Obum Mokeme - The Flip Side of Seriousness

RELAPSE PREVENTION:

2.

THE DISFUNCTIONAL FAMILY!

THE PRESENTING SCENARIO ON ADMISSION:

Ann was admitted into an acute mental health ward. She had been sent to the hospital by the occupational health doctor at work. Her boss had observed a steady deterioration in her work. She was also not her usual ‘perky’ self. After a brief evaluation by the doctors at the local Accident & Emergency Department, she was referred to the ward for a full evaluation and treatment.

BACKGROUND TO THE PROBLEMS PRESENTED:

Ann has an older brother, one older sister and another younger sister. They all lived with their mother in a three bedroom council flat. Their mother brought them up as a single mother. The children were still quite young when their father abandoned his family. He went to work one day and did not return. Nobody had seen or heard from him ever since. His wife had exhausted her searches before she went to the police station to report him as a missing person. She had already been to see all his relatives as well as hers but nobody had seen or heard from him. The police reported that there was no trace of the husband and father and that the case has been closed. After several months of going to beg for money, food and toiletries from various family members, she was advised to go to the council offices for help.

At first, she was too ashamed to approach the council for help. But relatives started turning her away when she came round again and again to ask for help. Some refused to see her while others told the children to say that they were not at home. The situation became increasingly difficult. She tried to ration the food and the snacks that she was able to find in order to stretch what little they had. But children do not understand such reasoning especially if they were used to a different standard of living before. Eventually, she had to swallow her pride and go to seek help from the council. She was directed to the social services department which dealt with issuance of benefits. After the usual information gathering; investigations; and confirmation that her case was genuine, funds were allocated to her and to her children. Things improved for the family. The first two children were neither in education nor were they interested in learning new skills to help them get into the job market. They had already been missing school as there was no money for transport to and from school. Now that they had some help from social services, the two older children still refused to return to school in spite of their mother’s efforts. The school took their mother to task about her failure to get her children to attend school but there was not much that she could do besides prompting them to return to school. Gradually, they dropped out from education one after the other as they reached the age of sixteen. The two oldest children, George and Susan both left school without any qualification. George appeared to be Susan’s role model. Whatever he did, she copied. They both also refused to attend the free skills acquisition classes run by the council.

Ann was the third child. She seemed to be the sensible one. She asked her mother if she could be transferred to a school nearer their home so that she could walk to school as she would not need transport fares. Her mother was both surprised and delighted by Ann’s suggestion that she had both Ann and Robin, the youngest, transferred to the nearest primary school. Both children went on to complete secondary school education at a secondary school near their home. Ann left school with seven GCSC’s. She did so well that her teachers encouraged her to go on to study for Advanced levels in preparation for university but she declined to do so. She was in favour of finding a job so that she could help her family. Meanwhile, while she was still at secondary school, Ann worked at the local shops during weekends and school holidays. She also earned a small wage during work experiences which were organized by the school. She was able to contribute to family expenses out of the meagre wages that she earned. The difference that her contributions made to her family’s upkeep influenced her decision to get a job to help her family rather than going into further education. Although she passed her examinations with flying colours, she preferred to look for a job so she would be able to help her mother. Even though they now had some financial help from the council, it only met the basic needs and left nothing for emergencies or small luxuries like new clothes, shoes and family celebrations. Most of her clothes were handed down from her mother or her older sister while she did the same for her younger sister, Robin.