Case Study Of Roger's Vignette

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After reading Roger’s vignette, it is apparent that he has moderate stimulant use disorder, with the use of amphetamine-type substances (APA, 2013; Roberts & Louie, 2015). The symptoms that Roger presents in the vignette are hyperactivity and restlessness from childhood, high blood pressure, nausea, use if crystal meth and dextroamphetamine, crashing when stimulants wear off, switching from snorting to smoking meth, failed business and marriage, behavioral problems in school, low energy, hopelessness, and lack of regard for emotional expression. To meet full diagnostic criteria for stimulant use disorder, Roger needs to meet the diagnostic criteria A as well as indicate which specifiers apply to him. Criteria A requires that Roger uses an amphetamine-type …show more content…
This becomes partially evident when Roger expresses how his business and his marriage failed. Roger does not directly attribute the failure of his business and his marriage to his stimulant use, but he does describe how depressive be becomes after he uses stimulants. Furthermore, additional inquiry is necessary to confidently state that Roger has experienced such loss due to his drug use. The second symptom that Roger displays is continued use of a stimulant despite apparent interpersonal issues, due to the use of the stimulate. Although it is likely, but not completely clear, that his stimulant use caused the loss of his business and marriage, it is clear that he continued to use the stimulant despite going through the divorce and the loss of his business. Again, specific information regarding his use of stimulants during as well as leading up to his divorce and lawsuit would be helpful to make a more confident diagnosis. The third symptom that Roger displays is tolerance of the stimulant, as defined by diminished effects after prolonged use. This is made evident when Roger expresses how he went from snorting methamphetamine to smoking it to get a stronger effect. Sixty-six percent of stimulant users smoke the drug, while only ten percent of users snort stimulants (Roberts & Louie, 2015). The fourth symptom that Roger displays is withdrawal from the stimulate, as defined by …show more content…
A cultural consideration that should be factored into Roger’s diagnosis of stimulant use disorder is his age and military background. Since Roger is 65 years old, his culture as an older person could suggest that he has a different perspective on stimulant use than younger people. Since Roger is from California, and grew up during the era when stimulant use was more acceptable, it may be beneficial to provide Roger with drug education. Educating Roger on the harmful effects of amphetamines could help him acknowledge that he should quit for the sake of his health, social life, and future employment. Because of Roger’s age and nonchalant attitude regarding stimulant use, a harm-reduction treatment strategy would likely work well. Roger would likely be more open to harm-reduction treatment because it would allow him work slowly at achieving sobriety, while working to minimize harm along the way—which should be in his best interest due to his old age (Marlatt & Witkiewitz, 2010). Roger is from a military family and was in the military himself. With that being said, Roger’s lack of regard for feelings could have not been an effect of his stimulant use, but rather part of his military culture. Therefore, it is possible that his failed marriage was more so attributed to his lack of ability to emotionally connect with others, than his drug use. More information regarding the influence of his drug use in

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