by Becky Garrison
NAME: John (aka St. Francis of Assisi)
MARITAL STATUS: Single
SEX: Male
EMPLOYMENT: Unemployed
DOB 1182 AD
AGE: 42
FINANCIAL SITUATION: Embraces poverty
RESIDENCE: Homeless, says goes wherever God calls him
PLACE OF BIRTH: Assisi
Psychiatric Assessment Form
INITIAL INTAKE ASSESSMENT
Subject was at prayer in Mt. Alverna (Italy) on September 14, 1223 when he claims he saw a Seraph come down from heaven bearing the image of the crucified Christ replete with stigmata on hands, feet, and side. John claims to have received said stigmata. He continues to bleed profusely and refuses all medical assistance.
For episodic illnesses describe first episode:
1. ONSET: In 1206, subject heard voices telling him to “rebuild my church.”
2. PRECIPITANTS: Subject continued to visit churches at the request of said voices.
3. DURATION: 3 years during which time subject lived the life of a hermit.
4. RX RESPONSE: Subject refused all offers of financial, medical and psychiatric care.
PSYCHIATRIC AND MEDICAL HX
Unable to obtain records as subject claims God is his primary care provider.
PERSONAL HX
As a child: Father cloth merchant, mother devout Catholic, no outwards signs of abuse
As a teen: attended Cathedral school, became lover of luxurious dress, expansive and high strung, assisted in family business
As an adult: brief military service resulted in imprisonment by the City of Perugia (1 yr.), partially disabled, alienated from family as renounced his inheritance claiming God as his Father
PRELIMINARY DIAGNOSIS
AXIS I: Psychiatric Disorder
Manic-depressive with grandiose delusions (calls himself St. Francis of Assisi and a Herald to the Grand King) and psychotic features (claims to receive messages from God, talks to self and animals), Suicidal ideation (claims to die with Christ)
R/O PTSD
Axis II: Personality
R/O Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder: Need to further assess subject’s unceasing prayer life and creation of devotions and other ritualistic practice
R/O Borderline Personality disorder — subject appears to have no sense of self as he identifies himself as a living embodiment of the crucified Christ
Axis III: Medical conditions
Self-mutilation (subject wears hair shirt, refuses to show stigmata of Our Lord which he claims is imprinted on his body, confesses to running into a bush of thorns and jumping into a pool of water in the dead of winter).
R/O Body Dysmorphic disorder — subject calls his body “my brother the ass”
Axis IV: Social factors
Embraces poverty (sheds tears of joy over his impoverished)
Need to ascertain if the Orders of Friars Minor, the Poor Clares and The Third Order are truly sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church or a cult.
R/O Bestiality
Poor diet — mixes ashes with food to dilute taste
TREATMENT PLAN
Place subject on suicide watch. Stabilize with Prozac until can get a full psych write up to determine appropriate drug cocktail.
Meet with dietician to establish a healthy diet.
Consult with medical doctor for appropriate treatment from self-inflicted injuries.
Keep subject away from the Crusades and other religious military maneuvers to combat martyrdom.