week 2

please see attached!

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The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is the reference source mental health professionals and physicians use to diagnose mental disorders.

 

The most recent edition, the DSM-5, was released in 2013. Since its inception, the 
DSM has been growing in size.  According to Week 1’s Learning Resource, History of Mental Illness, the number of diagnosable disorders has tripled since the first publication in 1952 (Farreras, 2020). The DSM-5 added approximately 10 percent new diagnostic categories from the DSM-IV. 

 Contemplate these points:

· the diagnosis of hording was added to the DSM-5, elevating it from a subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder. 

· caffeine use disorder and Internet gaming disorder were added to the DSM-5, placed in a special section reserved for disorders in need of further study

· mental health diagnostic awareness is growing: across social media, prescription drug advertising, and TV programming (
Dexter – Antisocial Personality Disorder with comorbidity in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; 
Homeland – Bipolar)

 

Your Task

1.  
Main Entry:  Provide your response to the following questions.  Support your response through the synthesis of concepts from the week’s readings and learning resources. 

 

a.  What does the ever-expanding list of diagnostic categories within the DSM mean to you, to me, your neighbor, to the fellow in the next town?  Is the expansion of what is considered diagnostically “mentally disordered” within the DSM something we should be tracking?  Why or why not?

b. Are practitioners’ practical approaches/perspectives on psychological disorders influencing their acceptance or rejection of diagnostic labels within the DSM-5?

c. What is the relevance / need for diagnostic labels?  Is it naïve to reject the use of diagnostic labels?

2. Peer Responses:  Post Constructive Peer Feedback. In addition to posting your main entry, respond to at least TWO (2) of your classmates’ entries.  In 3 or more sentences, provide constructive feedback.  What did you find interesting?  Do you have additional thoughts?  Share them.  When providing your feedback present the logic behind it.

 Farreras, I. G. (2020). History of mental illness. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Campaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved from 

http://noba.to/65w3s7ex

CLASSMATE POST 1

a.  What does the ever-expanding list of diagnostic categories within the DSM mean to you, to me, your neighbor, to the fellow in the next town?  Is the expansion of what is considered diagnostically “mentally disordered” within the DSM something we should be tracking?  Why or why not?

With the list of diagnostic categories expanding within the DSM, we ca be sure that such updates like this need to be announced in a public forum. With this in mind, researchers need to carefully construct a basis for new categories in order to include them in the DSM. I believe it is in the public’s best interest to be updated with any inclusions as it pertains to the DSM. 

b. Are practitioners’ practical approaches/perspectives on psychological disorders influencing their acceptance or rejection of diagnostic labels within the DSM-5?

It is hard to answer on what practitioners accept or reject due to the severity of psychological disorders being studied or if any influence was made based on the diagnostic labels within the DSM-5. However, if one should assume a disorder influence a practitioner’s acceptance, it would most likely be based off of what society accepts. Not many researchers in this field want to be a target of canceled culture nowadays based off their opinions and beliefs. 

c. What is the relevance / need for diagnostic labels?  Is it naïve to reject the use of diagnostic labels?

It is truly important to understand what a disorder is and to label it appropriately in order to provide correct treatment to patients. Too many times patients have been misdiagnosed due to the similarities of symptoms with identical disorder labels. A good example of this would be prior service military members seeking help at a Veteran Affairs hospital. Many come in for numerous reasons; the most common is trauma of the mind. When dealing with patients like these, sensitivity is highly encouraged and this is where correct labeling of disorders play a heavy toll. If misdiagnosed due to similarities in disorders being labeled, wrong treatment and medication can worsen symptoms in patients such as veterans. 

CLASSMATE POST 2

Greetings all,

a.  What does the ever-expanding list of diagnostic categories within the DSM mean to you, to me, your neighbor, to the fellow in the next town?  Is the expansion of what is considered diagnostically “mentally disordered” within the DSM something we should be tracking?  Why or why not?

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) started as a tool to assist U.S. Army soldiers during WWII with mental health diagnosis and treatment. Obviously, modern medicine has learned a lot since then and now considers findings from the global population. This means that as of 2013, the DSM model includes broad variations of disorders which is described in detail, to including an overview of the disorder, specific symptoms that must be present for diagnosis, how many persons have been affected in an area by a given disorder, and risk factors commonly associated. Another significant factor highlighted by this week’s

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on is that evidence from many sources indicates that most psychological disorders have a genetic component. Perhaps something to consider when you visit a healthcare professional and they inquire about “family history.” This is the most significant factor when apply DSM-5 information to individuals, i.e. you, me or a person half a world away. Over the decades, DSM has grown to acknowledge more disorders under specific circumstances, thus evolving and adapting to mental health findings. With that being said, it’s important to note this advancement includes removing things like homosexuality from the list of mental health disorders, as it was once believed to be.

b. Are practitioners’ practical approaches/perspectives on psychological disorders influencing their acceptance or rejection of diagnostic labels within the DSM-5?

I don’t believe it’s able to be determined if a practitioner’s care when treating psychological disorders can influence acceptance or rejection within DSM-5. The reason for this is because every patient is different, just like every person is different. There is evidence enough to support both sides. A major factor to consider is the severity of the psychological disorder. Even still, extreme mental health problems such as violence or inability to control physical movement, are likely to improve with proper care through diagnosis. Overall, a study found that “predicted variations in quality of life experiences based upon studies from the general population were not upheld” (Lehman, 1996). I believe it’s up to the practitioner’s best judgement to determine if a patient is ready for total clarity and honesty, over intentional vagueness when providing care to achieve the best treatment possible.

c. What is the relevance / need for diagnostic labels?  Is it naïve to reject the use of diagnostic labels?

Diagnostic labels are necessary to provide continuity in care and treatment. This is especially true if a patient is seen by multiple providers. Furthermore, it’s not necessarily naive to reject diagnostic labels. It could instead be inferred as human nature to reject things not yet ready to hear. According to the National Library of Medicine, many society’s have stigmas related to diagnostic labels. “Across the life span, stigma associated with diagnostic labels can interfere with adequate provision of care, patients’ willingness to seek care, family members’ experience of living with the patient, and both patients’ and families’ willingness to participate in research associated with the disease or disorder” (Garland, 2009).  Again, the more we learn about various cultures as well as the advancement of medicine, practitioners will be able to eventually break the chain of naivety or reception of diagnostic labels.

References:

Garand, L., Lingler, J. H., Conner, K. O., & Dew, M. A. (2009). Diagnostic labels, stigma, and participation in research related to dementia and mild cognitive impairment. 
Research in gerontological nursing, 
2(2), 112–121. 

https://doi.org/10.3928/19404921-20090401-04

Lehman, A., T.Rachuba, L., T.Postrado, L., Andrews, F. M., Angermeyer, M. C., Anthony, W. A., Barker, H., Bernheim, K. F., Bharadwaj, L., Campbell, A., Childers, S. E., & Diener, E. (1999, December 28). 
Demographic influences on quality of life among persons with chronic mental illnesses. Evaluation and Program Planning. Retrieved January 21, 2023, from 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/014971899500006W

 

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This week, we are learning about developing a research study. It is important to operationally define your variables so that you can accurately observe and measure them. Describe a specific research idea and how you would go about studying that idea. Remember to include the variables involved, a potential hypothesis, possible methods, and the statistical tests needed to analyze your data. Find a published article in a research journal to support your idea.

Do you need to find a articles discussed in recent issues of professional peer-reviewed journals?

 

To identify the journal or journals you browse, you can use “library services” or journal websites to see what recent topics have been discussed in journals.  

Some journals you may look at include:  American Journal of Psychology, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, British Journal of Psychology, Evolution and Human Behavior, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, Behavior Research and Therapy, Psychopharmacology, Behavioral Pharmacology, European Journal of Neuroscience, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Journal of Experimental Psychology, Learning and Memory, Neuropharmacology

CLASSMATE POST 1

Research Idea: What makes Fast Food so Addictive?

 

How: I would study this topic by looking at the ingredients listed in different foods, at specific fast-food chains and Restaurants. This could help me to figure out what’s causing the addiction.

 

Independent Variable(Cause): Fast Food

 

Dependent Variable(Effect): Addiction

 

Hypothesis: If you eat fast food often, then there is a strong possibility that you will be addicted.

 

Possible methods: To prove my hypothesis I would use articles to support my point

 

Test Needed: Charts, graphs, and Surveys

 
 

Article: Fast Food Addiction: The Junk enslavement

 

Cite:

 

Balaji Arumugam, Suganya A, Saranya Nagalingam, Suveka V. (2015). 
Fast food addiction The Junk enslavement. International Archives of Integrated Medicine, 2(1), 62-70

 
 

I do realize that this can be very controversial because one could argue that Fast food is not addicting to them or others around them. I chose to take this stance because the proof is in the data. The ingredients put in fast food are what keep people coming back over and over again. That’s why some of us continue to say “I need to stop eating out so much”.

CLASSMATE POST 2

As someone who works everyday with university students, I am well aware of the increases in students registering with disability services with diagnosed mental health concerns. This topic comes up regularly in advising sessions, particularly within the last few years. I would be interested in creating an experiment to see if yoga has a positive impact for students who have been diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD.) I am particularly interested in seeing if a semester GPA increases for students with an existing treatment plan who include yoga as part of the regimen. 

To begin this experiment I would research existing literature. By searching ‘yoga’ and ‘ADHD’ in psychINFO, I was able to find significant research has been conducted on this topic. The first five included the following: 

Ahuja, N. N. (2021). Yoga as a complementary therapy for ADHD. In R. T. Gopalan (Ed.), 
New developments in diagnosing, assessing, and treating ADHD. (pp. 305–317). Medical Information Science Reference/IGI Global. 

Chimiklis, A. L., Dahl, V., Spears, A. P., Goss, K., Fogarty, K., & Chacko, A. (2018). Yoga, mindfulness, and meditation interventions for youth with ADHD: Systematic review and meta-analysis. 
Journal of Child and Family Studies, 
27(10), 3155–3168Jensen, P. (2021). Yoga as an intervention for students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In S. Telles & R. K. Gupta (Eds.), 
Handbook of research on evidence-based perspectives on the psychophysiology of yoga and its applications. (pp. 347–360). Medical Information Science Reference/IGI Global. 

Manuel, J. J. (2021). Special yoga for children and young people with special needs. In S. Telles & R. K. Gupta (Eds.), 
Handbook of research on evidence-based perspectives on the psychophysiology of yoga and its applications. (pp. 330–346). Medical Information Science Reference/IGI Global. 

Phan, T. N., Alam, S., & Wagner, K. D. (2021). Yoga for treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents. 
Psychiatric Annals, 
51(9), 437–442.  While this list can help with a thorough background on research done involving the impact of yoga on ADHD, my research would specifically involve GPA increases on students at Towson University with ADHD. Therefore the target 
population would be current Towson students with existing ADHD diagnoses and registration with the Accessibility and Disability Services office. The 
sample would be twenty students. The 
independent variable would be yoga; specifically two yoga classes a week during the semester. The 
dependent variable would be any increases in GPA. 10 students in the sample would add yoga throughout the fall 2023 semester to their existing treatment plans, 10 students would continue treatment as usual. 

This experiment will aim to find a 
statistical relationship in the addition of yoga to existing treatment plans with positive gains in GPA for students with ADHD. The 
hypothesis, building on the literature, is that the addition of yoga to an existing treatment plan will increase the GPA of students in the study in comparison to students who are only doing treatment as usual. A 
scatterplot could be used to analyze the data; a 
positive relationship between yoga and GPA would indicate the effectiveness of including yoga as academic support for Towson students with an ADHD diagnosis and existing treatment plan. 

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