5012NHS – Assignment Scenario

5012NHS – Assignment Scenario

You are not obliged to use this scenario if you have a suitable case from practice. Read this scenario to see the type of case that is recommended.

If you do not have a case from practice then you can base your essay on this scenario.

Jordan – risk to others

Jordan is a 22 year old man.

He lives at home with his mother and his 15 year old brother.

Jordan does not work. He left school at 16 with no qualifications.

Jordan’s mother says that he did well until about 15 but then became increasingly isolated, paying less and less attention to his school work. He would isolate himself in his room and spoke less to his family.

His mother asked for help from the family GP and Jordan spoke with the GP. However, the GP made no formal diagnosis and nothing more came of this.

More recently Jordan has been isolating himself from the outside world and even within his family. His sleep pattern has become erratic.

Jordan’s mother has contacted the GP again. She reports that Jordan appears to be ‘talking to himself.’  He is hostile to his younger brother, saying ‘stupid things about his brother is the devil.’

Jordan refuses to see the GP, but the GP visits the family home to see him. The GP diagnoses a first episode of psychosis (probably schizophrenia) but Jordan declines any medication. He is referred to the specialist mental health services but refuses to speak with them.

Jordan’s mother calls the police in an emergency. Jordan is very distressed. He has attempted to assault his younger brother. He says his brother is the devil and will take both his mother and Jordan to hell. The police request an urgent mental health assessment.

Jordan will not cooperate with the police or the mental health service. He says that his younger brother is the devil and is frustrated no one will listen to him. He is very worried that his mother is at risk.

Jordan is detained under section two of the Mental Health Act (1983) and admitted to an acute ward. He remains determined that he is not ill and that it is his mother who is at risk – from his younger brother.

Jordan is offered, but refuses, risperidone (an anti-psychotic). He says that he is not ill and does not need medication. He believes that the hospital staff are now helping the devil.

The clinical team and his responsible-clinician/consultant decide that medication is necessary to alleviate his illness. He poses a risk to his younger brother (under 18, therefore a child) and could not safely go home whilst he is thinking and behaving this way. After he repeatedly declines medication orally, he is restrained and given risperidone by injection. Trust protocols regarding restraint are followed, but Jordan is clearly distressed and angry due to being restrained and forced to take medication he does not want.