George’s story – a case study George (pseudonym) is a recovering alcoholic with

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George’s story – a case study George (pseudonym) is a recovering alcoholic with over 10 years of sobriety. He was a talented football player and was signed by a professional British club when he was 16 in the early 1990s. The brief extracts presented here are selected from over five hours of unstructured interview data. George’s story in its entirety tracks his early problems with school, family, his emotional volatility and his obsessive personality through his short career as a professional footballer and the onset of alcoholism through a dark and chaotic period of chronic addiction (and all that entails) which led him to rehab in his late twenties. Following a stint of rehab, his story illustrates the ongoing daily experience of staying sober and building a new life . For the purpose of this discussion, I select specific recollections of his behavior when being taught or coached. Even though George was a keen sportsman with a particular passion for football, his behavior was often disruptive, aggressive and volatile. He gave his teachers and coaches numerous problems which they had to try and respond to in the best way they could. Personality disorder (PD), “ism” and problematic behavior, George is unequivocal in his belief that he suffered from emotional problems from an early age which preceded his drinking, but which eventually played a part in using drink (as well as other substances and behaviors) to self-medicate. He refers to this as the “ism” - a frame of mind or attitude or a personality type which purportedly set him apart from his peers. I felt different I suppose, whether that's true or not - I can't tell that because I don't know how other people feel. His frustration manifested itself in various forms of anti-social behavior such as aggression (throwing things in class and walking out), anger, rebelliousness and mischievousness often directed at teachers and coaches. In sharp contrast there was also a desperate desire to please or be liked by teachers and coaches which was counterproductive. I was trying to please people and I would swing between being very moody or doing too much and pissing people off, there was no balance there. I think sometimes people don't understand why a person reacts that way and rather than trying to nurture that, I think the games teacher -I don't think he liked me a great deal because of my self-seeking, trying to get him to like me and I think he saw that as a weakness... The key idea here is that George’s personality was different because it was disordered. In other words he had various emotional and behavioral problems symptomatic of a personality disorder . According to Pickard (2011a: 181) personality disorder occurs: …when the set of characteristics or traits that make a person the kind of person they are causes severe psychological distress and impairment in social, occupational, or other important contexts: the ways a person is inclined to think, feel, and act do them harm, directly or via the effects they have on relationships, work, and life more generally conceived. Personality disorders are a form of mental illness and come in a variety of different guises including cluster C types (anxious and fearful) which consist of “obsessive-compulsive, avoidant, and dependent PD” (Pickard 2011a: 182). George certainly had some of these symptoms - he recalls a catalog of obsessive-compulsive behavior (weight loss, training, exercise, playing football): “I can remember doing an obsessive amount of exercise,” “I would train obsessively 3 times a day” “I have an obsessive mind” “obsessed with how I looked” “I was obsessed at that point with my weight” “I'd get so obsessed and so hard on myself about letting that one goal in” “I was obsessed as well with my hair” [fear of going bald]; avoidant behavior (reading in class, going to school); “I drank to hide the way I felt, because I suppose inside I was quite shy and – although I put this arrogant front on- I had a big chip on my shoulder …it was protection from how I was truly feeling”; and dependent behavior (inhaling gas, alcohol and later food, cigarettes and other drugs) “if I put a substance in that is addictive it sets of something in me which is like I can’t stop doing it, can’t stop thinking about it when I’m not doing it. I have an allergy in my body that seems to respond to that substance that sets off a cycle in motion – I can’t stop obsessing: my body needs it”. For the purpose of this article, the key message from this case study is that George often behaved badly. He was cheeky, disruptive, arrogant, rude, insolent and aggressive.

1. Please discuss his behavior: do you think it is a disorder or not (is it malicious, could he help it)?

2. Are there different approaches you could use to evaluate such behavior? (you may want to do a quick search of the literature on the topic on scholar. google.com)

3. How can coach/teacher and parents deal with such behavior?

4. Discuss whether care and phronesis might help both understand and guide the process of responding appropriately in such a case. Please provide a general outline of both before responding to this question.

Explanation / Answer

Hey,

Any personality disorder has traits or defining characteristics which allows that person into a particular Personality disorder (PD) diagnosis. Having said, these traits are seen commonly in any typical individual as well. Now what sets them appart from a person diagnosed with PD is the intensity and the frequency of the symptom.

In the case study above we are having a timeline against which we are trying to understand George's conduct, nature and his overall approach towards self and people alike. Personality is a mix of both, the overt as well as the covert manifestations. George displays a self destructive as well as a socially unhygenic behavior which can be conveniently clubbed under the disorder tag. His behavior did not stem out of any backlash from drugs or fatigue or situations. It was his perpetual behavior and hence we can smartly club it under PD.

Q.2 When we speak as how to evaluate a behavior, we definitely mean how to calibrate it. In anecdotal references like above, case study approach, personal diary, people's account of the person behavior, self reporting, video or any form of media support to name a few, can help in evaluate the person's behavior.

There are various ways how we can understand this behavior. According to various schools of thought. The onus of the behavior would keep shifting according to the semantic premise of a particular school of though. The psychoanalytical approach would look at his behavior majorly driven by a 'hedonistic id', with defence mechanisms at play .

While the Humanistic school of thought would rather want to focus on the strengths of the person to help him elevate himself from his area of need.

If evaluating a behavior has a different conotation in your mind, be specific to question bout it instead.

Q.3 Any individual needs to be heard and understood. George stands a chance as well. If being dealt with in a mob setting and having realised that he has a deviant social communication, it should be best to ensure that the further existence of his in the group should not be harmful to either of the two party. In the above case, safety should prevail. Socially apathetic personalities can be accomodated in a social setting , if, they are not severly involved in the condition. Introducing them to mindfulness and cognitive restructuring of their thoughts can be helpful. Keeping their destructrive streak at a bay should be the best possible way out to maintain them in a social setting.

Care and precautions surely go a long way. This is positively possible when the level of the disorder is not severe.

Hope you find the content useful.

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