Psychiatric Rehabilitation May/June 2017

In these two chapters, Allie struggles with a number of deep thoughts about her identity and what it means for her overall worth. Racing thoughts / "ruminating" can be another symptom of depression...yet are they a sign of intelligence? What is your take on a person who thinks these things? Pathology? Intense self-reflection? Post your ideas and thoughts about these chapters on Allie's struggle with identity. Respond to at least one of your classmate's posts.

A. Throughout this chapter Allie becomes frustrated and irritable with seemingly little things in her environment. How is this behavior consistent with depression? What are some of the thoughts that struck you? B. In this chapter, Allie has a post-surgery plan to get to the birthday party. When she executes this plan, her mother does not understand her behavior. Was her behavior understandable? Why or why not? how might this situation have been handled differently?

Adulting is hard. Was there any part of this chapter that you found yourself identifying with? If so, describe.  What thoughts and behaviors in this chapter are consistent with depression? Answer these questions and reply to one post.

Here Allie Brosh writes regarding her own experience of depression. Choose one quote from pp. 99-156 that made a particular impression on you. Describe what the quote made you think, feel, or find insight into. Reply to one post.

In this chapter, a young child seems obsessed with eating a birthday cake that was made for someone else. First, she hounds her mother for it. When her mom puts it on the fridge, out of her reach, Allie climbs the fridge to get to it. Her mother then places the cake inside the fridge, and places a heavy box in front of the refrigerator door. Allie begins throwing herself against the box in order to move it to access the cake. She throws a tantrum once she arrives at her grandmother's house, and her mom tells her to play outside. Allie begins crying very loudly, right up against the glass. When her mother tells her to play on the side of the house, Allie finds a way into the bedroom where the cake is hidden, and manages to eat the entire cake. Her mother discovers what Allie has done, and then Allie spends the afternoon vomiting cake all over her grandmother's carpet. From an outsider's perspective, would someone think this child had behavioral or mental health issues?...

"One of the most terrifying things that has ever happened to me was watching myself decide over and over again - thirty-five days in a row- to not return a movie I had rented. Every day, I saw it sitting there on the arm of my couch. And every day, I thought, I should really do something about that. ..and then I just didn't ." Allie Brosh. The subtitle of the book is "unfortunate situations, flawed coping mechanisms, mayhem, and other things that happened." Do you see her "motivation" as a flawed coping mechanism?  Is the negative self talk an attempt at coping with depressive symptoms? Why or why not? Reply to these questions, and to at least one of your classmate's posts.

Drugs ("good" and "bad"),  psychosurgery (cingulotomy, capsulotomy, leucotomy), and ECT are all medical approaches to mental illness. Peter Breggin states in the ECT film that all of these practices affect the brain, and in many cases cause lasting brain injury. How do you feel about the family's situation in the ECT film? Was it appropriate for ECT to be used in this case? do you think, based on the Robertson and Pryor article, that she received informed consent (from what you could gather from the film)? What were your thoughts about her situation? The brain controls the expression of our very souls, our "selves," and so when the brain is injured, or hampered in functioning, it may change who we are, and in many cases this change may be permanent. Given what you have learned thus far about the range of medical approaches to mental illness listed in the first sentence above, which treatments should be made available to people and why? Would you...

Validity and Reliability of DSM IV TR Diagnostic System The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV-Text Revision (DSM IV TR) has a multiaxial system whereby people are diagnosed with mental illness. Last year, a complete revision of the system was published in the DSM 5. As discussed, there are significant questions and concerns in our current diagnostic system -- Is it valid? (once a person is diagnosed, is it a valid, or "true" diagnosis)? Is it reliable? Here are some simple explanations of validity and reliability for purposes of this class. Please note that there are many types of validity and reliability, and both are important considerations in the development and implementation of research in our field. VALIDITY: Validity is the concept of how "true" a result is from any instrument or test. For example, there are a number of personality tests now on facebook that claim to be able to discern, from a few random questions (e.g., wha...