Write an essay in which you illustrate one psychological disorder or mental health difficulty (e.g. depression, anxiety disorders, PTSD, addiction, OCD, schizophrenia) and discuss one appropriate psychological treatment for that disorder using a case study. The word count is 2000 words. PreparationFor this assignment, you will need to make up a fictional character to use as a case study in your essay. You are then required to address each of the following parts: Part 1: (approx. 500 words) a. Describe symptoms of one psychological disorder or mental health difficulty in general and show how some of these manifest specifically in your fictional character’s life. b. Consider the factors that make this character vulnerable to the mental health difficulty you have chosen and explain how. Briefly describe in a couple of sentences, any personal or demographic characteristics that may be adding to this vulnerability. Part 2: (approx. 1500 words) Critically discuss one type of therapy that you as therapist could employ to help the fictional character as a client. You should refer to psychological theory and the models of experiencing well-being (e.g. the diathesis-stress model, the biopsychosocial model) and take into account professional and ethical considerations in this part of the question. Remember to include references to the sources that you have used using the APA style. GuidanceFor this assignment, you are required to create a fictional character in which you illustrate one psychological disorder or mental health difficulty (e.g. depression, anxiety disorders, PTSD, addiction, OCD, schizophrenia). When creating your character, it might help to consider the following factors and how they might make them more vulnerable to the mental health difficulty you have chosen: What is their gender?What is their age?What is their family background?What is their social status?What is their relationship status?What is their occupation?What experiences have they had?The below is an example of a fictional character. This should only be used to demonstrate the sorts of information you should think about for your own character. You should NOT include this example (or parts of this example) in your case study, as all information included in this assignment should be your own work and in line with the University’s expectations on academic integrity. Example: Samuel is a 65 year old retired Police Officer, who has recently been widowed after 40 years of marriage, and is experiencing depression. He has no children and no close family, and so rarely speaks to others. Recently, to cope with the loss of his wife, Samuel has been drinking more alcohol and refusing to leave his home. He has also been neglecting his hygiene and the cleanliness of his surroundings, and forgetting to take his medication. Despite his previous active lifestyle, Samuel now has diminished interest in the things he used to enjoy doing, and often feels waves of hopelessness. He now finds it very difficult to sleep, doesn’t eat much, and finds it difficult to complete very basic tasks. Reading List for references to help with the assignments: Hanley, T., & Winter, L. A. (Eds.). (2023). Part I: Counselling and Psychotherapy in Context. In The SAGE handbook of counselling and psychotherapy (pp.1-28). Sage. (main textbook) Engel, G. L. (1980). The clinical application of the biopsychosocial model. American Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 535-544. Jeronimus, B. F., Kotov, R., Riese, H., & Ormel, J. (2016). Neuroticism’s prospective association with mental disorders halves after adjustment for baseline symptoms and psychiatric history, but the adjusted association hardly decays with time: a meta-analysis on 59 longitudinal/prospective studies with 443,313 participants. Psychological Medicine, 46, 2883-2906.
