Professional Documents
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Abstract:
This paper analyzes Jack’s behavior after being diagnosed with a chronic disease, identifies his
potential causes of disturbance of self-concept, and offers recommendations for Jack to follow in
order to accept his new lifestyle, and stop being in denial, plus analyzing how the behavior of
The case explains a 36-year-old Jack who is a professional leader in a hospital, he is supportive
to his team and focuses on eating healthy, exercising regularly and playing on his church’s
basketball team. However, his focus on healthy living declined due to focus on professional
responsibilities for over a year, on his regular medical check-ups, he was diagnosed with a
chronic disease, however, his reaction has been a denial of the diagnosis and a self-prescription
of continued healthy living although he is aware of his family health history. (Self-concept case,
2010).
Some days you may be tempted to pretend you never received your diagnosis, however, facing
your diagnosis head-on is the best way to cope with the new lifestyle, a study found that it was
evident that women diagnosed of breast cancer, and resigned to their fate were psychologically
less well and they adjusted three years later, compared to women who actively confronted their
Running head: Cognitive dissonance diagnosis. (Bourdeau, 2013, August). From this
observation, Jack actions clearly shows are going to cost his psychological wellbeing and hence
According to Bourdeau (2013, August), digesting news of one’s disease can bring a flood of
emotions, with chronic disease diagnosis one may experience various stages of grief, including
denial, bargaining and anger, and sadness, which Jack might be swimming through.
Self-Concept Case Study, By Jack
4
The first step to do according to Bourdeau(2013, August), is to write all of his questions and
taking them to his physician to discuss, ask his physician what steps he could take to optimize his
health, accurate knowledge would make Jack feel empowered to live a new life,
He should also talk about this with his family and friends, in so doing he will build a strong
support network because he needs support now, he can also seek help from a psychologist if the
Jack holds to the self-concept that he can live a healthy life by having a healthy lifestyle, through
eating healthy and exercising regularly, the new information of the diagnosis is a paradox to him,
although he knows about his family health history which might confirm the genesis of the
It is possible to overcome the resistance Jack is experiencing within himself, if he discloses his
fate to different people like his family, friends and his physician, he would get enough support
from disclosing about his new information and tell them exactly about his feelings, meanwhile
time is the best healer so they say, I believe as time goes on, with fruits from the disclosure
through well-managed communication, Jack will be helped to accept his new lifestyle status.
Unfortunately, I don’t think there is a new method of engaging with his team, that he should
adapt, I believe he should be good to go on with his roles as before the new lifestyle, however he
Self-Concept Case Study, By Jack
5
needs sometime off his duties while he adjusts to the new lifestyle, and this will call for a
Conclusion
Cognitive dissonance can be disturbing, although it reveals new information that we may not be
ready to listen to, it is important because it is much worse when tragedy strikes while we were
kept in the dark, or ignorance, in this case Jack is lucky he is aware of his health status, although
he is in denial with a proper management process, he could accept the medication, and continue
Reference:
Cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012, Saylor Academy. Creative commons by-nc-sa 3.0,
https://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/325629/mod_page/content/5/BUS5211Textbook. pdf
https://my.uopeople.edu/mod/workshop/view.php?id=155891
Teri. L. Bourdeau, 2013, August, coping with diagnosis of chronic illness, retrieved October 16,