Development Theory Case Study

Document Type:Case Study

Subject Area:Psychology

Document 1

Personality development according to Erik Erickson happens over all aspects of life that a person passes (Basham et al. The development of a human is a process that is long life in nature that even begins before birth and extends to death. Each moment in the life of a human being like Mary is in a state of personal evolution. There are eight stages of development in life as described by Erik Erickson people like Mary in each stage faces challenges, and it will depend on how one handles them. The physical changes largely drive the process while the cognitive abilities decline and advance in response to the growth of the brain in childhood and reduce old age functioning. According to Erickson, Mary faces a psychological conflict that must be put into action to resolve to progress developmentally.

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Mary had involved herself in early alcohol drinking and prostitution due to neglecting by the parents. Without anybody aside to guide her, she could not overcome all the challenges or conflicts in life (Haywood, & Getchell, 2014). The individual according to Erickson faces psychological conflict. These conflicts moving from infancy to adulthood include mistrust versus trust, shame versus autonomy, guilty versus initiative, inferiority versus industry, diffusion role versus identity and isolation versus intimacy. Life became difficulty for her as she could not survive without drugs. At this stage of life according to Erickson’s theory marked the isolation versus intimacy stage where people faces a lot of challenges as Mary passed and if not taken seriously may lead to isolation and loneliness. Mary was isolated from friends and parents leading to drug addiction.

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Career and work history related to current state Mary experienced a lot in life before undergoing treatment. She was working as a sex worker in exchange for drugs which put her life in danger. Mary has undoubtedly had poor development through her childhood which might have led her to her current situation. Based on the report, Mary has not been able to maintain good personal relationships, she has been susceptible to compulsive instant gratification from drugs, she cannot trust even her closest peers to open up about her problems and she has had challenges both in school and work. Moreover, her cognition might have been further compromised by her drug use at age 14 and prenatal exposure considering her mother was an addict.

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According to Gould (2010), cognition is highly susceptible to disruption when a person begins abusing drugs at adolescent. Mary began using drugs at age 14 when her brain was still developing and highly exposed to the adverse effects of abusing drugs whose impact might have a long-lasting effect on cognitive processes. ADHD is associated with various issues in adults such as restlessness, constant seeking of excitement and boredom. According to, when ADHD is undiagnosed it can result in more problems in an adult’s life such as recurrent substance abuse, difficulties in maintaining work and challenges sustaining interpersonal relationships (Gould, 2010). Based on the patient’s report, Mary has had challenges maintaining a relationship and sticking to a single job where she has either quit or been sacked.

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Moreover, Mary seems to be constantly seeking thrill from sex and using a different type of illicit and highly stimulating drugs such as cocaine. Therefore, the symptoms of ADHD fit in Mary’s case hence the possibility of her suffering from the condition cannot be ignored. However, the author’s note that the first process will entail countering “stage-appropriate denial“ whereby the patient will need to accept that they have a mental problem. Once this denial phase is addressed in each step, the practitioner should then embark on addressing the symptoms through every stage of Erikson’s model. Although she has not been confirmed to have ADHD, the symptoms she has been exhibiting associated with ADHD can be intervened using psychosocial treatments such as a cognitively-based approach.

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The cognitively-based approach involves some aspects of metal coaching whereby Mary can be taught self-monitoring strategies, training working memory, problem-solving and social skills (Ramsay & Rostain, 2014). References Basham, K. Rowman & Littlefield. Brennan, S. Leadership development through a constructive development lens (Doctoral dissertation, Dublin City University). Dwyer, J. , Broide, R. Prospective Effects of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Conduct Disorder, and Sex on Adolescent Substance Use and Abuse.  Archives Of General Psychiatry, 64(10), 1145. http://dx. doi. org/10.  Addiction and Cognition.  PubMed Central (PMC). Retrieved 14 January 2018, from https://www. ncbi. nlm. M. , & Newman, P. R. Development through life: A psychosocial approach. Cengage Learning.  Cognitive-behavioral therapy for adult ADHD. Routledge. Robitschek, C. , & Hardin, E. E.  American Journal Of Psychiatry, 167(9), 1026-1028. http://dx. doi. org/10. 1176/appi. doi. org/10. 1007/s10597-009-9189-4.

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