Jimmy Diegelmann 3/11/2018 Period 4

Psychology Essay

To treat a woman, of 28 years who complains of feelings of constant fear, under

the biological paradigm it would be necessary to go through a systematic
desensitization. Considering the woman was probably experiencing a phobic reaction to
something in the evening, which related to salt. This woman’s problems can be classified
in either the first or fourth axis in the DSM-IV, which are the “nine major clinical
syndromes” and the “psychosocial and environmental problems”. An MRI or
magnetic resonance imaging could image the structure of a person’s brain to help
classify their disorder. It also possible that the woman under the biological theory of
depression has underlying genetic factors that lead to her constant fears. To treat this
woman, she would be given small portions of salty foods and induced to gradual light
changes in a virtual reality under psychiatrist supervision. Antidepressant drugs could
be prescribed to the woman, so that certain neurotransmitters that may be believed to
cause her fear could be increased to a normal level. If this woman was having any
delusions or hallucinations she could be classified as a schizophrenic and treated
accordingly with phenothiazines. The diathesis stress theory of schizophrenia says
that some people have a genetic predisposition that interacts with life stressors to result in
the onset and development of schizophrenia.
To treat a woman, of 28 years who complains of feelings of constant fear, under
the cognitive paradigm it would be necessary to go through some form of psychotherapy
or cognitive-behavior therapy. To begin these treatments insight therapy could be used
to help the patient find possible solutions to their problems. Although moral therapy isn’t
as popular as it was in the 1800’s it is still a viable solution. Also before treatment taking
a meta-anaylsis would provide the statistics to hopefully classify the woman under the
DSM-IV where it would then be possible to use medical therapy, psychoactive drugs, to
treat her. Gender roles could also play a large role when it comes to this woman’s
disorder as many characteristics of women attribute to a higher rate of disorders,
especially personality disorders. No treatment could be given to this woman until she
was properly classified. When treatment starts counseling psychologists would probably
make the most process when it comes to cognitive techniques, as they are better suited to
work with people’s minds.
To treat a woman, of 28 years who complains of feelings of constant fear, under
the psychodynamic paradigm it would be necessary to go through some form of insight
therapy. Psychoanalysis could be the cause for this woman’s fears. Free association
would encourage the clients to talk about any thoughts or images in their heads. The
treatment of this woman could be hindered by resistance, reluctance to work through
feelings. Also, eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing could be used as a
treatment of this woman’s fears. One last psychodynamic treatment is the short-term
dynamic psychotherapy, which is a shortened version of psychoanalysis, which assumes
that symptoms are signs of more basic underlying problems, that transference needs to
be worked out and that client’s behaviors need to be interpreted. All of these treatments
are only viable after classification under the DSM-IV axis 1 and 4.