Case Study: Mental Health Recovery of Jeremy Oxley and The Sunny Boys

This case study examines the mental health recovery journey of Jeremy Oxley, founder of the band The Sunny Boys, who suffered from schizophrenia. It explores the six principles of recovery and highlights the significance of both clinical and personal recovery methods. The essay discusses the role of Oxley's wife, Mary Griffith, and the combination of medication and psychosocial support in his recovery. It also delves into the practice domains of recovery-oriented mental health, emphasizing patient-centered care, self-management, and organizational commitment. The case study underscores the importance of hope, holistic care, and upholding human rights in the treatment of mental health disorders, emphasizing that both clinical and personal recovery are essential for overcoming mental illness and societal stigma, as exemplified by Oxley's return to a normal life and music career.

Running head: MENTAL HEALTH CASE STUDY ON “SUNNY BOYS”
MENTAL HEALTH CASE STUDY ON “SUNNY BOYS”
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author’s note

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Mental health recovery
Mental health recovery is very vaguely understood. This is due to the fact that the
different signs and symptoms of recovery shown by people having mental disorders can be
different in each case. Different people follow different paths of recovery (McGorry, 2014).
Therapeutics as well as personal recovery methods containing the uniting factors should be used
in combination o provide appropriate care to the patient and bring about better recovery. This
essay will be discussing the recovery pathway of the client Jeremy Oxley, who was a gifted
musician and was the founder of the band the sunny boys. This essay will also describe about the
six principles of recovery that Jeremy have supposedly to have followed (Williams et al., 2012).
This essay will also focus on the ways of the personally recovery means that the carers have
followed to bring about recovery in Jeremy. At last it will throw light upon why both clinical and
personal recoveries are essential in bringing about better recovery. Recovery of Jeremy Oxley
has been related to the six principles of the recovery framework.
Jeremy Oxley who was a surfing champion and a sorcerer and was the founder of a
famous high school rock band had been suffering from schizophrenia for almost 30 years. His
band dissolved due to the problems caused due the Jeremy’s disease (McGorry, 2014). He was
consumed by the paranoid of alcohols and drugs, disturbed by the disturbing thoughts about his
brother. The combination of medication and care given by his girlfriend Mary Griffith, Jeremy
was once again brought back to his normal style.

2MENTAL HEALTH CASE STUDY ON “SUNNY BOYS”
The recovery principle frame work provides with the idea of recovery and the lived
experience. It throws light upon the practice domains and the key principles that a health care
professional should follow to bring about the desired outcomes in the patients.
The framework
Recovery : the concept
It supports a person’s desire or potential or a recovery. Recovery is nothing but the
process of changing one’s attitude, feeling, goals, roles and skills. The recovery oriented
approaches mainly focuses on the on the needs of people by stepping out from their own field of
convenience and providing appropriate care to the patient. In the case of Jeremy Oxley, the
recovery of Jeremy was followed by his return to normal life style (McGorry, 2014).
Each and every person should try to bring his or her own recovery; a recovery has to be
self directed. From the video it was evident that Jeremy had the potential to his own recovery.
Although Jeremy’s wife played a big role in the recovery of Jeremy, he himself also took certain
initiatives like he tried to recreate his band in the name of sunny boys, which became a success
(Williams et al., 2012).
A recovery oriented mental health practice refers to the primary health practice that is for
the well being of a patient (Shanks et al., 2013). This type of a practice would help a person to
take up his own recovery regimen. A person should be able to take his own control of life by
adhering to the prescribed medications and therapies. In case of Jeremy Oxley, Griffiths,
Jeremy’s wife along with his doctors struggled for 9 months to find the right methods to control
the health issues of Jeremy (McGorry, 2014). They were finally successful in bringing out
Jeremy from the darkness of Schizophrenia through medications and psychosocial support.

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The type of mental health care that should be delivered to the patient should be patient
centered, which includes evidence based practice, psychosocial therapies and support (Keviargc
et al., 2013). It is important that the person with the concerned problem should be taught to
believe in life beyond illness. It is evident from the given case study that Jeremy got the support
from her wife and her boys. Mary who was a nurse restricted the use of alcohols and drugs and
provided rehabilitation to him (McGorry, 2014). It was found that Jeremy had been using several
medications over many years, but could not bring any improvement. The main aim of raising this
topic is that it is necessary to provide a spiritual care apart from the medications, which were
previously lacking in Jeremy’s life.
Recognition of the self determination of a patient is extremely necessary to provide a
successful treatment to the patient. while dealing with patients having mental disorders it is
necessary for the caregivers to lessen the seclusion, coercion and restraint, although if no such
less restrictive ways are available , it is necessary to look for the alternative options of care,
keeping in mind that the patient should not be harmed in any circumstances (Chien et al., 2013).
A health care should be able to mange various tensions like positive risk taking, medico-legal
requirements and patient safety. In case of Jeremy Oxley it is evident that Jeremy had stopped
the intake of medications previously as he was concerned about the side effects of the medicines.
But it was Mary’s incessant love and care that forced Jeremy to adhere to his treatment and
dream of a new beginning (McGorry, 2014).
There are several practice domains of the recovery oriented practice and service delivery.
The domains are- 1. Promotion of a culture and language of hope.

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In case of treating persons with mental disorder irrespective the age, cast and creed, it is
very important to choose the words of interaction. It is advisable that a carers language should be
such that the patient feels valued, welcome and safe. It is very important to provide a conducive
nonthreatening environment to the client to ensure a holistic care. In case of the sunny boy
Jeremy Oxley, his key to recovery was his own wife and medication (McGorry, 2014). It is
evident from the documentary that Mary and his boys were very supportive to Jeremy that
helped to bring improvement in him.
2. Patient centered holistic care.
It is necessary for a health care professional to perceive the life of the patient holistically
(Slade et al., 2014). In case of Jeremy Oxley, it is evident that Jeremy’s closed ones were not
affected by the stigma of the illness. People are in general afraid of the schizophrenic people and
consider them as lost cases. But Mary probably understood the man underlying and understood
that he needed a proper care. It can be perceived as the act of love or extraordinary commitment.
3. Supporting self management of the ailment
A patient should always be provoked to understand his own treatment. In many cases
these patients withdraw themselves from the society and often feel to end their lives. A patient
should always be taught to believe in him or herself and should be optimistic about the life and
future. All these should be considered as part of the care regimen (Hasson-ohayon, 2014). It is
important for the caregivers to help the patients to shift from a position of helplessness and
despair to hope. It is evident from the case study of Jeremy that unconditional love and proper
therapies can bring back a person on track and get on with their lives.
4. Development of organizational commitment

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A collaborative care of approach is always required to serve better to the patients. The
professionals involved in the palliative care team should be able to bring out their specific skills
for providing appropriate care to the patient. In case of Jeremy Oxley it was seen that Mary, her
boys, the doctors provided an exceptional service and work environment that helped in bringing
improvement in Jeremy (McGorry, 2014).
5. In order to provide a friendly and conducive environment for the people with mental health
problems it is important to uphold the human rights of those people. The stigma surrounding
schizophrenia, keeps these patients, isolated from the society (Kate et al.,2013). It is required that
every patient’s human rights are served irrespective of the socio economic status. This would
definitely cater to the recovery of mental health in patients coming from different socio-
economic background.
Furthermore it can also be said that it is very important to impart knowledge to the family
of the patient so that they can also be a part of the care program.
It can be seen from the case study that it was Mary’s commitment as a nurse that she stepped in
to Jeremy’s life and provided him with medications, life style changes and psychosocial
therapies that brought hope in Jeremy’s life (McGorry, 2014).
In order to promote a recovery oriented service in an organization it is important to
ensure that a right conjugation of services, supports and treatments are provided. It is essential to
remove all the barriers that are preventing the mental patients from accessing the healthcare
(Williams et al., 2012). It has to be remembered that clinical and personal recovery have similar
aims, to help a patient get recovery from mental illness. Each and every person in his or her life
can face adversities, which might not be mental illness in every case, but they should recover

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from that. Similarly it is the duty of the health care professionals to help out those patients, get
rid of the illness, barriers and the social stigma related to that. The life of Jeremy Oxley is a
lesson which teaches that there is always light at the end of the tunnel, so as seen in Jeremy’s
life. It is due to the love and the care provided by his loved one that Jeremy was reborn as a
musician, reunited the sunny boys and got back to the normal pace of life.

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References
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