Biopsychosocial_Case_Study

Biopsychosocial Case Study Melody Rodgers University of Phoenix Elements of Clinical Psychology March 14, 2011 Biopsychosocial Case Study The case study of Virginia Woolf will be discussed in this paper. Virginia Woolf was a woman who suffered from bipolar disorder. A brief overview of the case of Virginia Woolf and her bipolar disorder will be discussed. The biological, psychological, and social factors of Virginia Woolf will be explored. Virginia Woolf suffered from symptoms of bipolar disorder from a very young age. Virginia Woolf suffered from severe mood swings. Her mood swings would be severe depression to manic excitement and even episodes of psychosis. The people around her explained her mood swings as episodes of insanity. It was her emotional highs and lows, which helped her write. Virginia Woolf wrote several novels over her lifespan. Virginia Woolf was the second child of four children. She was born in Cambridge, England to Sir Leslie Stephen. Her father was a distinguished editor. Her father had a child by his first wife, which would be Virginia’s half-sister who was institutionalized most of her life for mental problems. Virginia also had another half-sister who was born to her mother and her mother’s first husband. Virginia had two half-brothers as well. She was raised in a home where many of her extended family members were a big part of their lives. They were in the upper-middle professional class who put emphasizing intellectual achievement. Virginia Woolf loved to read and would read anything she was allowed to read. Her father stopped choosing reading material for her during her teen years, since she had read so much by this time of her live. During this time girls were not allowed to attend school but she taught herself English literature. She also received some private lessons in Latin and Greek. Virginia envied her brother for being able to be educated at Cambridge. At the young age of 13 Virginia Woolf lost her mother. Virginia was very close to her mother, which made this lose the greatest disaster in her young life. After her mothers’ death Virginia’s father became demanding, unreasonable, and moody. Stella Duckworth, Virginia’s stepsister took on the mother role. Then only two months later Stella died. After Stella’s death Virginia’s father became tyrannical and full of self-pity. Vanessa who was the next-oldest sister took on the mother role for the family. Virginia’s father was not kind to Vanessa, which made Virginia feel torn between loving her father and hating his behavior toward Vanessa. Shortly after Virginia’s mothers death she had her first episode of what now we know as bipolar disorder. She fell into a deep depression. Then after her fathers death Virginia had an even more extreme breakdown. The breakdown started slow with headaches and moments of intense irritations. Then the intense irritations became severe manic states where Virginia felt extreme guilt about her father. During this time effective treatment for bipolar disorder had not been discovered so the doctors prescribed outdoor exercise for the first episode and rest for the later more extreme episode. In Virginia’s adult life it was discovered she had been sexually abused by her two half-brothers. Virginia suffered so many traumatic events in her young life. Virginia attempted suicide several time in her life and was not successful. She later started her career of writing by doing book reviews for several well-respected magazines. Virginia married a man named Leonard Woolf who loved her deeply. Leonard Woolf stayed with Virginia during her episodes of insanity. He did everything possible to help Virginia during her episodes of insanity. During her last episode of insanity, she wrote a farewell letter to Leonard and her sister. Virginia then filled her pockets with stones, walked into the nearby river, and drowned. Biological, Psychological, and Social factors of Virginia Woolf Case Several factors can contribute to bipolar disorder; the factors can be genetics, hormones, and environmental factors. In the case of Virginia Woolf, genetics could be seen as a possibility. She had a step-sister who suffered from mental illness. The step-sister was institutionalized most of her life. Virginia’s father also suffered from mental illness after the death of Virginia’s mother and also the death of her sister Stella. The history of other family members suffering from mental illness shows the connection to be a genetic factor. In Virginia Woolf’s case of bipolar the factor of hormones may also be a possibility. Virginia fell in love with her cousin during her adolescence years. Even after she married her husband Leonard Woolf, she never responded to him sexually. It is not known if her sexual preference for females was caused by her sexual abuse by her step-brothers or hormones. It could have been a factor of both issues which lead to preference for females. Back during Virginia’s lifetime sexual preference was not talked or studied, therefore the true cause of her sexual preference is not fully known. Environmental factors are a huge part of Virginia Woolf’s case of bipolar. Virginia suffered from the lose of her mother at a very young age. Then in a very short time frame later lost her sister who had taken on the role of her mother. She suffered sexual abuse from step-brothers. Then Virginia dealt with her father’s tyrannical and self-pity episodes, which make for a poor living environment for such a young girl. Virginia also dealt with guilt from living in an environment with her father’s behavior towards her other sister Vanessa. People who suffer from bipolar disorder have extreme high or low for no particular reason, which happens for an extended period of time, sometimes with psychotic symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations (NIMH, 2007). When Virginia Woolf wrote it seemed to bring together the different perspectives through which she perceived the world through her cycles of psychotic highs, psychotic lows, and sanity. Virginia recognized the manic state stimulated her already rich imagination to create and project fictions that had little basis in reality but that explained her experienced moods (Carmango, 1992). In her early years, starting at age thirteen, she would alternate from one to the other during her most severe attacks, but just before her suicide was the only time when the severe psychotic depression hit her without the elevated state of mania. Conclusion Several theories exist as to what might lead a person to develop bipolar disorder. In Virginia Woolf's case, many scholars related her illness to childhood sexual abuse by her two step brothers. This theory is based on the Freudian theory. Freud’s ideas were becoming popular about the same time as Virginia Woolf’s literature, and many believed her mental breakdowns stemmed from her abuse, the death of her mother and sister, and her father’s patriarchal control (Carmango, 1992). The cause of bipolar disorder is still not fully known even today. Reference Page Carmango, Thomas. (1992). The Flight of the Mind: Virginia Woolf's Art and Manic Depressive Illness. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. National Institute of Mental Health. (2007) Bipolar Disorder. Bethesda, M.D.: US Department of Health And Human Services. Plante, T. G. (2005). Contemporary clinical psychology (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. * * * * * * *