good quality of life. References Hansell, J. & Damour, L. (2008). Abnormal psychology (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Meyer, R. G., Chapman, L. K., & Weaver, C. M. (2009). Case studies in abnormal behavior (8th ed.). Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon. Plante, T.G. (2005). Contemporary clinical psychology (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley