Differences and Similarities between the DSM and the ICD

Abnormal Psychology

Examine the concepts of normality and abnormality.

Defining normality (Jahoda, 1058) Mental Health Model of Normality
A normal person would fulfill some or all of the criteria below:
- absence of mental illness
- realistic self-perception and contact with reality
- strong sense of identity and positive self-esteem
- autonomy and independence
- ability to maintain healthy interpersonal relationships
- ability to cope with stressful situations
- capacity for personal growth and self-actualization
Any individual that showed deviations from the criteria would be defined as 'abnormal'.

Defining abnormality
- the mental illness criterion (the medical model) · The mental illness criterion sees psychological disorders (abnormality) as psychopathology. Pathology means “illness” so it is literally “illness in the psyche”.
- this criterion is linked to psychiatry, which is a branch of medicine. Patients with psychological problems are seen as “ill” in the same way as those who suffer from physiological illnesses.
- diagnosis of mental illness is based on the clinician’s observations, the patient’s self-reports, a clinical interview and diagnostic manuals (classification systems) that classify symptoms of specific disorders to help doctors find a correct diagnosis.

Describe symptoms and prevalence of one disorder from two of the following groups: anxiety disorders, affective disorders eating disorders.

Prevalence is a statistical concept in medicine (or psychiatry). It refers to the percentage of individuals within a population who are affected by a specific disorder either currently or during their lifetime. Prevalence rates change cross-culturally and between genders.

Affective disorder: major depression
Symptoms
Physiological: Fatigue or loss of energy, significant weight loss or gain, loss of appetite, headaches, and pain.
Cognitive: Feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt; difficulties concentrating; negative attitudes towards the self, the world and the future. (Feelings of guilt and worthlessness seem to be symptoms that are primarily experienced in Western cultures).
Emotional: Distress and sadness, loss of interest in the world.
Behavioral: Disturbed sleep patterns, self-destructive behavior (suicidal thoughts), and avoidance of social company.

Eating disorder: bulima nervosa
Symptoms
Physiological: Nutritional deficiencies and hormonal changes could lead to disturbances in the menstrual cycle, fatigue, digestive problems, muscle cramping.
Cognitive: Distorted body image, low self-esteem, sense of lack of control during binge-eating episodes
Emotional: Fear of becoming fat (fat phobia), body dissatisfaction, and depressed mood.
Behavioral: Self-starvation in combination with recurrent binge eating episodes and compensatory behavior such as vomiting and misuse of laxatives to avoid weight gain.

22.04 Blog Post: Social Learning Theory and Bandura (1961)

The Bobo doll experiment conducted by Albert Bandura in 1961 and 1963 were studies focused on studying children's behavior after watching an adult model act aggressively towards a Bobo doll. The participants were 36 boys and 36 girls from the Stanford University Nursery School aged between 3 to 6 years old. The researchers pre-tested the children for how aggressive they were by observing the children in the nursery and judged their aggressive behavior. The children were organized into different groups, where one set of groups would be exposed to non-aggressive behaviour towards the Bobo doll, whilst another would be exposed to aggressive behaviour towards the Bobo doll. The children were sat so they could observe how adults would treat the Bobo doll, so that afterwards the researchers could see if the children would imitate the actions. The results showed that children witnessing aggressive adult behaviour towards the Bobo doll lead to them imitating such violent actions. Whilst the non-aggressive group remained passive. This experiment showed low ecological validity, as it was set up under laboratory conditions. The child and the Bobo doll were strangers, and the child and the adult had no relationship whatsoever. Additionally, it is unlikely that a child and an adult would be left alone and this created a unrealistic environment. Moreover, there are arguments that children who had never played with a Bobo doll were more likely to respond in a violent manner. Lastly, it is possible to argue that the experiment was unethical. Considering that the children could have become more violent or had traumatic experience after the experiment, is uncertain.

Models of Memory

Does Social Media Make People More Stupid or Smarter?

Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Weibo have grown exponentially. People have become submerged within this Internet space that they fail to realize the differences between virtual space and reality. However, this has also enabled people to communicate and gain access to knowledge must easier. Often times our news feeds are filled with cute cat photos, but on the rare occasions there are people who post articles as well.

In virtual space, we tend to become open, due to feeling 'anonymous'. As such, our language tends to be dumbed down to simple abbreviations, and our formality becomes transparent. Social media, and technology have become an commonly accessible everyday tool, perhaps too convenient. Therefore society has become confined in a virtual space, limiting our thinking and hindering our knowledge that we gain from the real world.

Core Rules of Netiquette - Virginia Shea

Core Rules of Netiquette - by Shea

Rule 1. Remember the human

Everyone posting or reading mail is a person. Everything that you post and say can hurt other people’s feelings. When posting, proactively ‘put your shoes in other peoples shoes’. Do not post hateful messages or things that you would attempt not to say in real life. 

Rule 2. Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life. 

Do not violate any rules and regulations, or even bypassing the law.

Have a sense of moral standards.

Rule 3. Know where you are in cyberspace

Be aware of your surroundings, different audiences respond accordingly to their sensitiveness toward’s how they decode messages.

Rule 4. Respect other people’s time and bandwidth.

Before asking questions, check and research whether it has been answered before to not waste other people’s time.

Make sure messages are sent to the appropriate audience

If possible, frequently use private message rather than group messages if need be.

Rule 5. Make yourself look good online

Check grammar and spelling before sending

Do not post conflicting messages.

Rule 6. Share expert knowledge

Offer to extend your knowledge to other’s who need it. Sharing is caring.

Rule 7. Help keep flame wars under control 

Do not respond to hate messages, simply ignore. Ignore them.

Do not let your emotions get the better of you, it is a reflection of your EQ and personality as well as patience. 

Rule 8. Respect other people’s privacy

Do not read other people’s private messages

Rule 9. Don’t abuse your power

You are not inferior to anybody, you are vulnerable to anybody; so are others.

Everyone should be treated with equality

Rule 10. Be forgiving of other people’s mistakes.

Politely point out mistakes privately rather than publicly addressing them, as it embarrasses the individual. 

Do not present yourself to be arrogant or self-righteous; after-all, we are all just human and we are not perfect. 

Competitive Sports Should be Compulsory in Schools

The smell of winning in the air gradually inches closer as you race towards the finish line. One mistake, one minute error, one fault, is all it takes for others’ to finish a step ahead of you. Around the world, many children are trained to be professional athletes. The competitiveness in competitive sports is so intense that it’s not just about physical skills, but also about mental abilities. Life, after all is a game about survival of the fittest. 

Whilst some kids are not born athletes, naturally in their minds they would like to participate and ultimately to be a winner; it is only human nature. In sports, unfortunately there is only one winner - and it is in every human's blood, to be the only one standing on the podium, cheered by the crowds.

First and foremost, participating actively in any competitive arena forms a strong and concrete foundation for physique, cognition and mental infrastructure. With a solid mental training simultaneously built - one can keep their minds calm under intense pressure, which will enhance the performance of the physical side. 

Furthermore, it is unanimous that everybody loves to win and take pride in beating other people, and they certainly enjoy all the benefits that come along with it - fame, pride, honour, monetary gains, self-esteem, etcetera. Inarguably, winning is one of the best satisfactions of being human because it can enlarge an individual's power and in the animal kingdom it could mean territorial rights. Take for example tigers, they fight for territorial rights among each other because naturally, the one with power will be the herd leader and dictates over every other tiger. Professional athletes are not simply trained because of the sport itself, it is their job to be excellent, and in order to be the herd leader like the tigers, they indeed have to go through intense training, hard work, dedication and commitment so that they will be the only one to win. Only the number one spot can give them all the benefits that have been described above. 

Compulsory competitive sports also mimics competition in the real society - where everybody is fearless and is contending for the same thing. For example, people compete for promotions, money, fame, power, self-interest, etcetera. These kinds of competition are no different from competing in sports. They have to go through all the challenges and obstacles in order to achieve their desires. Therefore developing at a young age a strong mental, physical and emotional attitude is crucial for their forthcoming societal needs. They need to be prepared for the intense competition when they become grown ups. On a bigger context, a society without competition will be a society that is not advancing, and we would never be able to live in a better society as time prevails. 

Taking all of the above into account, compulsory sports can enhance people's’ attitude towards their life, as well as their physical, mental and social attributes. Therefore the importance of competitive sports should be acknowledged within schools and be mandatory.