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Application of Clinical Psychology

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Application of Clinical Psychology

PSY/480
October 24, 2011
Catie Brodehl, Psy.D

Application of Clinical Psychology
Clinical psychologists must deal with many mental disorders. The mental disorders can include anything from Obsessive Compulsive Behavior to Schizophrenia. To understand the application of clinical psychology in a real-world environment, the case study of Theodore Kaczynski was chosen for review. Theodore Kaczynski suffered from schizoid personality disorder. The symptoms of people suffering from schizoid personality disorder (SPD) are usually exhibited by asocial behavior, shyness, problems with expression of emotions and dysfunction in his or her ability to form social relationships. Although SPD falls into the ‘schizophrenic spectrum’ of disorders it is different because the person with SPD is in touch with reality, unlike an individual with a true schizophrenic disorder. The case study of Theodore Kaczynski is also interesting in that the prevalence of SPD in the general American population is less than 1% with individual studies showing occurrences as high as 3% in some communities (Hessess & Thylstrup, 2009).
Case Study – Theodore John Kaczynski Theodore John Kaczynski known as Ted was born on May 22, 1942. During his childhood he did not interact with other children and stayed to himself in his neighborhood. Growing up his mother was concerned with Ted because he did not play with other children. Ted was a fairly quiet, shy, and a loner. When Ted graduated from high school his former classmates described him as immature and interested in pyrotechnics and explosives. Most of his high school classmates did not remember him.
Ted did not seem to have trouble with academics. He went to Harvard University at age 16 and graduated by the time he was 20. During this time at Harvard he did not participate in any school activities and completely kept to himself. Former Harvard roommates do not remember Ted speaking very much. Ted’s education consisted of him receiving a masters and PhD in mathematics. He also wrote a number of journals that are described as outstanding.
During a period in Ted’s life, he also suffered from sexual identity. At one point Ted went to see a psychiatrist about obtaining a sex change, but decide he was uncomfortable discussing it. During his session with the psychiatrist he spoke of topics that were considered normal. Let it be noted that Ted had chronic anger issues that he did not show, but expressed through his diary entries. From this point on Ted continued to withdraw from others. Even as a professor at Berkeley University, he was out of touch with his students and did not interact with them. Eventually Ted transitioned from this career, which was his last official job.
The rest of Ted’s life consisted of him living alone and developing an interest in political activism. Ted’s interest in politics gave him the fuel to start bomb attacks. Ted was known as the ‘Unabomber’ and was responsible for over a dozen bomb attacks. As a result Ted will spend the rest of his life in prison. Theodore Kaczynski is a prime example of an individual with schizoid personality disorder.
Biological, Psychological, and Social Factors Biological factors involved in the Kaczynski case include a genetic predisposition to reclusive behaviors. The entire family engaged in socially withdrawn activity from Kaczynski’s childhood. He is noted as being introverted and shy, and there are indications that there were at minimum, mild schizoid tendencies among the Kaczynski family members though, it is not clear what those tendencies played out as. Coupled with these aspects, Kaczynski experienced an allergic reaction resulting in severe hives at nine months of age requiring hospitalization after which he was reported as being unresponsive and withdrawn. The biological component suggests an effect on mental processes. From the psychological perspective, Kaczynski was diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder. He suffered from mild bouts of depression, sought out activities that placed him in reclusive environments such as living alone for extended periods in a small cabin without electricity or amenities as well as attempting to seek out professional help for gender confusion issues. He sought assistance from a psychologist who dubbed his issues as unimportant. Kaczynski turned hatred for that professional into a fuel for further activity that caused injury or death to those in the academic setting through home-made bombs that were mailed to his victims. The manner of his crime alludes back to his reclusive behavior and inability to engage in intimate relationships via his choice to mail his bombs and never expose himself personally to those who received the bombs. Correlating with the biological and psychological factors, Kaczynski was socially cut-off from society on the whole. For the majority of his life, initially at the behest of his mother’s parenting style, he poured himself into academia. He was highly intelligent but lacked the ability to forge or maintain social relationships, having never effectuated intimacy with a female outside of two dates with a coworker.
Appropriate Interventions For Theodore Kaczynski, someone who was at struggling at a young ages with a diagnosis of schizoid personality disorder and issue with sexual identity social and biological interventions would have been appropriate fields of clinical psychology for this individual. Social intervention would have provided him with social and community programs to help his interpersonal skill. According to Meyer (2009), Theodore advanced and entered college at an early age, thus, justifying the rationale for selecting a social intervention program. This program would provide education, skill-building training and support along with psychological help to address these previously diagnosed issues. Individual psychotherapy devised to help modify his sexual behavior and understand any social or personal experiences, which may have led to his sexual confusion. With this individual psychotherapy he would be, be seen under biological intervention to test for genetic issues or rare disorders. According to Krugler (2008), "Genetic tests consist of testing one’s genes (examining a person's DNA), Chromosome tests (checking for abnormal chromosomes), and Biochemical tests (checking the levels of certain proteins). This type of testing would reveal and sexual hormone deficiencies, which could explain his identity issues and potential birth defect involving the sexual organs inside the body and those on the outside, can be malformed ” (Krugler, 2008) . Social intervention program would help educate Theodore Kaczynski in addressing sexual identity issues, address underlying psychological personality issues, and familial basis for his schizophrenia, and encourage Theodore in social activities. A biological intervention could be prescribed for Theodore Kaczynski to support his schizophrenia. Many psychotropic medications and electroconvulsive therapy options are available. These biological intervention medications would be used in conjunction with his social intervention therapy. Medications prescribed to help control the symptoms of his schizophrenia, prescribed by a medical doctor to help treat this patient. The intervention would occur in a professional office of the providers, or a hospital. Most times this provides for privacy and other factors associated with the professional setting as in the therapist’s office.
Conclusion
Theodore Kaczynski exhibited many of the symptoms for SPD at an early age. He was extremely intelligent, yet he could not have a functional relationship with others. Also as is the case with many SPD sufferers, they do not show high levels of passive aggression. However, shortly before he was finally apprehended, Theodore Kaczynski’s life started a swift downward spiral. Although he was found competent to stand trial, he received four life sentences instead of the death penalty.

References
Krugler, R. N. (2008). What is Genetic Testing? Retrieved from http://www.about.com
Mayo Clinic. (2008, December). Schizoid personality disorder. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/schizoid-personality-disorder/DS00865/DSECTION
Meyer, R. G., Chapman, L. K., & Weaver, C. M. (2009). Case studies in abnormal behavior (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education/Allyn & Bacon.
Thylstrup, B., & Hessess, M. (2009). "I am not complaining" - Ambivalence Construct in Schizoid Personality Disorder. American Journal of Psychotherapy, April(1).

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