1. Based on the psychological model of abnormal behavior, Anh is diagnosed with clinical depression. He suffers from sadness, loneliness, and worries about what is happening around him. Anh also admits that he does not have close friends and does not have anyone to talk about his emotional problems. From the mentioned symptoms, the most suitable therapy is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). One mainstream source for cognitive-behavior theory is Cognitive Theory (CT) advanced by Aaron Beck. The main characteristic of depression when a subject continuously see things around him in a dysfunctional manner. According to (Brown & Barlow, 2011), human beings have unconscious longings that must be analyzed in order to identify the potential causes and possible treatment for clinical depression. It is common misconception that negative thinking causes depression, but according to cognitive-behavioral model, depression contains negative thinking. Anh’s low mood, worries, and lack of friends compound the problem. CBT is a structured, directive, and psycho-education approach to treating abnormal behavior.
2. Almost everyone experiences anxiety from time to time. However, there is severe, continuing anxiety that hampers the normal functioning may be a sign of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). GAD refers to extreme worry or anxiety taking place over an extended period (Brown & Barlow, 2011). Severity of the symptoms is what differentiates normal worry from the worry found in GAD. An individual with GAD constantly worry about many things and have persistent apprehension. In such cases, the worry causes difficulty in enjoying life, emotional distress, problems with relationships, as well as other symptoms that lack other explanation such as sighing, headaches, pans, and nausea. On the other hand, it is normal to have an anxiety response to danger or change in environment, but this is different from GAD. An individual with GAD persistently undergoes anxiety, even in the absence of danger. In my opinion, the main difference between normal worry and worry found in GAD is that normal worry is usually a response to environmental changes an individual easily adapts to such changes.
3. A study comparing men and women suffering from panic disorder with agoraphobia showed that women reported more severe agoraphobic avoidance (Latas , Mitrović & Starcević, 2006). The lower agoraphobic avoidance in men is associated with alcohol use. Due to the ability of men to anticipate the effects of panic attacks, they are likely to use alcohol and other drugs to avoid such consequences (Latas, Mitrović & Starcević, 2006). This drives them to use alcohol or other drugs in anticipation of solution to the panic attacks. Additionally, studies show that men are less likely to stay home alone compare to women. This increases the chances of men to engage in drugs and women to stay home alone.
4. Rape culture is a place where people are surrounded with language, images, laws, and other phenomena that perpetuate and validate rape. Rape culture include TV, jokes, legal jargon, advertising, imagery, and words that make sexual coercion and violence against women seem so normal that people believe that rape is normal (Garton, 2012). Rape culture also includes the tendency of the to blame the victim. Instead of viewing the culture of rape as a problem resulting from change, many people tend to view widespread rape, as a normal thing (Block, 2002). Change of attitude is the first step in discarding rape culture problems. Men should come forward and disown discourses of rape culture that portray rape as something that women must undergo and instead support women in making rape unacceptable practice in the society. Parents should stop training boys to be dominant. For example, in several movies, sensual love scenes shows initial female reluctance to give in to male sexual advances and as the man becomes more forceful, she becomes a willing participant.
5. The origins of DID and PTSD are similar, particularly that both share conditions reflect strong emotional reactions to a severe trauma, although exposure to a traumatic event is not a diagnostic criterion for DID (Brown & Barlow, 2011). Furthermore, dissociative symptoms such as dissociative flashbacks and inability to recall significant events are present in PTSD. These overlaps could account for exposure to trauma manifested as DID in some cases and PTSD in others. DID and PTSD overlaps to some extent for example, painful and traumatic events has the potential of causing tremendous mental or emotional disruption in a person’s life. Consequently, along with the development of PTSD, a person may develop DID as a way of coping with the trauma. People often slip into dissociative state if they find the trauma too difficult to confront or cope with (Regehr, et al., 2007). Research shows that male soldiers have higher chances of developing DID as a means coping with traumatic events compared to female rape victims. Similarly, women are likely to develop PTSD than men.
The television show I nominate is Law & Order: SVU, Season 10, Episode 9. I selected the episode because it represents investigation into a case in which a woman was murdered along and her child removed from her body. The TV show shows how flashbacks of experience such as assault can impede the investigation process and put a suspect at risk.
References:
Block, S. (2002). Rape without Women: Print Culture and the Politicization of Rape, 1765-1815. Journal of American History, 89(3), 849-868.
Brown, T.A., & Barlow, D.H. (2011). Casebook in abnormal psychology (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Garton, M. (2012). Fifty shades of rape culture. Eureka Street, 22(19), 17-18.
Latas, M., Mitrović, M., & Starcević, V. (2006). Gender differences in psychopathologic features of agoraphobia with panic disorder. Vojnosanitetski Pregled. Military-Medical and Pharmaceutical Review, 63(6), 569-574.
Regehr, C., LeBlanc, V., Jelley, R., Barath, I., & Daciuk, J. (2007). Previous Trauma Exposure and PTSD Symptoms as Predictors of Subjective and Biological Response to Stress. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 52(10), 675-683.
Starcevic, V., Djordjevic, A., Latas, M., & Bogojevic, G. (1998). Characteristics of agoraphobia in women and men with panic disorder with agoraphobia. Depression and Anxiety, 8(1), 8-13.
