Abnormal Psychology

Abnormal Psychology

Abnormal psychology is a branch of psychology, which studies abnormal behaviors or illness in a person. Abnormal psychology has several approaches developed by scholars for its complete understanding. Abnormal psychology deters individuals from performing the actions they used to perform in normal occasions. Some scholars argue that psychological disorders are because of physical issues while from the perspective of the psychodynamic theory, such disorders are due to unconscious desires. Abnormal psychology covers the study of emotions, behavioral patterns, and personal thoughts. Abnormal psychology tends to deal with a person’s behavior in a clinical context. Abnormal psychology is both scientific, and culturally oriented such that the approaches taken to study it are also peculiar to each case.

The traditional methods tend to dwell on the dualism while the scientific methods study the adaptive, and multi-adaptive behaviors. However, different psychologists approach the science of abnormal psychology in different ways. Approaches, which the scientist use in the study of abnormal psychology includes; psychodynamic approach, biological, cognitive, behavioral, sociocultural, diathesis-stress, and humanistic approaches. Abnormal psychology can be so detrimental from a familial perspective, and can lead to devastating effects if not promptly counteracted through primary diagnosis, which leads to overall treatment goals.

Primary Diagnosis

The principal symptoms Lona portrays in this case study include depression because of intermittent stress, weight gain, doing unplanned jobs for the sake, and bending low do a lesser paying job than her previous job. Lona portrays desperation in balancing between her job and taking care of the baby. These symptoms are essential for the primary diagnosis process. The case study about Lona presents various paradigms through which abnormal psychology can affect individuals in a family. The primary diagnosis for Lona is depression resulting from anger, and fatigue. Every time mothers give birth, and especially to the first child, they always want to give their best parental roles. Additionally, children at the time of birth need their mothers more. The situation has proved challenging for employed mothers who in many occasions in the formal jobs, are awarded maternity leave. In the case where the mother was the breadwinner as stated in the case study, the situation may be worse. Lona is slowly getting depressed and angered about the situation without seeking clinical therapy. However, her brave step to do so is a sure deal in most similar cases.

First, the assessment of Lona’s functioning will guide me in the evaluation, and the assessment of the treatment planning as well as service delivery selection. The current level of functioning assessment will be paramount in identifying the real issues Lona has been going through. From this assessment, I will be able to assess the other health impacts caused by depression from the case study presented by Lona, she likely suffering from the stress factors. From the tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) codes, section IV of the endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases, relates to weight gain (Caro & Morley, 2016). A person who suffers from stress disorder is likely to gain weight just like in the case of Lona. Stress wreaks havoc on the metabolic processes of a person. Studies have linked hormone cortisol to insatiable appetite, and crazy cravings during stress. This makes it easier for people to accumulate belly fat. Lona no longer liked waking up for morning runs when she discontinued her morning exercises.

Treatment Goals

Exploring Thoughts

One of the treatment goals for psychotherapy is to examine the thoughts, behaviors, and feelings of the affected person (Bennett, 2011). As the psychiatrists or the therapists combat the problem of abnormal psychology, they aim to achieve higher levels of functioning or solving the problem. Nevertheless, in many cases, frequent achievement is higher levels of functioning. The case study of Lona is not a unique case either. Spouses suffer similar problems. Exploring the thoughts of Lona would make her open up, and share what she feels about the husband’s roles in fostering the family desires. As stated in the case study, Lona had not shared with anyone her, resentment, fatigue, and anger except the mother and the sister. This means there are thoughts she holds for her husband. The study may juxtapose the husband is aware of all the problems but assumes he should have been the first person for Lona. The fact that Loan had not shared with him means there are hidden thoughts she has against her husband, which will act as a barrier to solution findings.

Psychologists always attempt to understand the core role of mental function in individuals, and the related social behavior (Bennett, 2011). The emergent properties of the brain must be understood, and all the phenomena linked to these properties. Exploring thoughts will help in exploring other mental processes such as perception, attention emotion, intelligence, and cognition. As the psychologist trying to understand these concepts, they also assist the affected persons like Lona in developing a better understanding of themselves. Lona’s problems may be next to getting solved or getting solved if the goals of the therapy process understand her more profound insights on the current issues at hand. The primary aim of psychotherapy is to increase the individuals’ understanding of their self and overall well-being. To explore the thoughts, the psychotherapists focus on building a good relationship with their clients through active dialogue designed to improve mental health.

Exploring Behaviors

Exploring Lona’s behavior will provide a firm basis for understanding some of the actions of Lona. From the time of their budding careers, Lona and her husband enjoyed every type of life they wanted. For what seemingly was a drastic move for Lona, she decided to abandon the good life at the expense of the child for a low standard life. The behavioral therapy will, in this case, combine the thoughts and feelings into a comprehensive understanding of how the environment impacts on their behaviors. If Lona understood the environment around her, she would learn to respond to events rather than what informs her motives of her actions. Behavioral therapy can be done using the classical conditioning theory, and the emotional response theory.

The classical conditioning theory helps the psychologists explain how people develop emotional responses to individuals at their levels when reacting to situations (Bennett, 2011). The classical conditioning theory will also help Lona understand how her reactions to the problems become attached to the new situation. Lona feels by doing a lesser occupying job, and she will be able to commit to her young daughter. After trying to multitask, her focus shifted from her career. She became exhausted from the many works she did. Behavioral therapy will help a psychologist explain what thoughts, and if any case, emotions she may have towards the husband, who was earning a six-figure salary.

Keeping the Family Intact

The principal aim of Lona looking for clinical therapy to her situation is to get things moving as normal. One of the ways through which she can achieve this is by keeping the family intact. The family can be kept contact by Lona getting to sooth the husband to assist in the household chores. The case of Lone reveals a husband who seldom takes part in the house duties even when we see the wife is overwhelmed by the responsibilities. Women generally need helpers during the postnatal periods. The psychologist also needs to bring the interest of the husband on board. The intimacy between a wife and a husband is one of the critical aspects of strengthening the bond between a husband and a wife, hence keeping the family intact. The goal of Lona is to have everything running as they used to be. Achieving this goal both from the perspective of the psychologist and the client will require the consent of the other party.

An in-depth analysis may juxtapose the husband to be a stumbling block for Lona. Besides, the case study reveals the daughter does not have the close intimacy with the father. The father cannot soothe her for long. The close relationship with a kid is a process, which begins after the child’s birth. If the father were too busy for the child, there would be no parental bond between the two. There is an interplay between an individual and the environment. Human beings influence their surroundings rather than just being the product of the surrounding. The concept of reciprocal determinism states that there is an interplay between personality and the interpretation of events. Parents influence their children’s environment. The parents may respond differently to their children, and perhaps try to be perfect with their first children. However, the case of Lona is the opposite one regarding the fatherhood role of the child.

Supporting Lona

Supporting Lona in her treatment is the fundamental reason for her seeking assistance. The first idea in supporting regards the talks about mental health issues. Millions of people across the globe suffer abnormal psychology but close to 60 percent of such cases go unreported. Studies reveal that many victims of abnormal psychology choose to go silent about their problems for a long time. A situation at hand is Lona who had undergone anger, resentment, and fatigue for close to four years before seeking the right therapy. Talking about abnormal psychology will help Lona learn that her condition is not unique to her, or confined within herself alone, but a worldwide problem. From this talk, Lona will learn to approach psychologists whenever a similar problem arises. Taking about abnormal psychology will release her from the fears of the unknown. The other strength of this idea of the talk is that it will resurface several such cases for Lona so that she understands the problem deeply, and how it affects several people.

Careful listening to the grievances of the clients is one way of showing passionate concerns, and empathy (Bennett, 2011). In a clinical approach for abnormal psychology, the psychologists will be more concerned about patient satisfaction as a paradigm for measuring quality care. When the psychologists pay close attention to the client, there will be several avenues of tackling the issue. The client will also open up more, and share even confidential information regarding the sources of the problem. Lack of attention may communicate many ideas to the client, and show a lack of professionalism. After listening to the views of Lona, as a psychologist, I will know my limits regarding the right therapy. If talks seem to help, I will limit myself to essential aspects of the therapy process, and avoid unnecessary questions.

Areas of Improvement

The health talks will be made short and precise. Lengthy discussions are not healthy for abnormal psychology patients because of boredom. Lona had the problem for close to four years. Somebody like her needs the problem solved using amicable strategies. Additionally, the topics of the discussions will be well researched, and presented rationally, giving practical examples. The examples must account of real occurrences, and not just mere assertions. By doing this, Lona will learn to accept the credibility of the talk, and eventually put whatever discussed into practice. Careful listening is more effective with preservation of short notes for reference purposes. One improvement in the idea of cautious listening is taking note of the statements from Lona. Listening is not only erratic but also inappropriate because of human errors. The psychologists must consider the duration the clients take before seeking therapy advises. For Lona, four years is enough to experience what she went through. What she needs is proper clinical therapy, which will solve her problems or provide for her options to arrive at the solutions.

Homework Assignments

Physical Exercises

Lona discontinued her morning exercises but the process remains the best therapeutic approach for abnormal psychology. Physical exercises relieve fatigue and stress. Physical activities produce certain hormones (endorphins) in the brain, which act as natural pain relievers (Bennett, 2011). It is evident from the case study that Lona may have problems waking up early to do the exercises. There are other opportune moments for doing the exercise. In the evening is a good time for the same. Also, because Lona is engaged in the less paying jobs around the home, I consequently think the demands in terms of time are also tolerable. Lona can thus make time attend a gym for at least twice a week after job. If all the above are impossible, I will give one of the most straightforward exercises, which has helped many but underrated. From her living room, Lona can make it a routine to do press-ups, at least five in the morning, and the evening. Press-ups help stimulates blood circulation in the whole body to the brain, and help in relieving fatigue, and eventually stress.

Shortening Items on the to-do list

Perfuming household chores for some mothers have become a passion rather than being a responsibility. Many women would want their house spotlessly clean. If the mother is a lactating mother, they prefer going for babysitting services to have other chores performed as planned. For Lona, perfuming household duties proved tough because she had a long list of works to done when she did not seek for babysitting services. An assignment of shortening the file to a realist number is thus necessary. Lona should only have essential duties performed and carry the less important to the following day. This will allow her time to relax her mind and even factor in the timeline for the physical exercise.

Areas to Explore

The next areas bound for exploration is the relationship of Lona with the husband. In the case study presented, we see a husband who is passive about home duties, including breadwinning when the wife is lactating. We see a passive husband who has little contact with her daughter even when the mother is busy. The reason for exploring this area is because it will help me understand the root causes of the problem, and perhaps readjust the assignment given. The therapy Lona will undergo depends on the supportiveness of the husband. Otherwise, very little will work out for her. The efforts to understand the relationship between the couples will help me device appropriate therapy for Lona because she seems to suffer alone.

References

Bennett, P. (2011). Abnormal and clinical psychology: An introductory textbook. McGraw-Hill     Education (UK).

Cao, L., & Morley, J. E. (2016). Sarcopenia is recognized as an independent condition by an         international classification of disease, tenth revision, clinical modification (ICD-10-CM)            code. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 17(8), 675-677.