Mental health articles

Mental Illness Case Study Examples: Case 1

Ricard was a 34-year-old man who suddenly started behaving in abizarre manner three days earlier. He became very restless, started talking nonsense and behaved in a shameless manner, taking his clothes off in public. He had no history of a mental illness. The only medical history was that he had been suffering from fever and headaches for a few days before the abnormal behaviour began.When he was brought to the clinic, he appeared confused and didnot know where he was or what day it was. He was seeing things that others could not and could not answer the health worker’s questions sensibly. He also had high fever. He was found to have cerebral malaria.

What’s the problem? Ricard was suffering from a severe mental disordercalled delirium, confusion or acute psychosis. In his case, the problem had been caused by the infection of his brain by malaria.

Mental Illness Case Study Examples: Case 2

Raman was a 70-year-old retired postman who was living with his son and daughter-in-law. His wife haddied some 10 years previously. Over the past few years, Raman had become increasingly forgetful,something his family passed off as ‘just growing old’. However, the forgetfulness kept getting worse,until one day he lost his way around his own home. He started forgetting the names of his relatives,including his favourite grandchildren. His behaviour became unpredictable; on some days, he would beirritable and easily lose his temper, while on others he would sit for hours without saying a thing. Raman’sphysical health began to deteriorate and one day he had a fit. Raman’s son brought him to hospital, wherea special scan of the brain was done; this showed changes in the structure of the brain which confirmed that Raman had dementia.

What’s the problem? Raman was suffering from a kind of brain disease typically found in older people, called dementia. This illness begins with forgetfulness. It continues to get worse as time passes and leads to behaviour problems.

Tags: case study, mental illness