Schizophrenia Paper, 3 Pages

The models:
  Model A
Hank is an 11-year-old African-American boy in the fifth grade. Hank was brought to the local clinic by his mother after his teacher recommended that he be evaluated for his excessive anxiety in the classroom setting. More specifically, Hank experienced frequent worry regarding his school performance, and often became distressed when presented with challenging academic tasks. Moreover, his teacher and parents reported significant distractibility and concentration difficulties, which his teacher attributed to anxiety about his academic performance. His teacher also reported that she was having difficulty managing Hank’s behavior in the classroom. 
Both Hank and his mother reported that he worried about his grades, particularly in the areas of English and language arts. Hank was receiving average grades overall (i.e., mostly B’s) although he was struggling somewhat in reading/language arts and, at the time of assessment, had a C grade in that area. He had significant difficulty with reading and language-based tasks. Specifically, Hank had to read material at least three times before he understood the content, and had trouble following class discussions in the English class because he had trouble deriving more abstract concepts and themes. These difficulties caused him significant anxiety regarding his academic performance. Hank and his mother noted that he often worried about upcoming exams and projects, particularly in the English class, and that he would ruminate about the possibility of failing. His mother observed that it was difficult for Hank to stop worrying when he was worried about school. Further, she said Hank frequently had difficulty completing his homework, and this was true for all assignments, not just reading and language arts. She explained that Hank rushed through his work, which resulted in frequent careless errors. In addition, she said Hank enjoyed math, but even when he was engaged in the subject, he washighly distractible and did not attend to small details. For example, Hank often failed to attend to themathematical sign in a problem and would add when subtraction was required, or vice versa. Hank often lost or misplaced items he needed to complete his work, such as his school books and worksheets, and frequently forgot to write down his homework assignments. Hank’s teacher observed similar difficulties in the classroom, and she frequently sent reports home indicating that he was highly distractible in class and had difficulty concentrating on his work for extended periods of time. Hank also spoke out of turn in the classroom, and was frequently reprimanded for interrupting. His mother explained these difficulties seemed to add to Hank’s overall anxiety. He worried about his school difficulties and made comments about being  “stupid.” Hank engaged in similar behaviors at home. He had difficulty completing household chores and was often sidetracked after he started on a particular task. Both his parents and teachers indicated they frequently repeated their commands and instructions to Hank because he had difficulty listening and paying attention. Hank’s mother said she often became frustrated with his inattention, and that his failure to follow through with chores and other tasks led to conflict between them at times. However, she did not report any oppositional or defiant behavior from him. 

  Model B
Bill made his first appointment at the mental-health center reluctantly. He was a 20 years old Hispanic man, single, and unemployed. His sister, Colleen, with whom he had been living for 18 months, had repeatedly encouraged him to seek professional help. She was concerned about his peculiar behavior and social isolation. 
He spent most of his time daydreaming, often talked to himself, and occasionally said things that made little sense. Bill acknowledged that he ought to keep more regular hours and assume more responsibility, but he insisted that he did not need psychological treatment. The appointment was finally made in an effort to please his sister and mollify her husband, who was worried about Bill’s influence on their three young children. 
During the first interview, Bill spoke quietly and frequently hesitated. The therapist noted that Bill occasionally blinked and shook his head as though he was trying to clear his thoughts or return his concentration to the topic at hand. When the therapist commented on this unusual twitch, Bill apologized politely but denied that it held any significance. He was friendly yet shy and clearly ill at ease. The discussion centered on Bill’s daily activities and his rather unsuccessful efforts to fit into the routine of Colleen’s family. Bill assured the therapist that his problems would be solved if he could stop daydreaming. He also expressed a desire to become better organized. 
Bill continued to be guarded throughout the early therapy sessions. After several weeks, he began to discuss his social contacts and mentioned a concern about sexual orientation. Despite his lack of close friends, Bill had had some limited and fleeting sexual experiences. These had been both heterosexual and homosexual in nature. He was worried about the possible meaning and consequences of his encounters with other males. This topic occupied the next several weeks of therapy. 
Bill’s “daydreaming” was also pursued in greater detail. It was a source of considerable concern to him, and it interfered significantly with his daily activities. This experience was difficult to define. At frequent, though irregular, intervals throughout the day, Bill found himself distracted by intrusive and repetitive thoughts. The thoughts were simple and most often alien to his own value system. For example, he might suddenly think to himself, “Damn God.” Recognizing the unacceptable nature of the thought, Bill then felt compelled to repeat a sequence of self-statements that he had designed to correct the initial intrusive thought. He called these thoughts and his corrective incantations “scruples.” These self-statements accounted for the observation that Bill frequently mumbled to himself. He also admitted that his unusual blinking and head shaking were associated with the experience of intrusive thoughts. 

My character: