Preparation
Step 1: Select a Psychological Disorder
Psychological disorders are organized in categories in theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2014). Some of the categories are mood disorders, personality disorders, anxiety disorders, dissociative disorders, psychotic disorders, and eating disorders.
In popular culture, psychological disorders are presented often (with varying degrees of accuracy). The film, A Beautiful Mind was based on the true story of John Nash, who suffered from schizophrenia. As Good As It Gets depicted a man with obsessive-compulsive disorder, andSybil was based on the true story of a young woman with dissociative identity disorder.
Choose one the following psychological disorders:
• Schizophrenia.
• Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
• Borderline Personality Disorder.
• Dissociative Identity Disorder.
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
• Panic Disorder.
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
• Autism Spectrum Disorders.
• Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.
• Anorexia.
• Bulimia Nervosa.
Step Two:
Using professional and scholarly sources, research the biological treatments and psychotherapeutic treatments for the disorder. Select two original scholarly articles that studied the effectiveness of a particular treatment for the disorder. Focus your research on the etiology (causes) of the disorder and consider whether the causes are more biological or environmental in nature, or both.
Based on what you learn from these studies, you will discuss the effectiveness of this treatment for the disorder.
Directions
In 3-5 pages, address the following topics related to your chosen psychological disorder:
• Describe a psychological disorder.
• Present causes for the disorder, based on your examination of your sources.
• Discuss biological and psychotherapeutic treatments for the disorder, focusing on one treatment that has been examined in the literature.
• Discuss the effectiveness of this treatment for the disorder.
• Provide support for your discussion, citing relevant scholarly resources.
Reference
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: Author.
• Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67(4), 371-378.
• Haslam, S. A., &Reicher, S. D. (2012).Contesting the "nature" of conformity: What Milgram and Zimbardo's studies really show. PLoS Biology,10(11).