1. Labeling mental disorders helps doctors and patients identify and understand symptoms and develop treatment plans. However, it can also lead to stigmatization and misunderstanding of the patient, limit the individual's awareness of his or her potential, and even result in discrimination.
2. People may be reluctant to seek mental health treatment due to social stigma attached to mental health problems, misconceptions about mental illness, fear of being misunderstood or judged by others, and lack of knowledge of or difficulty in accessing mental health services. This is often seen as more challenging in mental health treatment than in seeking physical health treatment.
3. I consider schizophrenia to be a particularly challenging psychological disorder because it involves symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, and emotional apathy that can lead to extremely unpredictable behavior on the part of the patient. Not only does this pose a challenge to building trust and effective communication, but the social stigma attached to the disorder adds an additional challenge to providing support and education.
4. Signs of possible suicide risk include frequent talk of death or despair, extreme mood swings, withdrawal behaviors and significant changes in lifestyle. In the face of these signs, it is important to take the person's feelings seriously, provide a listening ear and support, and seek professional mental health services. In an emergency, emergency services should be contacted immediately.
I've had a great time discussing all sorts of things about psychology, and I wish everyone a Merry Christmas!
Clinic, M. (2013). Teen suicide prevention [Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BByqa7bhto
Spielman, R. M. (2014). Psychology. Openstax.