Case Study George Lawler Essay

George Lawler is a thirty-five year old who is married to Cheryl and is the father of two children. He is a physical education teacher and coaches the men and women’s track team. George has experienced many ups and downs with his psychological problems, but they never went away. His first psychological problem happened in college. George was a normal college student. He played on the football team and made good grades. Symptoms presented were a loss of interest, not caring about football, and low energy. Sometimes he was able to stay up as long as possible to study for exams. His sudden highs of energy made it seem like he needed medical treatment. After he saw a psychiatrist and began taking medication with counseling sessions, he seemed to be back to normal. When he became a teacher, towards the beginning of the semester, he worried often and he had trouble sleeping. His family noticed he was tired often and distracted. He ended up having suicidal thoughts and believed that was the only reasonable …show more content…
Bipolar I disorder involves extreme highs of mania and can have lows of depression. His symptoms match the DSM-5 symptoms of both bipolar disorders. For mania, he experienced increased energy, restlessness, racing thoughts, rapid talking, decreased need for sleep, and being unrealistic. He did not say he was using drugs or had an unusual sexual drive. For depression, he experienced loss of interest, decreased energy, sleep disturbances, feelings of guilt, and also thoughts of suicide. He did not say he experienced chronic pain or having trouble remembering certain instances. A biological origin could be George’s uncle Ralph. He had a positive history with mental disorders; therefore George may carry these genes. George experienced pressure in college with his exams and football, and later with his job as a coach. This could be a psychosocial