Psychosocial Issues and Their Impact on Mental Health

Running head: PSYCHOSOCIAL ISSUES AND THEIR IMPACT
Psychosocial issues and their impact
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1PSYCHOSOCIAL ISSUES AND THEIR IMPACT
Introduction:
For any traumatic situation, there is a significant impact of the trauma on the psyche of
the different individual. It has to be understood in this context that psyche of different individuals
are unique and hence the impact of any traumatic situation varies depending on the psyche of
that individual: regardless of the fact that whether it is an accident causing physical harm to the
patient or any life event that had a severe psychological strain on the patient. The impact of the
trauma can alter the thought process and response pattern of the victim and derail their lifestyle.
On a more elaborative note, it has to be mentioned that, with respect to the different kinds
of the psyche in the different people, they react or respond to different traumatic stimuli in a
unique manner. Now, in order to address the psycho-social issues plaguing the different
individual, it is very important for the care professionals to have a clear idea regarding their
psyche and how the traumatic impact of any of their life events have affected their behavior,
thought process and response life (Fergusson, McLeod and Horwood 2014). This assignment
will attempt to focus on the adverse life events of a patient named Jim and how it has given rise
to different psychosocial issues that have impacted the lives of the patient, the paper will also
formulate a set of different strategies to help the group of consulting care professionals better
understand the patient and be able to address his issues in a more efficient and effective manner
(Barry and Yuill 2011). The assignment will progress with taking the assistance of a case study
involving a patient named Jim.

2PSYCHOSOCIAL ISSUES AND THEIR IMPACT
Case description:
The case study or trigger chosen for the assignment focuses on a victim named Jim, a 70-
year-old man, living in the housing estate in Glasgow. It has to be mentioned that population in
the Glasgow city is expanding and with the low employment, the percentage of homelessness in
expanding every day. The unemployment rate in the city is the last five years has enhanced by 11
% which has further contributed to the homelessness and addiction rates. The had not been
working since the local factory he had been employed in had closed off 30 years ago, resulting in
his immediate and irrevocable unemployment. The case study further revealed that the patient
had been a smoker and an alcohol addict, and was associated with binge drinking at a local pub
on a regular basis. Along with that, his wife had also died recently hence it has had a significant
impact on Jim as well. He was not seen by the neighbors and close relative for days and his
beloved dog had been wandering around scavenging for food, indicating that he had not been
paying attention to his beloved dog either. He had not been answering his phone either. Presently
the patient had been reported to the local health care facility with a number of different health
adversities. Jim had been showing signs of acute chest infection and had been showing external
appearances of being dirty, smelling of stale cigarettes and whiskey, and along with that, he had
been swearing at everybody without any provocation either. Hence, with respect to the different
signs and symptoms that the patient is exhibiting, it can be mentioned that the patient had been
going through two major psychosocial triggers in his life. The first psychosocial trigger had been
the unemployment 30 years ago, which had affected him profoundly and has altered his lifestyle
and living conditions as well. The second psychosocial trigger identified in the case study chosen
for the assignment is the bereavement of his wife the loss of the only family he had left had been

3PSYCHOSOCIAL ISSUES AND THEIR IMPACT
an ultimate impact on his psychological condition of the patient completely derailing the living
condition and willingness to entertain healthy living.
Exploration of the psychosocial issues of the patient:
Psychosocial issues associated with any patient is known to have a singular impact on
their mental condition, and along with that, how the impact will be perceived by the patient also
has an altering impact on the response of the patient. According to Cooper and Marshall (2013),
there is a strong and influential relationship between the mental or emotional well-being of an
individual and how they respond to the different environmental triggers. According to the theory
of Erik Erikson, there are 8 distinct stages of psychosocial development and each of the
developmental stages affect the linear relationship between cause and effect of a life event by the
means of a diagnostic process. Hence there is a significant relation between the emotional
wellbeing and the resultant health status of a particular individual. Moreover, the altered
emotional wellbeing also has the power to effect behavioural patterns by impairing cognitive
response pattern.
Unemployment:
In this case, the first psychosocial issues that can be discussed in the assignment can be
the unemployment that Jim had been facing since the past 30 years of his life. On a more
elaborative note, drawing reference from the case study, the patient had been 70 years old and he
lost his job at the age of 40, after which attaining another financially secure job can be very
difficult, and the patient in the case study could not get another job as well. And as a result that
had been a significant impact on his psychological health. According to Griep et al. (2015),
unemployment has been discovered as a significant psychosocial issue affecting the lives f the