Anger Management and the Asylum Part 2-Schizophrenia
Jason was a twenty three- year-old tall lanky African American young man. He grew up in the inner city of Los Angeles, California. Although cliché, he loved to play basketball and aspired to be a rap artist.
Jason’s father escorted his son to his first anger management class. They described to me a series of incidents in which Jason slashed his girlfriend tires, followed her throughout the city and then threatened her life. As a consequence he was ordered to complete twenty-six hours of anger management education.
Jason was extremely difficult to instruct in class. He was disruptive and seemed not to possess the ability to take responsibility for his actions. In fact, he was convinced that his girlfriend, father, the police and eventually myself were out to get him.
After several absences Jason’s father informed me that it had become progressively difficult to convince Jason to complete his anger management classes. He would leave the house for days and could not account for his whereabouts.
Jason attended one more class before I lost contact with him. Once neatly groomed, Jason appeared disheveled and unkept. His hair was randomly twisted in sections and his clothes reluctantly hung from his body. Jason’s Dad informed me that this would be his last session, as Jason was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
I recalled my abnormal psych classes and new that the disease often strikes between the ages of seventeen and twenty-five-years-old. I wished them both good luck and closed his file.
Schizophrenia is described as a psychological disorder involving disorganized thought, mood and emotion as well as perception.
