Days 24-25 - Psychological Disorders - Introduction

Learning Targets - Students will be able to 

• Describe and analyze common symptoms, causes, and treatments for frequently diagnosed psychological disorders 

Opener - For each, indicate whether you think the behavior is or is not a psychological disorder. If you’re not sure, what other information would you need to know to be more certain of your diagnosis?

Activity #1 - Psychological Disorders - Challenges in diagnosis

• Distress and disfunction

• Is it debilitating?

• Similarity or overlap in symptoms

• Comorbidity occurs when people who suffer from one disorder also suffer at the same time from other disorders
• Because many psychological disorders are comorbid, most severe mental disorders are concentrated in a small group of people (about 6% of the population) who have more than three of them (Kessler, Chiu, Demler, & Walters, 2005).

• Stigma a disgrace or defect that indicates that person belongs to a culturally devalued social group. 
• In some cases the stigma of mental illness is accompanied by the use of disrespectful and dehumanizing labels, including names such as crazy, nuts, mental, schizo, and lunatic.
• The most significant problem of the stigmatization of those with psychological disorder is that it slows their recovery. People with mental problems internalize societal attitudes about mental illness, often becoming so embarrassed or ashamed that they conceal their difficulties and fail to seek treatment. 
• Stigma leads to lowered self-esteem, increased isolation, and hopelessness, and it may negatively influence the individual’s family and professional life (Hayward & Bright, 1997).

• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), a document that provides a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). 
• The DSM is used by therapists, researchers, drug companies, health insurance companies, and policymakers in Canada and the United States to determine what services are appropriately provided for treating patients with given symptoms.

Activity #2 - Is the DSM legit?

After reading the brief articles linked below, address each of the following:

1.  What is the most valuable idea or concept discussed in either of the articles?
2.  How might this information be useful for most people?
3.  Identify one point in which you would question or disagree with the author.
4.  Write two questions that you would ask the author if he/she was here.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/rethinking-mental-health/201203/the-human-cost-diagnosis

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/witness/201305/dsm-5-much-ado-about-nothing-part-i-ii

Close - Post at least 2 questions here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iKDtCmP_Q4AHlAjd2APb2qjx2U2xTSgqM71Hmvl9KK4/edit?usp=sharing

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