James

Borderline personality disorder and DBT Welcome to today's scenario. We will again be using a virtual patient to explore some issues in mental health communications. The cases will work best for you if treat this virtual patient as you would a real patient. This case study includes content related to mental illness and addcitions. Sometimes these discussions can trigger unresolved personal experiences. If you need support please reach out to your family, physician, local ditress center, or if this is an emergency please go to your local emergecy department. James is a 30 year old male. Throughout his twenties he struggled to keep a job for longer than a couple months. James has also had one prior admission to an acute mental health unit for a failed suicide attempt. He had tried to hang himself from the garage ceiling using a belt, but his partner at the time found him after getting home from work and cut him down. It was noted that during this prior admission, James shared several different stories about why he tried to kill himself with the healthcare team. He had also threatened to report the nursing staff to the unit manager if they did not meet his needs and frequently engaged in self-harm behaviors on the unit. These behaviors included cutting his forearms with a razor and banging his head when he became emotionally dysregulated.