First, read your textbook chapters for this week. This assignment focuses on topics in chapters 15 & 16 regarding psychological disorders and therapy & treatments. Then, be sure to read “APA: What is Mental Illness”Links to an external site. that is also provided in the Readings and Learning Resources section of your week 8 module.
Please see 2 short descriptions of abnormal behaviors below. You must complete both cases. For each case, use what you have learned in your chapters and readings to explain in detail (a) what the root of the problem seems to be. For example, how did it start? Was it genetics? Was it environmental factors? (b) a diagnosis and explanation of the disorder (c) a prognosis for the duration or the severity of the disturbance if it is left untreated, and (d) the type of therapy/treatment you would recommend and why you recommend this. Be specific: Don’t just recommend “a behavioral approach.” Instead, you should state whether you would use systematic desensitization, aversive conditioning, a token economy, etc. NOTE: To keep yourself organized, you should label your work 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d for the first case, and 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d for the second case. Remember your word count requirement and all other requirements listed below and on the grading rubric. DO NOT just list your answers but explain and elaborate! Remember to include evidence and sources to back up your argument or stance. You are encouraged to use other sources besides your textbook. Also remember to use APA formatting (see detailed instructions below).
- “Gigi” was found wandering the streets wearing dirty rags for clothes. She would routinely stand in automobile traffic and scream obscenities at the top of her lungs to no one in particular. Because of these strange behaviors, she was brought to the attention of a licensed clinical social worker. During one of her rare lucid moments, Gigi told the social worker that she lived in a garbage dumpster and that she obeyed voices who commanded her to do the things she did. When asked about her family, she responded that her family was a front for a powerful organized crime operation. They were trying to kill her to cover-up a murder that she witnessed. A search by police and news agencies for friends or relatives proved futile; no one seemed to know who Gigi was, she seemed to have nowhere to go, and her disordered thinking was becoming more and more bizarre.
- “Jenner” is 19 years old. He often got terrible mood swings that were unpredictable and excessive in nature. One time Jenner experienced a sad period, during which he could not get out of bed for more than minutes at a time. He refused to see any friends for weeks. He slowly came out of it and seemed to be normal again (for a little while). Sometimes Jenner felt so dejected and agitated that he contemplated suicide. His friends and loved ones noticed that there are other times where he was hyperactive and extremely elated with accelerated speech and a flight of ideas which, at times, seemed incoherent. They could not understand him or keep up with what he was saying. During this period he worked feverishly day and night on an important piece of art, music or creation that “had to be started and finished that week.” During one of these “excited” expisodes, Jenner pulled the fire alarms – multiple times – in his college dorm room and got in trouble with the campus police. Jenner withdrew from college.