Interview Preparation and Discussion

Module 1 Overview

· Identify DSM diagnostic categories and distinguish between diagnostic and commonly used terminology.

In Module 1, the focus is on providing a “big picture” of what constitutes abnormal psychology. The term abnormal psychology appears self-explanatory, but in practice, it is difficult to define or differentiate from normality. Complicating this definition even further is the fact that what is considered “normal” in one context is “abnormal” in others.

Would you consider it normal to see someone walking completely naked down the street where you live? This would certainly attract attention from onlookers and probably the police. Would your determination of whether or not public nudity constitutes abnormal behavior be different if this individual is walking along a posted-nude beach? Context is clearly important in defining abnormal.

Another important consideration in determining abnormality is culture. The belief that you see your dead relatives around you might be considered a delusion or visual hallucination, but may be a completely “normal” belief among certain religious or cultural groups. We must not jump to conclusions without carefully considering all variables that may be important in assessing whether a given behavior is abnormal.

In this course, we discuss categories and examples of mental illnesses. These are classified under the definition of abnormal or maladaptive behavior. However, there is often no “bright-line test” to determine whether a behavior is simply odd or constitutes a mental illness. Most maladaptive behaviors fall on a continuum with “normal” behaviors.

Consider fears, for example. Most of us can think of something that we are afraid of—perhaps spiders or snakes, heights, or the dark. Fears are certainly considered “normal.” In Module 2, we will consider phobias as examples of mental illness. A phobia is a pronounced, unreasonable, and excessive fear which results in an individual avoiding the fear-causing stimulus. It interferes with the sufferer's life whenever a chance exposure occurs.

The Four Ds

As you complete the readings, discussions, and written assignments in this course, keep it in mind that one of the common hazards of taking a course in abnormal psychology is a tendency to start diagnosing yourself and those around you with a plethora of psychiatric diagnoses. Remember that these behaviors are often seen in everyday life and are not considered to rise to the degree of a mental illness unless specified in the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

In differentiating normal from maladaptive behavior, it is helpful to focus on the four Ds: deviance, distress, dysfunction, and danger (Comer, 2005). The diagnostic criteria of most mental illnesses include components of at least the first three Ds and often all four. A single D is almost never sufficient to classify certain behavior as abnormal.

· Deviance refers to behavior that is very different, unusual, or extreme. We can easily come up with many trends in fashion that would seem to fulfill these criteria. For example, consider an individual with dozens of body piercings or dressed in Goth style.

· Distress focuses on behaviors that are unpleasant or upsetting—this can be either to the individual exhibiting the behavior or to those around that person.

· Dysfunction occurs when the behavior interferes with the individual’s life—school, work, family, and other relationships. An alcoholic who loses a job after coming to work drunk is an example.

· Danger focuses on the risk of harm to the individual or to those around that person. We often consider risk assessment, suicidality, and homicidality; however, the danger need not be that severe.

Reference Comer, R.J. (205). Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology (4th Ed.). New York, NY: Worth.

The New DSM

· Evaluate relevant controversies, cultural biases, and ethical issues related to identification, classification, and treatment of psychological disorders.

· Evaluate the causes and treatment of abnormal behavior in general and for specific disorders.

Next, our focus moves to understanding the various and sometimes conflicting explanations of abnormal behavior and mental illnesses. Afterwards, we will move on to an overview of the process of assessment and diagnosis and then to a review of different diagnostic categories and specific mental illnesses.

The age-old "nature versus nurture" debate continues in abnormal psychology. Researchers and clinicians are interested in what might cause a particular mental illness. Is it a genetic predisposition that "destines" the individual to exhibit the abnormal behavior inherited from parents? Or, does the stress and dysfunction in the individual's environment create a state that produces abnormal behavior? The obvious answer to these questions is a resounding both!

We will first study the evidence from biology, chemistry, and medicine that supports the genetic and biochemical explanations for various mental illnesses. This explanation focuses on chemical imbalances and sees mental illness as a "disease" of the brain. We will then move on to the psychological explanations of mental illness. Of the many theoretical perspectives offered by psychology, we will focus on psychodynamic, behavioral, and cognitive behavioral theories. These explanations are often used to augment the biochemical hypotheses but sometimes compete with these "hard science" approaches. Finally, we will look at sociocultural explanations that take into account cultural and demographic factors, such as socioeconomic status, that may set the stage for mental illness.

Mental illnesses are often the result of multiple causes that interact. The biopsychosocial model attempts to synthesize the three separate theoretical considerations into an integrated model that accounts for the interaction of all elements from biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors. After completing a review and discussion of causation, we will move on to clinical assessment and diagnosis of mental illness. Assessment is a complex process by which a clinician or mental health professional interviews a person and administers various psychological tests to gather information that will lead to diagnosis. As we discussed earlier, many of the behaviors that are considered abnormal are on a continuum with normal behavior. Unfortunately, this process is much more complex than taking a blood sample and measuring particular factors to see if they are in the normal range, such as measuring blood glucose levels for diabetes.

We will look at various systems used to classify abnormal behavior and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each of these. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is the prominent system or "cookbook" used by most mental-health professionals today.

The DSM has recently gone through a revision conducted by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Some of the disorders that are now included in the new edition of the DSM are (APA, 2013). 

This PDF provides a handy reference to changes that have taken place with disorders in the transition from DSM IV-TR to DSM 5. https://www.psychiatry.org/File Library/Psychiatrists/Practice/DSM/APA_DSM_Changes_from_DSM-IV-TR_-to_DSM-5.pdf

Reference American Psychiatric Association (APA). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5thEd.). Washington, D.C.: APA

The Many Faces of Mental Illness

Many terms are used to describe mental illness, and they often have negative connotations and images. Some of these images of mental illness may be accurate, while others may be largely based on inaccuracies. We all have certain ideas of what is “normal” or healthy and what is abnormal or unhealthy. Explore your ideas of mental disorder: Identify an image, poem, song, movie, or any other form of creative expression that you feel communicates the essence of mental disorder/disease. What aspects do you think are easy to depict, which are harder?

Now that we have learned the basics of differentiating normal from abnormal behavior, throughout the remainder of the course we will focus on different categories of mental illnesses.

Course Project Overview

In this course project, you will select a mental disorder of interest and study the theory and practice related to that disorder. You will research the theoretical writings and conduct field research on practice related to the disorder, including an interview with a health professional.

Based on the information you gather, you will report on the following:

· Description of the selected disorder

· Causative factors of the disorder

· Diagnosis of the disorder

· Treatment of the disorder

· Survey of current research on the disorder

· Culturally bound syndromes, cultural biases, or the interplay between assessment and diagnosis and culture

Course Project Part I—Interview and Background Research

Select a mental disorder early in the course and begin research using your textbook and the Argosy University online library resources. One of your tasks will be to interview a mental health professional to learn about the practice related to the disorder. By the end of Module 1, you should have selected the mental disorder you want to work on.

In Module 2, you will generate and submit ten interview questions to gather the information you need. You will have the opportunity to share the questions with your peers and gain insights from the questions they post.

In Module 3, you will conduct field research on the practice related to your selected disorder to write a paper. You will interview a mental health professional to learn about the practice related to the disorder. Use your research of scholarly literature to refine the interview questions you developed in Module 2.

In Module 3, you will research scholarly literature on your selected disorder to submit a research paper in Module 3. Begin researching your selected mental disorder using your textbook and the Argosy University online library resources. Your paper on the disorder will need to include the following:

· Description of the selected disorder (Identify the current DSM diagnostic category for the disorder and distinguish between diagnostic and commonly used terminology.)

· Causative factors of the disorder

· Diagnosis of the disorder

· Treatment of the disorder

· Survey of current research on the disorder

Course Project Part II—Practice

Based on the information you gathered, from the interview and literature search you conducted in Module 3, you will develop a paper (due in Module 5) that includes the following:

· Describe the extent and nature of the disorder, such as number of people diagnosed and under treatment, demographics, and other factors of interest.

· Explain how the selected disorder is diagnosed.

· Explain how the selected disorder is treated. Be sure to include all the views on appropriate treatment and comment on diversity of views or dissent.

· Differentiate the diagnosis of this disorder from those of the other disorders within the same diagnostic category.

· Comment on culturally bound syndromes, cultural biases, or the interplay between assessment and diagnosis and culture.

· Provide data from the professional interview completed relevantly and substantively integrating this information into the body of the paper. Provide the name of the interviewed professional with his/her credentials. Written transcripts of the interview should be recorded and submitted with the assignment (e.g. in paper as an appendices).