Bio-Psychosocial Self Assessment

Henry Glaze

University of Mississippi

SW601 Human Behavior and Social Environment

Misa Kayama, PhD, MSW

11/1/23
 Introduction

The purpose of this assessment is to understand my own personal biological, psychologi-

cal, and social background from infancy to the present. Understanding and revisiting these stages

will be an insightful assignment that will teach me more about myself than I knew previously. I

am currently placed in the young adult development stage. This includes ages 22 to 35. I am in

the early stages since I am only 25 years old. My life revolves around my occupation which is

my education and is characterized by gaining experience to move into a career to support myself

and a potential family. I have passed through the stages of; infancy, young and middle childhood,

and adolescence.

Assessment

Infancy

Biologically, my infancy was very typical. One key outlier was the fact that I was born 7

weeks early. This meant that I was premature and lacked aspects of physical development. I

weighed significantly less than the average newborn. I spent two weeks after my birth in the

NICU Or neonatal intensive care unit in the hospital where I was born. In the time following my

birth, the rest of my infancy was actually normal. I met the milestones of speech and walking at

the appropriate times. I cried and developed attachments with my immediate caregivers, my par-

ents. These were my primary caregivers and were amazing parents throughout my life. Around,

or closely following my first birthday, I spoke my first word, which my parents say was an at-

tempt to say “GP” which is what everyone in my family calls my grandfather. What I actually

said was “PP”.

grandchild of the family had its benefits. I developed strong attachments to my mother and father

and regularly cried without them regardless of any explanation that they would be right back or

that they would only be gone for a little while. I also was extremely attached to my aunt and

grandparents. These three were always willing to care for me if needed and were constantly

around otherwise. This close net social circle during my infancy was crucial in developing long-

lasting substantial secure attachments.

Psychologically, I do not believe that my infancy was anything other than normal. The re-

lationships that were present in my life at this time were very stable and very loving. There was

no trauma that I was introduced to. My immediate micro system consisting of my parents and

myself was incredibly influential in my infancy. From a psychological upbringing standpoint,

they could not have done a better job. It was characterized by the healthy communication skills

of my parents to me and visa versa.

Early Childhood

Biologically, at this stage from 2-6 years old, I was now able to control my body nor-

mally and physically function at full capacity as compared to the prior developmental stage. An

example of this was the fact that I could now dress myself. Another example is that I could use

many of my fine motor skills. I could use utensils to eat and crayons to draw. Another key exam-

ple for me then, detailing my fine motor skills, was my infatuation with Lego toys. I was given

one at around this stage in my life and it quickly became a daily activity. This was part of my

pretend play then (Haight et all, 2020). My imagination was fueled by activities such as playing

with Legos.
 Psychologically, during this stage, I was speaking coherently. I could be understood be-

cause I had finally been able to understand the spoken English language. I could now communi-

cate with my family, express myself, and have conversations. My thinking also began to tie

closely into continued curiosity. This tied closely to my imagination as mentioned prior. My

imagination was intricately linked to whatever movie or television show I would watch. Specifi-

cally, anything involving space or aliens was a goldmine to my imagination.

Socially, this was the first time in my life that I was introduced to people outside of my

family. Since both of my parents worked full-time jobs, I spent most of the workday at a child-

care center. This is where I first met some of my lifelong friends and experienced play outside of

my own imagination and my own independent fun. This is also the time when my younger

brother came into the world. In a very honest way, I was not incredibly excited to not be the only

child anymore but quickly grew to love him in the years following. He was also crucial in devel-

oping more of my social well-being as I had the opportunity to be an older brother.

Middle Childhood

At this stage, biologically, there were many biological milestones that I hit upon. One key

milestone was my introduction to school and learning in a new formal setting with other stu-

dents. This allowed me to engage socially with other individuals with whom I shared many simi-

larities such as age and developmental stage. This could be better characterized biologically by

activities such as recess or organized sports. I was now physically developing my own strength

and athletic abilities. This also led to other biological developments that were less than fun, com-

paratively. This is the stage where I broke my first bone and had my first, and only, concussion.

Psychologically, this is the stage where my understanding of my own life and world be-

came a formal learning experience. This is also where I first noticed differences in my own
learning ability compared to my other classmates. I severely lacked focus in the classroom. I was

only interested in the class pet or what was going on outside the window next to me. Thankfully,

my grades remained average. My understanding now is that I suffer from Attention Deficit Hy-

peractive Disorder (ADHD). Given that my grades were not greatly affected, my parents did not

think medication was necessary at the time. My lack of focus and impulsive tendencies remained

a constant throughout this stage of my development and into the next.

From a social perspective, this was the most impactful time in my life. It can be explained

by two intertwined events that took place. The first is that my parents separated from each other

when I was seven years old. Being the young child that I was, I had little opportunity to fully

comprehend what was happening in my life. I had no control over these new tumultuous situa-

tions involving the people that I loved most and that I thought loved each other deeply. Because

of their separation, each began several separate moves over the years which also included dating

and marrying other people. Moving was the immediate problem I personally struggled with. This

meant a new school and new friends just at the time when I was beginning to make memories

with the friends I had. As mentioned earlier, this was an incredibly impactful time for me.

Adolescence

This is the developmental stage that had the most biological impact on my life. It was at

this time that I began to understand that I was biologically different from other individuals. I am

genetically predisposed to suffer from addiction and alcoholism. My parents both suffer from ad-

diction as well as several other family members. Due to chemical imbalances and negative cir-

cumstantial experiences at this developmental stage, I began to abuse drugs and alcohol. This en-
compassed much of my life between 13, which was my age of initial use, and 19. At any point in

this span of time that I was not in school or with family, I was more than likely abusing drugs

and alcohol. Biologically, this stunted much of brain’s function during use but also stunted men-

tal and emotional maturity as well.

Psychologically, I remained in a negative, depressed frame of mind while developing

negative drug-related habits to cope with how I was feeling. Any attempt do deal with my prob-

lems was confronted with negative self-talk and lack of control over myself and my deep desire

to have control over my own life stemming from my parent’s divorce. My negative worldview

became continuously darker as I sunk deeper into this revolving door of negativity and deep de-

pression. As mentioned previously, through my own actions, I was stunting my emotional and

mental growth and maturity on a biological level with negative psychological effects.

Again, socially, life for me at this time was less than positive. This is not to say that I did

not enjoy the friendships and community that I did have. In my sick mind, the people I sur-

rounded myself with were enjoyable to be around but were negatively influencing my well-be-

ing. These can be simply given the title of “using buddies”. These were people who also used

and abused drugs and alcohol in a similar fashion to how I did. This encompassed the whole of

my social interactions outside of a classroom or family. It can also understood that though I may

have been physically present in the classroom or with family, I was never socially engaged.

There was never anything more than superficial interaction. This led to social isolation on my

part from, specifically, my family. This remained, still, negatively impactful to my life in the

years to come.

Young Adulthood
 This is my present stage of development given that I am 24 years old. I, biologically, had

reached a point in my life where my drug use occupied the entirety of my life. I had begun my

higher education in the year or two prior and was physically alone in a new town surrounded by

new people. It was at this place of isolation that I finally encountered the overwhelming negative

consequences of my drug use. This culminated in me being forced to remain sober or at the very

least attempt sobriety. This was the hardest struggle of my life as this was the first time in a num-

ber of years that I was without my “coping” mechanism as I would describe my drug use. I suf-

fered withdrawals initially which continued into cravings that were both physically and biologi-

cally demanding on my body. Eventually, I would be able to maintain long-term sobriety and re-

main sober to this day. The cravings seldom occur anymore but are still present in my life. My

biological development that had been stunted also began to develop in a normal way in recent

years with my emotional and mental maturity in my brain’s functioning reaching a point where

the neural pathways in my brain were made new and began to operate in entirely new ways.

Psychologically, this current developmental stage is characterized by my introduction to

therapy for the first time through my rehabilitation process and subsequent aftercare. During this

time, I revisit much of my life and am able to process much of my trauma and personal actions in

a group setting that continues to this day in various meeting forms. This has aided in my growth

in maturity that had been lacking for many reasons. I am more recently able to deal with stressors

or triggers that used to lead to my detriment. I have also spent close to several years, now, with a

therapist whom I trust wholeheartedly. Through these processes, my psychological growth has

been one of my greatest rewards.

From a social development standpoint, my current developmental stage can be character-

ized by my new social roles and expectations within my new social circles. For one, I am a grad-
uate student. I also hold a graduate assistantship. Alongside that, I have an internship. These

three new roles that I participate in require responsibilities and time that I have never truly

worked to provide for. The expectations on myself are also new as are the expectations of those

who teach or supervise me. That is not to say that it is too difficult or demanding but the circum-

stance is a drastic comparison to how I lived my life previously. From a separate perspective, I

have also been able to establish a more healthy social role within my family and friend groups.

Once they understood that I was irresponsible and untrustworthy. Now, most know that they can

trust me and that I work very hard for my own goals and the needs of those that I care about.

These expectations and newfound trust in me have only aided in molding me into the person that

I am today, which is someone I am proud to be.

Impactful Ecological Systems

I am personally aware that the most impactful system presented in my life was the micro-

system of myself and my biological parents. The age I was during their separation and in the

years following were less than ideal because I was so young. I had not yet mentally developed

enough to fully understand and comprehend the situation to the fullest. Through intensive ther-

apy later in life, I understand, more recently, that this impacted my social skills and my ability to

develop meaningful relationships. This psychological confusion and dampening resulted in so-

cial inability on my part.

From a separate perspective, another system that has been positive in my life compared to

the same system in others has been the macro-chronological system of medical care and medical

understanding of drug rehabilitation in young individuals. During my life, the public understand-
ing of the impact of drug use at young ages has grown greatly and has become more mainstream

in common knowledge. Joining in that, treatment for these younger individuals has become more

common when, some years ago, many parents would not send their children to treatment facili-

ties. If this were the case for my own circumstances, my life would not be as successful now as it

is. My continued drug use would have continued to spiral until much later in life or I may have

met more drastic and dangerous outcomes in the not-so-distant future.

Application of Theory- Developmental Systems Theory

This theory is based on the belief that genetics and environment both play major roles in

development (Haight et all, 2020). In my own development, this is an accurate theory. A simple

example is the fact that I am genetically predisposed to suffer from addiction and alcoholism.

This only came to fruition when I encountered substantial environmental stimuli. It took both

factors of my internal and external faculty to produce this effect, directly impacting my develop-

ment. This theory was incredibly impactful during my adolescence as described previously due

to my development of substance problems during this time. The fact that my genetic disposition

was present through all of my previous development also points to the accuracy of this theory be-

cause it took the correct environmental factors for the development to occur fully during adoles-

cence.

Goals in Middle Adulthood

In the next 10-15 years I will be in the beginning stages of the middle adulthood stage of

development.

Biologically, one goal that I hope to achieve is my maintained sobriety. It will remain a

constant throughout my life and will only be so if I maintain constant effort in the upkeep of it.

Achieving this goal, for me, requires regular recovery meetings, working with my sponsor, and
participating in the local recovery community. In achieving this goal, I will hopefully be able to

remain successful in the rest of my life.

Psychologically, one goal that I would like to achieve is a sense of serenity in my career

and in my relationships in the years ahead. I can achieve this goal by continuously focusing on

my own mental health so that I might be better able to deal with negative situations or problems

as they occur.

A social goal of mine for the middle adulthood stage would be to have a well functioning

family and loving family. It is hard to say exactly when this might occur but it is still a goal of

mine to be a husband and father. To achieve this I hope that I might be able to take all the con-

siderations of the previously mentioned goals and use what I already am to be in the best possi-

ble place physically, mentally, and emotionally to take on this new role in life that I hope to ful-

fill to the greatest extent. This will be a new role that I have no experience in but can take my

own lessons from my own experience and put into use all I can to give my family all that I can.

Conclusion

This assessment of myself was more effort than I originally intended it to be. It was in-

sightful in all the ways that I thought but almost to too great an extent. I had forgotten how much

of my life had impacted me involving my family especially. I do feel and understand the value of

this assessment and how a client might also appreciate it. This is only a glimpse of my life and

how my experience affected me so it must come with some burden that even through effort such

as this by a clinician, a client has only just begun to give a short, microscopic picture of their

lives.
 References

Haight, W., Taylor, E., & Soffer-Elnekave, R. (2020). Human behavior for social work practice:

a developmental-ecological framework. Oxford University Press.