What You Learned in Your Psychopathology Classroom, Essay Example

Psychopathology includes the study of bio-psycho-social explanations to normal human behavior. The function of this triad explains learned behavioral patterns as well as innate patternistic behavior. Certain aspects of the course included the study of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In the confines of this definition it is interesting to note that many studies on ADHD confer that symptomatic behavior deemed as ADHD behavior are typical or even normal childhood responses to life and many children outgrow this behavior upon reaching adulthood. Such learned behavior is majorly influenced by positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement may include such things as rewards to children who are diagnosed with ADHD and have executive functioning issues; for instance, if a child manages their calendar of events in a timely fashion and their organizational skills become stronger because of such practiced behavior, then the children should be rewarded for their mastery and such reward may curtail a bad learning response or a feeling of inadequacy (positive reward is conducive for strong confidence). Although psychopathology may term a disorder as abnormal, the course also instructed that the area of ADHD is still being studied and new theories, medications, and behavioral implications come to light every day.

A person is determined to have ADHD if they have six or more symptoms in the hyperactivity-impulsivity categories, but empirical evidence shows that ADHD is being further examined for varying categories: hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattentive categories. With a combined wealth of study in the bio-psycho-social aspect of the work

• ADHD is a psychiatric disorder
• Three subtypes of ADHD: predominantly hyperactive-impulsive, predominantly inattentive, and combined hyperactive-impulsive and inattentive
• Negative health status for jobs with ADHD workers
• Individuals with predominantly inattentive ADHD have six or more symptoms in the inattention category and six or less in the hyperactivity-impulsivity category.
• Individuals with combined hyperactive-impulsive and inattentive ADHD exhibit six or more symptoms in both the hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattentive categories
• Some ADHD patients outgrow their clinical behaviors
• ADHD is a psychological disorder with biological causes
• ADHD is genetic
• ADHD subtypes are currently being considered as different disorders therefore treatment can be more exact
• Current studies arguer the link between ADHD subtypes and therefore disagreement abounds in accurate diagnosis and treatment

References

ADHD: is it an American condition? World Psychiatry, 2 (2), p. 104.

American Psychiatric Association, 2013. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing, (ADHD) p, 11-66.

DuPaul et al. (2001). Self-Report of ADHD Symptoms in University Students: Cross-Gender and Cross-National Prevalence. J Learn Disabil, 34(4): 370-379.

Gaub M, Carlson CL. (1997). Behavioral Characteristics of DSM-IV ADHD Subtypes in a School-Based Population. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 25(2): 103-111.

Lahey et al. (2005). Instability of the DSM-IV Subtypes of ADHD From Preschool Through Elementary School. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 62(8): 896-902.

Lowe et al. (2004). Joint Analysis of the DRD5 Marker Concludes Association with Attention- Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Confined to the Predominantly Inattentive and Combined Subtypes. AJHG, 74(2): 348-356.

McLoughlin et al. (2007). Genetic Support for the Dual Nature of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Substantial Genetic Overlap Between the Inattentive and Hyperactive–impulsive Components. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 35(6): 999-1008.

Milich R, Balentine AC, Lynam DR. (2006). ADHD Combined Type and ADHD Predominantly Inattentive Type Are Distinct and Unrelated Disorders. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 8(4): 463-488.

NASW (2014). Code of Ethics. National Association of Social Workers.

Riley et al. (2008). Combined Type Versus ADHD Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type: Is There a Difference in Functional Impairment? Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 29(4): 270-275.

Rosler et al. (2004). Prevalence of attention deficit–/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and comorbid disorders in young male prison inmates. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 254(6): 365-371.

NIH. (n.d.). Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Retrieved from   http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/index.shtml