Naomi's Schizophrenia Case Study

It is hard to comprehend how and why people lose their sanity and become mad. I will address how the mind’s struggles caused by individual genes, stress and social-cultural influence affect the lives of Naomi, a 24-year-old college student with schizophrenia and Eric, a 27-year-old classical musician with severe depression. Their thoughts and behavior surprised me as this is my first time exposed to what these mental illnesses are. The relation between the mind and the body and the fact that the emotions affect the functioning of the body and vice versa explains the how and why a person become insane.

Both diagnosis Naomi’s schizophrenia and Eric’s depressive disorder presented by the Back from Madness documentary meet the criteria for the

diagnosis as discussed by the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5). Naomi’s case meets the criteria for schizophrenia because of her symptoms and the duration of the disorder. Naomi’s symptoms of catatonic or withdrawn behavior and the hallucinations or hearing voices are both specified by the American Psychiatric Association (2013) as diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia in the DSM-5. Each of the symptoms has been present for three years, a significant amount of time, including while she was being treated. Naomi went from being a very functional outgoing student to crying all the time and hearing voices diminishing her ability to concentrate and function in college. That is, because “the biopsychosocial approach emphasizes that mind and body are inseparable” (Myers & Dewall, 2016). In other words, Naomi suffers schizophrenia because of the emotionless or negative emotions of her mind while in a catatonic or withdrawn state and hearing the voices contribute to Naomi’s physical illness. Thus, since the brain controls behavior, she cannot concentrate or function in college. Naomi’s symptoms of the mind relate the diagnosis of her schizophrenia to brain illness due to her genetic predisposition or biological influence. Per the documentary the mental disorder runs in her family, her father and brother were depressive, and her mother was schizophrenic.
According to Myers and Dewall (2016), Naomi’s schizophrenia symptoms of the mind such as hallucinations are positive symptoms that respond to therapy, so recovery is much more likely.

But the antipsychotic medication clozapine, a drug therapy, to change Naomi brain’s functioning by altering its chemistry does not work. Naomi keeps hearing the voices even louder because her symptoms due to her genetics do not respond to the drug and still affect her well-being. Next, during the final exams, Naomi has a breakdown and is withdrawn and overwhelmed by the more negative voices, so she is admitted to the hospital for a month. While in the hospital, she receives a new antipsychotic drug, this new drug alters her brain’s chemistry. This time she starts feeling better, and she only hears two big voices far away from her. After three years of struggle, finally most of her symptoms disappear, and she does not feel sick anymore. Though Naomi remains free of voices, she continues to have difficulty concentrating and is aware she may

relapse.
Similarly, Eric’s case meets the criteria for the severe depression diagnosis as discussed in DSM-5 since his depressive symptoms and functional impairment occur together. In fact, “when they do occur together, the depressive symptoms and functional impairment tend to be more severe and the prognosis is worse” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). For two years, his depressive symptoms, including sadness, worthlessness, and suicidal thoughts diminished his ability to concentrate impairing his normal day to day social functioning as a classical musician. Per Myers and Dewall (2016) as Naomi’s emotionless mind contribute to her inability of functioning in college, Eric’s mood of sadness and hopelessness contribute to his inability to social functioning as a musician. Eric’s symptoms of the mind relate the diagnosis of his severe depression to social-cultural influence due to not being able to meet the expectation of living his social role in life. Because the brain controls our behavior, he cannot concentrate to function as a classical musician.
Moreover, Eric’s two years of severe depression are so overpowering he does not think he would ever have the possibility of becoming a musician again.

Unlike Naomi, Eric does not respond to drug therapy. Therefore, instead of a drug therapy, Eric receives the electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) or brain stimulation often an effective treatment for patients like Eric with severe depression who does not respond to a drug therapy. By shocking the brain, the ECT manipulates the brain’s chemical imbalance produced by the social-cultural stress experience. But after eleven ECTs in a month, Eric cannot function because of the temporary side effects of memory loss and confusion affecting his concentration to play the viola and his well-being. Then after four months of receiving ECT treatment, Eric returns to normal social functioning as a musician. Six months later, Eric is still playing the viola and has had no recurrence of his

depression.
The correlation between mind and body and the fact that the emotions blowing through one’s mind affect the functioning of the body and vice versa explains how and why Naomi and Eric become insane. For a long time, their mind’s struggles to their brains control their behavior, not allowing them to function in college and as a musician, respectively. Fortunately, both biomedical therapies; the drugs and the ECT treatment of the brain’s chemistry work to a degree changing their minds, therefore affecting their well-being and behavior. Naomi no longer hears the voices, but she still has difficulty concentrating delaying her graduation from college. Whereas Eric experiences a full recovery, his suicidal thoughts disappear, and he becomes a musician again. But both success in coping with their illness can be a sometime thing as both disorders are recurrent disorders.