Psychology

The Forgetful Mail Carrier
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Institution:
The Forgetful Mail CarrierHarold sought retirement at the age of 60 due to difficulties in undertaking tasks. While working as a mail carrier, he frequently made errors and often delivered mails to the wrong addresses. Harold was disengaged and he gradually abandoned his hobbies. At one point, Harold could not find his home after a hike in his neighborhood. Harold then started misplacing his belongings, forgetting appointments and he could not find his way around the local town (Butcher, Mineka & Hooley, 2014). At the age of 66, he no longer identifies his companions and he is impassive towards such activities like reading and watching.
In the case of Harold, it is important to undertake a cautious medical analysis which will involve various procedures. Firstly, a systematic medical history regarding the patient will be determined. Here, the gradual signs Alzheimer in the patient will be highlighted and the condition will be classified whether it is mild, moderate or severe. Considering that Harold has been disengaged and is giving up hobbies, it will be fruitful to conduct a comprehensive examination of his mental status as well as mood testing (National Institute on Aging, 2018). Further, physical as well as neurological examinations will also be carried out. To discard other causative factors of dementia-like signs, tests like blood testing and brain imaging will be conducted.
A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease is necessary when evaluating a defendant, particularly the elderly ones.

If a defendant is diagnosed with Alzheimer, the evaluation of his criminal responsibility may be stopped until his capacity evaluation is acquired. In some cases, a possibly incompetent defendant may unintentionally incriminate himself during a criminal responsibility evaluation. Additionally, a diagnosis is relevant for the defendants because medical illnesses such as Alzheimer and the medications used to control them may lead to changes in reasoning and comportment with the potential to successively impact the purported criminal conduct.
References
Butcher, J., Mineka, S., & Hooley, J. (2014). Abnormal psychology. Boston: Pearson.
National Institute on Aging. (2018). How Is Alzheimer’s Disease Diagnosed?. National Institute on Aging. Retrieved 29 March 2018, from https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/how-alzheimers-disease-diagnosed