People throughout the world experience psychological disorders ranging from every spectrum and is seen in different depths. Many times, the general population cannot accurately recognize exact disorders or depict if someone has a disorder because of the high number of people uneducated on the information and the diagnostic criteria that is in place. When fictional pieces of work are being created, whether it is a movie, book, game, or show, the creator uses psychological disorders to portray realistic experiences. A perfect example of a fictional character with a psychological disorder that is diagnosable in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-V) is Sara Tancredi from the television drama Prison Break (Scheuring, 2005). Not only does she play a main role in this drama, her psychological disorder gives rise to a few key events that allow the show to develop.
Sara Tancredi from the show Prison Break was raised by the Indiana governor in Chicago (Scheuring, 2005). For college, she attended Northwestern University where she eventually became a medical doctor. Due to her father’s political career, Tancredi did not have a very close relationship with him. At the age of 29, she decided to become a physician at Fox River State Penitentiary because of her decision to be a humanitarian and additionally because of a past traumatic encounter with the use of opioids. During her time at Fox River State Penitentiary, she became romantically involved with Michael Scofield, who is attempting to break his innocent brother Lincoln Burrows out of the prison. Other pertinent background information on Sara Tancredi includes that she lost her mother and additionally discovered her father hanged in his residency. As a physician at a state penitentiary and her father’s career, it is presumed that Tancredi lived while being financially stable, but it does not seem like she had social relationships with many people outside of her work. After being falsely imprisoned, her husband at the time Michael Scofield sacrifices his life in order to break her out of the Florida prison. Sara Tancredi ends up moving to Costa Rica in order to raise her son in peace (Scheuring, 2005).
Currently, Sara Tancredi is a widow with a young child of Michael Scofield (Scheuring, 2005). After becoming involved with Michael Scofield and supporting him throughout his long and overwhelming journey to pardon his brother of false accusations, Sara Tancredi is very happy to be able to raise their son and know that they are finally free of their problems. Her past life is what brought upon a psychological disorder into her life. Working at a hospital during her early medical career, the stress of work and her home life with her father and mother caused her to become addicted to morphine. One night after finishing her working and using morphine, she was walking in a residential area when a boy was hit by a car. She goes over to the boy and a witness notices her hospital badge and asks Tancredi to help, but she was unable to because of her impairment. This incident led to her seeking rehabilitation through counseling meetings. After nearly 18 months, she insists to the group that getting back to work is the best rehabilitation. She begins working at Fox River State Penitentiary, in which her father dislikes because he believes puts her in danger. Other major events to account for in her life include assisting in the escape of inmates which causes her to be in trouble along with the discovery of her father’s death. As she visits her father’s residency, she finds him hanged in a staged suicide. On a table next to him laid morphine in an attempt for her to use the drug. She ends up resisting the urge.
According the DSM-V, Sara Tancredi fits the diagnosis criteria for “Opiod Use Disorder” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). With this disorder, an individual has opioid usage that leads to major impairment and suffering. Opioids are described as drugs that block opioid receptors on nerve cells (Gale Encyclopedia) . Prescribed by a doctor, opioids are safe to use in order to manage pain for a brief period, but if abused and used for a longer period can lead to dependence to produce euphoria. Opioids include oxycodone, codeine, morphine, fentanyl, and more. Heroin is also an opioid which is illegal. In order to be diagnosed with Opioid Use Disorder, the individual must have at least two of the symptoms that the DSM-V has listed (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). In Sara Tancredi’s case, she did exhibit several symptoms. The first was the large quantity that she was using. She continuously exhibited stronger urges to obtain morphine while at work. Eventually, her usage led her to be unable to live normally at work and at home. Ultimately, all her problems and stressors that she had going on with her personal life and at work led to her continued use of morphine while additionally her morphine addiction caused some of her problems as well. Due to the combination of these symptoms occurring within a twelve-month period, Sara Tancredi can be diagnosed with Opioid Use Disorder.
In Sara Tancredi’s case, it is noted that she has about three or four noticeable symptoms to be diagnosed with Opioid Use Disorder. With this number of symptoms noted, her diagnosis would be between mild and moderate (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). A major issue with substance abuse is that the individual must decide to make a change in his or her habits. At times, it can be extremely tough for someone to make that change and although people can motivate them to change, they cannot grasp it. In cases like Tancredi’s, the individual chooses to keep the abuse hidden from everyone because of how paranoid they become and scared. Working in a hospital and getting this drug illegally there, Tancredi kept this part of her life a secret. She failed to seek help because she was afraid. Once she realizes how terrible her addiction is it became too late and that is when she was unable to help the young boy in that accident. A traumatic event as such can motivate an individual to seek help, which is what she did. Opioid use can be stopped through long term treatment in addition to support from loved ones and friends (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
Treatments for Opioid Use Disorder vary depending on the differences in case. In the severity of the disorder guides professionals and doctors to recommend certain treatments. In an article by Dr. Joshua Scharfstein and Dr. Yngvild Olsen, they highlight how important medical treatment is for opioid addiction (Olsen & Scharfstein, 2014). Two major treatments include methadone and buprenorphine. Some may argue against the use of drugs to treat these types of disorders because it could cause the body to continuously need the drug. This additionally brings many groups to question the DSM-V, its disorders, and its diagnosis criteria for some disorders. Complete withdrawal, per Dr. Beth Dunlap and Dr. Adam Cifu, is not recommend at all because it could lead to drug overdoses and infectious diseases (Dunlap & Cifu, 2016). These infectious diseases end up in these individuals because of unsterile intravenous drug use and the risk of obtaining HIV.
Another treatment to note is cognitive-behavioral therapy. In a study done by McHugh, Greenfield, and Weiss, participants with a diagnosis of Opioid Use Disorder received this therapy (Mchugh, Greenfield & Weiss, 2017). For the ones who completed the program, opioid use was down along with a lower level of anxiety. In Sara Tancredi’s case, she went to group counseling sessions for about 18 months before she decided that going to work is what would make her happy. For substance abusers to be happy, they must find what motivates them towards the good. After her treatment and her continuous distance from morphine, she remained off it after time. She no longer relies on the drug nor has she used it since her traumatic experience with the young boy. Since she has finely found peace with all the troubles she experienced in the past, it is unlikely that she would continue use morphine abusively. However, because of all the stressors and traumatic events she has experienced, she could very easily seek morphine to receive a sense of euphoria.
To conclude, Opioid Use Disorder can completely overshadow the lives of many individuals. For Sara Tancredi, her disorder was slightly moderate because of her symptoms. After her traumatic encounter while using morphine, she sought help through group counseling but eventually determined that getting back to her work would make her happier. At times, it is difficult to treat those with this disorder because they do not always seek help for themselves. People in society must actively attempt to help those in need to prevent terrible things from happening.