Rathus Chapter 12: Disorders

If you want to go back and work on a past week, or you want to peek forward to future modules, simply visit the Modules page!

Objective

The main goal this week is to learn about how psychological disorders are conceptualized, categorized, and managed.

Note: Do not diagnose yourself or others! It's very complex work and reading the DSM isn't sufficient. If you have a question about a specific disorder, let me know and I will be happy to do a video about it!

Learning Outcomes

Once you have completed this week, you will be able to:

Define psychological disorders and describe their prevalence
Describe the symptoms and possible origins of anxiety disorders
Describe the symptoms and possible origins of obsessive-compulsive and related disorders
Describe the symptoms and possible origins of trauma- and stressor-related disorders
Describe the symptoms and possible origins of dissociative disorders
Describe the symptoms and possible origins of somatic symptom and related disorders
Describe the symptoms and possible origins of bipolar disorders and depressive disorders
Describe the symptoms and possible origins of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders
Describe the symptoms and possible origins of personality disorders

Weekly Due Dates Summary (see To-do List for detail/links)
Wednesday	Saturday 6pm	Sunday
Nothing	Diagnosis Assignment due	Module quiz

To-do List

To navigate the course and complete each module, all you need to do is click through the "To-do List" each week and make sure you complete all the items. Remember to use your planner or calendar together with your syllabus to know what's upcoming in the course! The to-do list is organized in the order I think makes the most sense to complete the work, but you are free to tackle your work in whatever order works for you unless otherwise noted.

Read Rathus Chapter 12, and review the PowerPoint
Review Professor Shrayber's PPT. It is very long, but also very good, and you will need it for the assignment. Content from the PPT is likely to appear on the exam.
(Optional) Watch my Zoom lecture on Treating Depression Without Meds and check out the PPT
Watch these videos about various mental health disorders:
- Toward a new understanding of mental illness - Thomas Insel
- What is depression? - Helen M. Farrell
- What is schizophrenia? - Anees Bahji
- The psychology of post-traumatic stress disorder - Joelle Rabow Maletis
- Debunking the myths of OCD - Natascha M. Santos
- What is bipolar disorder? - Helen M. Farrell
- The Importance of a Breakdown
Complete the Diagnosis Assignment due 6pm Saturday
Complete the module quiz by 11:59pm Sunday.

Questions? Come to Zoom office hours Friday from 5 - 6pm (or contact me for another time to meet). The code is 497261 and you will be in the waiting room until I admit you. Typically this will be immediate, but if I am already speaking to someone you will have to wait. I will meet with everyone who is waiting even if we go past 6pm!

Communication Reminders

Active participation

You are expected to be an active member of this class -- that means that you participate as instructed in the required discussions and as needed in the optional ones; it means you complete your assignments fully and promptly; it means that you are checking your e-mail and Canvas regularly so you are aware of changes and announcements; and most importantly, it means you understand that the activities in this class build on each other sequentially, so if you don't understand something you need to reach out and get help before it gets away from you!

In exchange for your active participation in this class, it is my commitment to you to grade your assignments and, most of the time, provide you written feedback on what you did well and what might need improvement at the time they are graded. If I see a pattern or theme emerging in your performance, I will discuss it with you.

Contacting me

Remember that I am here to help you learn! Except for weekends, the maximum response time to your messages is 48 hours... but I definitely try to get to them as soon as I can. Always let me know if there is anything that I can do to help you be successful in this course. You can e-mail me, use Canvas Inbox, post to the weekly discussion (see last item above), or respond to any comment I've made on your assignments.

Connecting with your classmates

For the first few weeks, you will be working with your peers in classwide discussions (both assigned and the weekly ones to help each other out) and have Pronto and Canvas messaging available to you. After we have a bit of work under our belts, you will begin a project that will span the rest of the semester with a smaller group. It will be up to you and your group mates to decide how best to communicate in that context. No matter what, though, your classmates are all around you and are just as willing to support you as you are to support them!

General Information and Support Reminders

Remember that this course includes a General Course Information page where you can find not just information for this specific course (such as links to the syllabus, announcements, and the general Q & A discussion post), but also information about resources available to support you as a student at CCSF (both in-person and virtually), and information about using Canvas and other technology tools.