Discussion: Medical Conditions Diagnosis

Discussion 2: Medical Conditions and the Psychological Diagnosis

When diagnosing a client with a particular psychological pathology or disorder, it is essential to consider whether the client has a medical condition. At times, medical conditions may contribute to a person’s psychological disorder. For example, the hormonal changes associated with aging for both men and women may mimic symptoms of a mood disorder. To effectively treat this person, a psychologist must address both the medical and psychological aspects of their condition. With many factors to consider, psychologists must be careful to address the symptoms of disorder accurately. A psychologist’s personal scope of competency related to client diagnosis is critical in order to effectively address other diagnostic factors to other providers.

For this Discussion, consider the differences between medical conditions and psychological disorders. Also, within your personal scope of competency, think about ways to minimize misdiagnosis of clients. Consider best practices for diagnosis and treatment within your scope of competency.

With these thoughts in mind:

Post by Day 4 an example of how medical conditions might mimic psychological disorders. Then explain two ways you might minimize instances of misdiagnosing a medical condition as a psychological disorder. Finally, explain actions you might take within your scope of personal competency if you suspect a medical condition and why.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources and current literature.

· American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.

o Depressive Disorders

o Bipolar and Related Disorders

o Considerations of Medical Conditions

Paris, J. (2015). The intelligent clinician’s guide to the DSM-5 (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

· Chapter 9, Bipolar and Related Disorders

· Chapter 10, Depressive Disorders

Bondi, M. W. (1992). Distinguishing psychological disorders from neurological disorders: Taking Axis III seriously. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 23(4), 306–309. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Neblett, E. W., Jr., Hammond, W. P., Seaton, E. K., & Townsend, T. G. (2010). Underlying mechanisms in the relationship between Africentric worldview and depressive symptoms. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 57(1), 105–113. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Wang, J., Keown, L., Patten, S., Williams, J., Currie, S., Beck, C., & … El-Guebaly, N. (2009). A population-based study on ways of dealing with daily stress: Comparisons among individuals with mental disorders, with long-term general medical conditions and healthy people. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 44(8), 666–674. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Baskin, T. W., Wampold, B. E., Quintana, S. M., & Enright, R. D. (2010). Belongingness as a protective factor against loneliness and potential depression in a multicultural middle school. The Counseling Psychologist, 38(5), 626–651. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Good, G. E., Schopp, L. H., Thomson, D., Hathaway, S., Sanford-Martens, T., Mazurek, M. O., et al. (2006). Masculine roles and rehabilitation outcomes among men recovering from serious injuries. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 7(3), 165–176. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Heckman, C., & Westefeld, J. (2006). The relationship between traumatization and pain: What is the role of emotion? Journal of Family Violence, 21(1), 63–73. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Meiser, B., Mitchell, P., McGirr, H., Van Herten, M., & Schofield, P. (2005). Implications of genetic risk information in families with a high density of bipolar disorder: An exploratory study. Social Science & Medicine, 60(1), 109–118. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Rabinowitz, F. E., & Cochran, S. V. (2007). Men and depression: Implications for counselors. Counseling & Human Development, 40(1), 1–11. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Snowdon, J. (2013). Should psychomotor disturbance be an essential criterion for a DSM-5 diagnosis of melancholia?.BMC Psychiatry, 160(13). Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.