Hello everyone!
1. I believe that diagnosing a mental disorder in a specific patient is almost fully a positive thing if done correctly, however, this can often be a double-edged sword. For example, a rather common diagnosis is depression; which is an actual disorder where people may lack certain hormones which in turn may negatively affect an individual's emotions. By properly diagnosing someone with this disorder they may be able to obtain medication to rebalance their brain's function and produce the hormone that may be deficient to fix the issue causing the emotional issues properly. However, after being diagnosed with a disorder such as depression this may prohibit an individual from certain opportunities: "Having a mental health diagnosis may impact employment, housing options, relationships and so on" (The Awareness Centre). If I were to be diagnosed with a minor mental disorder that would maybe prohibit me from pursuing my dreams of being in the military or working different jobs and opportunities.
2. I believe the reason it is hard for some individuals to go see a psychiatrist is due to common misconceptions and stigmas developed around mental health and therapy. I grew up in a household where I was told that people who went to therapy and had their emotions as a major concern were seen as weak or narcissistic. In other words, I believe modern society has shamed mental health concerns as a whole which in turn prevents people from going to a psychiatrist or discussing mental health in general. People who do seek help from medical professionals may be in a community that has the proper awareness of mental disorders and they support individuals who suffer from a disorder instead of shaming them.
3. I believe the hardest disorder to teach or counsel that was discussed in Chapter 15 would be dissociative identity disorder. "People with dissociative identity disorder exhibit two or more separate personalities or identities, each well-defined and distinct from one another. They also experience memory gaps for the time during which another identity is in charge" (p. 557). The combination of multiple extreme polar personalities and unpredictable memory loss would be extremely difficult to teach or counsel as progress would usually be halted by the effects of People with a dissociative identity disorder.
4. The video provided multiple examples of how to find signs that someone may be planning to kill themselves and ways to hopefully prevent the planned suicide from happening. If an individual is acting extremely abnormal (such as stopping stuff they usually enjoy, ending relationships, or giving away their most valuable items) (Mayo Clinic). As far as prevention goes, the first best step to take is to ask the suspected individual if he/she is planning on killing themselves. "The best way to keep a teenager from killing herself is to ask" (Mayo Clinic). Despite seeming oversimplified suicide prevention is the most effective when the suspected person knows that other people care about them.
Thank you for reading!
Sources:
Launder, A. What’s The Impact Of Having A Mental Health Diagnosis? The Awareness Centre. theawarenesscentre.com/mental-health-diagnosis/
Mayo Clinic. (2013, June 5). Teen Suicide Prevention. [Video]. YouTube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BByqa7bhto
Spielman, R. M. (2014). Psychology. Openstax.