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Substance Abuse Case Study Tony

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Tony is 39 years old. He is very manipulative and charming, but struggles with substance abuse issues. Tony has a history of incarceration and hospital stays. As a child he didn’t have the best upbringing. Tony suffered from substance abuse, anger issues, and PTSD from when he was a child. Tony carried those behaviors on with him through his adult life. From reviewing the case study I would diagnose Tony with Avoidant Personality Disorder. Tony also suffers from Co-Occurring issues as well.
Avoidant personality Disorder is strongly associated with anxiety disorders, and may also be associated with actual or felt rejection by parents or peers in childhood (Burton, 2012). If you completed an assessment with this client, what Biological, family, and cultural …show more content…

For example, are there concerns related to offering medication versus talk therapy? Cultural considerations in the presentation of symptoms, or which treatment options you select? First I would like to understand Tony’s background, and how he grew up. With was it like economically, and the area he grew up. Being an African American boy a lot of multicultural issues will surface. A lot of times African American’s aren’t educated about talk therapy, and will take the medication because that’s all they know. There is also a stigma against mental health treatment in the African American Culture. Since Tony didn’t undergo any mental health treatment as a child he decided to self-medicate. For treating Avoidant PD it would involve long-term psychotherapy, and then slowly specifying what the client actually needs treatment in. People who suffer with any type of personality disorders struggles with trusting anyone. So you have to slowly warm them up to different types of therapy. Therapist will prescribe medication to help with the anxiety and depression. Another treatment I would use would be CBT therapy to help the client understand what they are going

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