Results: Diagnosis Hero

Today in class we'll have the opportunity to review results from yesterday's Diagnosis Hero challenge.

Here is the document with explanations for the correct diagnoses. (Sorry, this document is accessible only to my students at this time. You'll need to be logged in to your chipfalls.org account to view.)

Study Resources for Psychological Disorders and Treatment

I will be updating this post gradually over the next couple of days (and the weekend), as I gather and add resources we'll be using both in class and during study sessions. This unit can be a challenging one, as there is a lot of new vocabulary and terminology to nail down. You guys have become much more adept at thoroughly preparing for your unit tests over the course of this year, so you'll want to bring those skills with you as you move into 4th Quarter!

Some ideas:

• Review the Learning Objectives for this unit. Can you do all of these things?
• Use your Multiple Choice Study Guide that you receive in class after the quiz.
• Review this unit's vocabulary on Quizlet. 110 terms?! Yikes! 
• You got a Psych Disorders matching worksheet to help practice identifying different types of disorders. Here is the answer key!
• Feeling lost? Need a brief overview of a specific topic from this unit? Check out Hank Green's Crash Course videos.
• Psychological Disorders (background, models of illness, controversies, etc.)
• OCD & The Anxiety Disorders (overview of categories & etiology)
• Depressive & Bipolar Disorders 
• Trauma & Addiction
• Schizophrenia & Dissociative Disorders (helps distinguish between these types of disorders...which are totally different!!!)
• Eating and Body Dysmorphic Disorders
• Personality Disorders
• Getting Help: Psychotherapies
• Biomedical Treatments
• Don't forget we have a Study Session scheduled for 5 PM on Monday (4/11). I will post materials (at least those that can be posted electronically) as we get closer...
• Slide Show
• Which One Doesn't Belong? (and ANSWERS)
• Practice FRQ
• Psych Disorders Quizizz Review: join.quizizz.com and enter game code 296990.
• Therapies Quizizz Review: join.quizizz.com and enter game code 572078.

Psych Disorders Notes


Biomedical Treatments



Psychotherapies

What Makes Something a Psychological Disorder?

Today in class we'll begin our unit on Psychological Disorders and Treatment. The first thing we have to do, of course, is to figure out what a "psychological disorder" really is (and what it is not).

So, after you finish your brain model, I'd like you to read through this article, "Is Internet Addiction a Real Thing?" Be prepared to offer your views on the issue. In other words, decide if you think Internet Addiction should be classified as a psychological disorder.

Anxiety Disorders - Activities for 3-27-15

Hi all!

Today you get to explore an interesting category of disorder in the DSM-5: Anxiety Disorders. There have been some changes to the way these disorders are described and classified in the newest version of the DSM, so what you learn today may update previous understandings you might have had about these conditions.

(Note: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) used to be considered anxiety disorders in the DSM-IV-TR, and they are related to these conditions. As a result, your text describes them in the same Module, and Hank will describe OCD in today's video. We will address these conditions when I return on Monday.)

Here's what you need to do:

1. Watch the Crash Course video on Anxiety Disorders (below) to get an intro to these conditions.
2. Begin work on your Anxiety Disorders Booklet (due April 2). Today will be the only time you'll get class time to work on this, so use it productively! I will have the old versions of this project on display in the classroom. However, since those are based on DSM-IV-TR criteria, yours will end up looking different! Your sub will provide you with necessary supplies.

Major Issues in Abnormal Psychology - Activities for 3-26-15

Hello, AP Psych classes!

Sorry I couldn't be with you today. I'll be traveling to my meetings today, so your substitute and the wonderful Mr. Hank Green will be taking you through today's lesson on the models for understanding mental illness and their classification systems.

To Do:

1. Watch the Crash Course video on Psych Disorders (below).
2. Complete the accompanying WS. 

You will need access to the DSM-5 (full or desk reference versions), which I will have in the classroom for your use. You'll also need this list of Highlights of Changes from DSM-IV-TR to DSM-5. 

Diagnosis and Treatment Project

The DSM will become your friend!

At the conclusion of this unit, you should be able to recognize several of the major categories of psychological disorders and their related symptoms. You'll also be able to compare and evaluate different treatment approaches for these disorders.

To demonstrate your mastery of these skills, you will be completing a Diagnosis and Treatment Project that involves analyzing two patient cases and providing diagnosis (based on DSM-IV-TR guidelines) and treatment recommendations for them. You'll also explore how each patient's diagnosis would appear under DSM-5 criteria.

You will be provided with handouts on your specific patient cases in class. They are taken from DSM-IV-TR Casebooks that are used to provide students with practice applying DSM-IV-TR criteria.

Your typed write-ups are due Friday, April 11. Because it is very normal for folks to have questions about this project, I'll be available after school every day this week to help, as well as during lunches and in the AM on Thursday. Please see me if you get stuck.

Resources:

Directions: Diagnosis and Treatment Project

Example: Patient Case and accompanying Diagnosis & Treatment Plan

DSM-IV-TR Codes and Links to Diagnostic Criteria

Handout: Highlights of Changes from DSM-IV-TR to DSM-5

Scoring Rubric: Diagnosis and Treatment Project

Creating Your Handy Guide to the Anxiety Disorders

Poor GAD Stick Man. 

This past week you picked up supplies for a project to be completed by April 1 (Tuesday). The project requires you to come up with an alternative to the DSM section on Anxiety Disorders, ideally one less "clinical" sounding and more accessible to the average person on the street. Feel free to explore any themes or gimmicks that might make your manual sell: color schemes, co-opting existing popular book titles, etc.

You might find these links helpful:

• Directions for your project.
• Info about anxiety disorders and diagnostic criteria (from DSM-IV-TR).
• Highlights of changes from DSM-IV-TR to DSM-5.

Resources for Case Example Application: Diagnosis and Treatment Planning

This week you will apply your knowledge of Psych Disorders and Treatment to create typed case reports for two individuals that you received information about last week. To complete the project you will need:

• The directions for your project and the two case examples you received on Friday (note: different students received different subjects).
• Access to the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic codes. There are several places you can find these. You can navigate through this online version, use the full or abbreviated versions available in the classroom, or access the library's copy of the DSM-IV-TR during study hall. I also have guides for differential diagnosis in my room.
• Access to information about treatment. Here, your textbook will be a good resource, as will the notes you take in class this week.

Diagnosis and treatment planning is obviously a skill that clinicians develop over years of practice, and you are in no way expected to demonstrate proficiency at that level. Your score will be determined based on the rationale (or evidence) you provide for your decisions about diagnosis and treatment options. Even trained professionals do not always agree on diagnostic and treatment decisions, so there is no "right" answer that I am looking for in each of these cases. However, some decisions are more defensible than others, so it is in your best interest to incorporate details from the case example in your rationale and defend your treatment decisions using information from the case and from what you have learned about treatment options.

I am including an example case and an accompanying case report based on that example for your convenience. This should give you an idea of how to format and organize your final product, though keep in mind you will complete TWO of these.

Vincent Van Gogh - Mental Illness and Genius

Some of my students are aware of artists and great thinkers who suffered from mental illness. Among them was the popular painter Vincent Van Gogh, known for his impressive use of color
in works such as "Starry Night" (shown to the right).

There is some speculation about how a modern psychologist would respond to Van Gogh's constellation of symptoms. Some have suggested that he suffered from bipolar disorder, given his bouts of significant productivity that might be understood as manic episodes. He certainly suffered from bouts of severe depression, and ultimately took his own life in 1890.

Knowing Van Gogh's struggles gives one an interesting lens to view his numerous works. Although it's difficult to know how much his illness influenced each particular piece of his art, it certainly is tempting to believe that his depression seeped into some of the more somber scenes and faces he created.

Below, a compilation of images from Van Gogh's work, set to Don McLean's "Vincent," which references the artist and his difficult life.

Repost: John Nash Info

Note: This is a "re-post" of information I posted last spring in coordination with our classes' viewing of the related films. I'm putting it up again for the benefit of my current students, who may want to explore more about Nash's life.

The case of Nobel Prize winner John Nash presents an interesting platform for exploring the nature of mental illness. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994 for his contribution to game theory, Nash had suffered from paranoid schizophrenia much of his life.

Nash's life was depicted in the 2001 film, A Beautiful Mind, which took considerable dramatic license with his story (although still a good film, in my opinion).

For a more realistic consideration of his illness, treatment, and remarkable recovery, check out the American Experience documentary, A Brilliant Madness. The companion site features bios, extended interviews, and a timeline of mental health treatment.

Study Resources for Upcoming Test

Whew! In April deadlines seem to rocket toward me at light speed, so I'll admit that Monday's test feels like it snuck up on me. However, with the AP exam less than a month away, this is no time to be pushing deadlines back...so here we go! If you're looking for a way to review the vocabulary from this unit, you might consider trying the Abnormal Psych Quizlet located on this page. Or try the embedded flashcards below.

Choose a Study ModeScatterLearnFlashcards

Study these flash cards | Study disorders flash cards

We also have a study session scheduled for 5:00 PM Sunday evening if you would like further review with the assistance of friends and your teacher. Test is Monday, of course.

If all of this is too overwhelming for you, and you are feeling in need of some support, go ahead and check out ELIZA, the computer therapist. Much like the chatbot we explored earlier in the year, this simple program is designed to converse with you as a client-centered therapist would. Perhaps she can help you manage your anxiety about the test, if that's an issue. :)

Psych Disorders Assignment Links

By now, we've discussed in class three major categories of disorder: Anxiety Disorders, Mood Disorders, and Schizophrenia. The worksheet you were given yesterday requires you to explore four additional categories of disorder. See below for links to each one:

• Personality Disorders
• Somatoform Disorders (note: some of these disorders are poised to be eliminated/subsumed under a different diagnostic name in the DSM-V; see this website for details)
• Dissociative Disorders
• Factitious Disorders (be sure to note difference between these & somatoform disorders; this category may be eliminated in the DSM-5 & given a new category name; see this website for details).

There are some major proposed changes ("reformulations") to the category of personality disorders in the DSM-5. Particularly, using trait severity ratings and increased emphasis on the person's level of functioning/social impairment in diagnosis.

Also, within the dissociative disorders, "Dissociative Fugue" may be eliminated and simply understood as a type of Dissociative Amnesia (see details).

New York Times Article - DSM V

Thanks to Kent Korek at the Teaching High School Psychology Blog for alerting us to this New York Times article on the upcoming revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

A similar article appears on the ABC News website today.

Just last week I was discussing with students the excitement surrounding the newest version of this publication, as it could significantly alter how we talk about particular disorders (as well as define new ones and eliminate old). Interestingly, this article is the first one I've encountered that discusses the possibility of changing the language describing "mental retardation" (the term that spurred our in-class discussion of it to begin with), a change the some feel is overdue.

For more information on the revision process, including proposed revisions, click here.

Serendipitous Trip to Bedlam!

Some of you may know that I am taking a group of high school students to Europe this summer to study the history of World War II. Our travels will take us to London, Paris, and Berlin, and I am very excited that we will be departing quite soon! See the trip website at http://www.chi-hi-history-trip.blogspot.com/ for details.

While I was communicating with our tour director who is currently in Ireland, he casually mentioned that one of the museums we will be visiting - the Imperial War Museum, which houses artifacts from WWI and WWII - IS BUILT ON THE GROUNDS OF BETHLEM ROYAL HOSPITAL (a.k.a. "Bedlam")! So, my trip is now (though unintentionally) a psychology history trip as well!

For my students who may be confused as to why I am so excited about this, Bethlem was a notorious mental hospital that, in practice, operated more like a zoo. Most abnormal psychology textbooks make some mention of it (often as an example of why modern reforms in mental health care were so direly needed). In fact, our term "bedlam", which is used to describe chaos or an out-of-control situation is derived from this hospital's name!

The IWM's website describes the history of Bethlem Royal Hospital like this:

The building which accommodates the Imperial War Museum London was formerly the central portion of Bethlem Royal Hospital, or Bedlam, as it was commonly known. Designed by James Lewis, it was completed in 1815. Sidney Smith’s dome was added in 1846 and contained the chapel. The east and west wings were demolished in the early 1930s to make room for the park which now surrounds the Museum.
Bethlem Royal Hospital dates back to 1247, when Simon Fitz-Mary, a wealthy alderman and sheriff of London, founded the Priory of St Mary of Bethlehem on the site which is now part of Liverpool Street Station. In the fourteenth century the priory began to specialise in the care of the insane. In 1547 Henry VIII granted the hospital to the City of London.Bethlem was moved to a new building in Moorfields in 1676. Until 1770 there were no restrictions on visitors, and the lunatics, who were often manacled or chained to the walls, were a public attraction.

The hospital was housed in the present building from 1815 to 1930, when it was transferred to Eden Park near Beckenham, Kent.

Patients included Mary Nicholson who tried to assassinate George III in 1786; Jonathan Martin, committed in 1829 after setting fire to York Minster; the painters Richard Dadd and Louis Wain, famous for his cartoons of cats; Antonia White, author of Frost in May and Beyond the Glass; and the architect A W N Pugin who designed the Houses of Parliament and St George’s Roman Catholic Cathedral opposite the Museum.

As if I needed another reason to be excited about this trip! Can't wait to bring back photos to share!

Revisiting Columbine

April 20, 2009 marked the 10-year anniversary of the massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. I'll admit, though it clearly reveals my age, that I was a senior in high school when this frightening event dominated the US media. I remember being very shaken by it, and like many people I still find descriptions of the shooting highly disturbing.

The recent release of the book Columbine, by Dave Cullen, is forcing many people to rethink what happened on that day. This book is currently on my to-read list, as it refutes many commonly accepted myths about the killers and their deeds (admittedly, things I had believed to be true as well). For example, the boys were not social outcasts targeted by bullies; rather, Cullen argues that they were the bullies.

Below, Dave Cullen on Columbine.