Belinda's Case Study

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Belinda presents with poor mannerisms, does not make any eye-contact and will not talk during the assessment unless it is to defend herself or deny her actions and also make bizarre accusations against her parents. She also seems very malnourished. The symptoms Belinda’s parent are describing could indicate a diagnosis of Prodromal Schizophrenia, which would need to be addressed immediately by early intervention and putting a recovery plan in place. There are three possible barriers to Belinda’s recovery that have been identified. The first being her weight, as the paranoia she is experiencing is having a detrimental effect on her physical health. The second possible barrier to Belinda’s recovery would be her age. As she is only seventeen years old, there are legal issues which need to be …show more content…

However, the most important issue in Belinda’s case is that she is underweight as she has a BMI of 16.85kg/m² (Maple Tech, 2008). In Durie’s (1982) Māori health model: Te Whare Tapa Whā, he states that there are four dimensions to health, which are Te Taha Tinana (Physical health), Te Taha Wairua (Spiritual health), Te Taha Whānau (Family health) and Te Taha Hinengaro (Mental health), should one of the four dimensions be missing or in some way damaged, a person, or a collective may become ‘unbalanced’ and subsequently unwell. Although Belinda is European and not of Māori descent, Durie’s (1982) Te Whare Tapa Whā is an excellent starting point for mental health nurses to understand their client’s well-being in a broader sense. Belinda’s weight, which is a part of Te Taha Tinana (Durie, 1982) is her first barrier to recovery for the reason that sound physical health is vital to Belinda’s

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