A Discussion of Disco Di

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Mental health is not the mere absence of illness but it is the sense of harmony and balance for the individual. Aspects associated with the individual include self-worth, sense of accomplishment, and a positive identity (Fontaine, 2009), where as mental illness is the disharmony someone is experiencing. This disharmony affects not only the individual but their friends and family as well as the surrounding community. This disharmony causes the person to be unable to function properly in many aspects of their life (Fontaine, 2009). Disco Di started to display signs of mental illness from the young age of 12. Her behaviours may have been triggered by a traumatic event and have been interfering with her life ever since. I agree with the diagnosis that Disco Di was given which was an Axis I diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Axis II diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). This paper is going to explain why I agree with these diagnoses as well as genetic and cultural factors and treatment method for them. Diagnostic Features/Differential Diagnosis I support the diagnostic conclusions associated with Disco Di because the symptomatology matched the research regarding MDD and BPD. Gunderson (2011) found that 6% of the population are diagnosed with BPD and of that 75% are females. He further states that most of these patients receive treatment after a suicide attempt. To be diagnosed with BPD the patient needs to display a minimum of five symptoms (Gunderson, 2011). Seven symptoms that Disco Di experienced are consistent with the clinical diagnosis of BPD which in Disco Di’s case includes: impulsive behaviour around substance use and sex, recurrent suicidal behaviours, feeling of abandonment, identity disturb... ... middle of paper ... ...bid major depression is associated with that for polycystic ovary syndrome in female Japanese population. Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 7, 655-662. doi: 10.2147/ NDT.S25504 Patel, V., Flisher, A. J., Hetrick, S., & McGorry, P. (2007). Mental health of young people: a global public-health challenge. The Lancet, 369(9569), 1302-1313. Selby, E. A., & Joiner Jr, T. E. (2008). Ethnic variations in the structure of borderline personality disorder symptomatology. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 43(2), 115-123. Skidmore-Roth, L. (2012). Mosby’s nursing drug reference. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby. Tadić, A., Wagner, S., Hoch, J., Başkaya, Ö., von Cube, R., Skaletz, C., ... & Dahmen, N. (2009). Gender differences in axis I and axis II comorbidity in patients with borderline personality disorder. Psychopathology, 42(4), 257-263. doi:10.1159/000224149

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