After Samuel was diagnosed, he became very irate and began to
physically and emotionally abuse Latisha. When Latisha brought
Desiree home, the abuse escalated until she became fearful for her
and the baby's life. This prompted her to move out and enter a
women's shelter. In the shelter she bonded with another woman,
and they decided to share an apartment. While living together, they
both completed their graduate education diploma (GED) and got
jobs at the local grocery store. One night while working late, Latisha
was raped by another employee. She was unable to cope and
resorted to using drugs again. This continued for 6 months until her
roommate forced her to enter a rehabilitation facility, and threatened
to report her to child protective services if she left the program.
Although Latisha completed the program successfully, she
continues to experience depression and feelings of isolation. She
finally sought psychiatric care. This case deviates from the model
case wherein Latisha continues to bounce back and forth (rebounding)
yet internally, is paralyzed to integrate and cope with her
psycho-emotional problem. Therefore, this is a borderline case
because Latisha was unable to obtain all of the defining attributes
unlike her brother.