DC906 Guidance Counselling

Answer to Question 1:

Psychopathology is an extensive study on the causes, proceedings, and the symptomatic incorporations of mental health disorders or abnormal maladaptive issues, and the challenges posed by them, especially in the social context of individuals (Beidel and Frueh 2018). This study of mental health deals with ways to recognize them, categorize them, and healing them. The entire procedure begins from researching the issue and continues till its treatment is established. It is required for mental health professionals to have a clear idea about the origin of such behaviors and problems for developments in social work, psychiatry, and psychological studies.

Identification of mental disorders is crucial to both the professional as well as the patient. It helps in standardization which not only ensures that the patient receives effective treatment but also allows experts to develop effective treatment and set therapy goals on a particular disease. It also assists in conducting useful researches in the field of mental health (Martel, Markon and Smith 2017). However, the risk of generalizing various other symptoms of similar diseases under one particular disorder is one of the disadvantages of psychopathology. This misevaluation of diseases might lead to undertreatment or overtreatment which can adversely affect the patient. At the same time, as mental health is still stigmatized to date, labeling patients open the risk to prejudices.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Edition Five (DSM-V), published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) which is a guide to serve professionals and researchers to classify and diagnose various mental disorders, has provided different diagnostic labels to categorize cases for treatment and researching. These labels are utilized to differentiate one patient group from the other by the identification of their symptoms which are grouped under the label of a particular disease (Greiver 2018). It is expected for patients that belong to the same diagnostic label to represent the similar nature of the ailment even though they might differ in symptoms and social conditioning. This aids clinicians and health care providers to understand huge amounts of information on diseases. It also helps in identifying patients displaying a particular set of symptoms and helps in the identification of accurate treatment for the same (Downs et al. 2018).

Diagnosis involves the process of recognizing a condition based on its symptoms and by utilizing various evaluation techniques according to the DSM-V along with several tests and examinations. The classification of patients and pointing their way toward specific interventions by health care professionals, complete the procedure of diagnosis. The first step in psychopathology is to critically understand the symptoms and systematically align them with the diagnostic labels mentioned by the DSM-V. Based on this critical evaluation can a particular clinical mental disorder be ascertained by the clinician. The DSM-V contains various categories of mental conditions like anxiety disorders, dissociative disorders, and depression. Each of these labels is described providing an overview of the disorder, their symptoms and identification factors, relevant information about the disorders along with their challenges and potential treatments.  

The American Psychiatric Association describes mental disorders in the light of a few factors.  These include the behavioral and psychological patterns in an individual, representation of essential psychobiological abnormalities by them, reflection of clinically noticeable dysfunctionality by them, their symptoms must not reflect commonly expected consequences inflicted from personal losses or problems, or they must not primarily be a consequence of discord with the society. When individuals accord with the above-mentioned factors, they are termed as suffering from a particular mental disease as categorized according to their symptoms. Mental health disorders should be dealt with by critically analyzing the symptoms, then categorizing and finally proposing the required diagnosis for the particular disease. The patients must be encouraged to start a new life by leaving their old life of disorders, through therapy, medication, and other treatment procedures, and they must be motivated to live their lives amidst society.

In the DSM-V, categorization of diseases was upgraded along with their diagnosis. Autism spectrum disorder, which was previously two separate disorders, is combined into one in this edition along with significant changes in their treatment, and it also included the category of gender dysphoria (Davy 2015). It also classifies disorders according to aetiological connections, like stress and trauma disorders are linked with Dissociative disorders considering the fact that all Dissociative disorders except one are essentially trauma-oriented (MHT, 2019). Anxiety disorders lead up to obsessive compulsions representing their essential similarities and differences in new researches. It takes upon a polythetic approach which leads to categorization of patients if a symptom or a particular set of systems are met with that of the disease.

Mental health is highly stigmatized in society and any individual displaying ‘abnormal’ behaviors that do not reflect with that of a normal functioning individual is marginalized. This is further catalyzed by psychopathology, when an individual is diagnosed and labeled with a  particular mental health disorder, they are stigmatized and socially excluded. The stereotypes and prejudices revolving around mental health are high. Individuals are discriminated based on their social behaviors and are pressed with the constant fear of losing their livelihood and social lives. This, in turn, further reinforces the symptoms of the disease and refrains the patient from seeking professional help (Psychiatry.org 2020).

Answer to Question 2:

The Recovery framework is a comprehensive and individual-oriented model to mental health welfare (Newman et al. 2015). The Recovery model of mental health is based on the two main factors, which are, the acknowledgment of the fact that mental health disorders are curable, and that they are completely directed by patients. It was traditionally believed that finding cures to mental health was not possible, especially in the case of disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. However, the Recovery model, as per its name, indicates that recovery from such diseases is highly attainable only if one believes in themselves and the processes of psychopathology. In the past, it was a hard procedure to gain the confidence of the medical community in the fact that mental health is entirely recoverable if the patient directly gets involved in their treatment process. However, with time, patients started showing improvements with their mental health conditions when they were motivated to live comfortably amidst the society and believed in their own recovery and also initiated it.

The Recovery model takes a holistic approach to dealing with mental health by viewing an individual’s life from a bird’s eye perspective. It has few characteristics that assist the process of recovery. First is the health factor which indicates that a person must make constructive choices for both their physical and mental wellbeing. Second, comes the purpose of their lives in which they must engage in constructive work that engages their mind and lives like family, work, school, or other activities that encourage them. Thirdly, individuals must have a safe and comfortable home where they can reside in peace, and fourthly comes the society of which the patient is a part that encourages the individual as well as the social relationships in which they engage in, that love and respects the individual, supporting them to thrive happily in the community (McConnell, Birkett and Mustanski 2016). Some of the main principles of this model include the support received from allies, a universal approach that is driven by patients, encouragement to heal from traumatic experiences, having strong grounds for respect, and healthy society for the patients.

The Recovery model is different from the Medical model as the Recovery model is entirely dependant on the patients and their self-motivation to initiate their wellbeing, however, the Medical model believes that mental health disorders are stemmed from physiological causes and require medical intervention to deal with the diseases (Compton and Shim 2015).  

The Recovery model stresses the fact that one can have complete control over their lives, even though one might not be in full command over their symptoms (Jacob 2015).  It is not about eliminating the symptoms of the mental condition, but moving past it and learning to heal from it by engaging in different activities, setting new goals, and nurturing new dreams (Jacob 2015). It contends with the traditional concepts of society’s as well mental health care providers’ ways of dealing with mental health issues that donned several limitations on the mentally ill individuals. Healthcare experts tend to have lower expectation levels from their patients as well as the patients’ family and peers could be highly negative about their cure and recovery. The Recovery model puts importance on the fact that a patient directs their own rehabilitation, provided that they have the ideal social and personal conditions (Oades, Deane and Crowe 2017). In this case, health care provisioners must ensure that their patients are encouraged adequately by them. They must instruct their families and allies to support and quicken this recovery process by engaging in healthy communications with the patient and motivating them towards personal development and self-discovery.  

The significance of self-care and recovery in a societal setting is evident from the fact that asylums are getting closed down with increment in the number of psychiatric provisions. Mental health care providers must encourage patients to move from their isolated setting to a more social and community setting. At the same time, they also must educate and aware of society about the treatment of mental health patients and that they should be more warm, respectable, and accepting towards their condition and the strength with which they have dealt with it. They must also promote that mental health is not a stigma and the patients are not ‘abnormal’ or ‘outcasts’. They are the same humans of flesh and blood as the other members of society. The only difference lies in their personal conditioning or the possibility of some traumatic response ingrained in them. Voluntary programs, increased employment opportunities, education, and training programs must be arranged for mental healthcare survivors. This is going to help them lead a successful life and support them in battling their negative urges. Thus, the Recovery model utilizes a comprehensive approach to healing from mental illness, which is, in fact, commanded by the patient themselves, however, it is not possible without the partnership and assistance provided by their immediate households and communities.

References

Beidel, D.C. and Frueh, B.C. eds., 2018. Adult psychopathology and diagnosis. John Wiley & Sons.

Compton, M.T. and Shim, R.S., 2015. The social determinants of mental health. Focus, 13(4), pp.419-425.

Davy, Z., 2015. The DSM-5 and the politics of diagnosing transpeople. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44(5), pp.1165-1176.

Downs, J., Blackmore, A.M., Epstein, A., Skoss, R., Langdon, K., Jacoby, P., Whitehouse, A.J., Leonard, H., Rowe, P.W., Glasson, E.J. and Cerebral Palsy Mental Health Group, 2018. The prevalence of mental health disorders and symptoms in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 60(1), pp.30-38.

Greiver, M., Sullivan, F., Kalia, S., Aliarzadeh, B., Sharma, D., Bernard, S., Meaney, C., Moineddin, R., Eisen, D., Rahman, N. and D’Urzo, T., 2018. Agreement between hospital and primary care on diagnostic labeling for COPD and heart failure in Toronto, Canada: a cross-sectional observational study. NPJ primary care respiratory medicine, 28(1), pp.1-8.

Jacob, K., 2015. Recovery Model of Mental Illness: A Complementary Approach to Psychiatric Care. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, [online] 37(2), pp.117-119. Available at: <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4418239/#:~:text=The%20recovery%20model%20aims%20to,that%20give%20their%20lives%20meaning.>.

Jacob, K.S., 2015. Recovery model of mental illness: A complementary approach to psychiatric care.

Martel, M.M., Markon, K. and Smith, G.T., 2017. Research Review: Multi‐informant integration in child and adolescent psychopathology diagnosis. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 58(2), pp.116-128.

McConnell, E.A., Birkett, M. and Mustanski, B., 2016. Families matter: Social support and mental health trajectories among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 59(6), pp.674-680.

MHT, 2019. Introduction to the classification of mental disorders | MHT. [online] MHT. Available at: <https://www.mentalhealthtoday.co.uk/innovations/an-introduction-to-the-classification-of-mental-disorders-the-dsm-and-the-icd> [Accessed 6 March 2021].

Newman, D., O'Reilly, P., Lee, S.H. and Kennedy, C., 2015. Mental health service users' experiences of mental health care: an integrative literature review. Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing, 22(3), pp.171-182.

Oades, L.G., Deane, F.P. and Crowe, T.P., 2017. Collaborative recovery model: From mental health recovery to wellbeing.

Psychiatry.org, 2020. Stigma and Discrimination. [online] Psychiatry.org. Available at: <https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/stigma-and-discrimination> [Accessed 6 March 2021].

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