Exam Prep Chapter 9 Mental Disorders and Substance Abuse

Bob Shebib

Choices: Interviewing and Counselling Skills for Canadians, 6/e

Test Bank

Chapter Nine

Mental Disorders and Substance Abuse

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The DSM is a

a. book on best practice treatment strategies

b. physicians’ guide to physical illness

c. dictionary of different counselling philosophies

d. classification system for mental disorders

e. guide to the latest brain research

2. Which of the following statements are true?

a. as many as 1/3 of the homeless population have a mental disorder

b. most mental illnesses are caused by bad parenting

c. mental illness is usually not treatable

d. fifty percent of all Canadians will experience a serious mental disorder

e. most mental disorders start in middle-age

3. Psychiatric diagnosis

a. relies on blood testing to confirm validity

b. is based on standardized criteria in the DSM

c. can be confirmed by X-Rays

d. is the responsibility of all people who work as professionals in the helping field

e. can only be made by a trained psychologist

4. Which of the following statements is true?

a. Bipolar disorder is no longer considered a mental disorder

b. Substance use and addictive disorders are classified as mental disorders

c. DSM 5 has five axes

d. Schizophrenia is an example of mood disorder

e. Alzheimer’s disorder is classified as an anxiety disorder

5. The Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF) was used historically to

a. measure the demographics of mental disorders around the world

b. make cross-cultural decisions

c. scale a person’s highest level of social, occupational, and psychological functioning

d. rate the severity of psychotic symptoms

e. compare how different individuals handle mental disorders

6. Persons with schizophrenia

a. have split personalities

b. experience alternating moods of depression and mania

c. have a mental disorder that usually develops after age 40

d. often experience hallucinations and delusions

e. all of the above

7. Which of the following are considered “positive symptoms”?

a. hallucinations

b. blunted or flattened affect

c. poverty of speech

d. social withdrawal

e. anxiety

8. Which of the following could be considered a delusion?

a. hearing voices from the radio

b. seeing things

c. belief that one is God

d. manic symptoms

e. attempts to deceive others by lying

9. Which of the following is an example of a depressive disorder?

a. delusional psychosis

b. bipolar disorder

c. schizophrenia

d. personality disorder

e. autism

10. Which of the following statements is true?

a. the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal may be clinically indistinguishable from schizophrenia

b. poor parenting causes schizophrenia

c. clinicians treat schizophrenia by stimulating positive symptoms

d. when clients are hallucinating it is important that counsellors actively challenge the reality of their hallucinations

e. auditory hallucinations are rarely seen in clients with schizophrenia

11. An individual is unable to think logically and they jump from one idea to another. This is known as

a. delusional behaviour

b. creative thinking

c. hallucinating

d. disordered thinking

e. obsessive compulsive disorder

12. Dissociative drugs

a. result in feeling of detachment from reality

b. are used to treat depression

c. help medics to deal with drug overdose

d. include opioid such as heroin and opium

e. help people focus

13. Which of the following may signal an increased suicide risk?

a. clients who talk about suicide

b. history of suicide attempts

c. recent personality changes

d. addiction

e. all of the above

14. Threats of suicide

a. suggest the person the person has no serious intent

b. are usually not given by people who complete suicide

c. should not be talked about because discussion may increase risk

d. usually mean that the person is just seeking attention

e. need to be taken very seriously

15. When counselling someone who is suicidal, the “intent question”

a. may promote the idea of suicide

b. opens up dialogue about a person’s desire to die by suicide

c. should only be asked in emergency situations

d. may cause a client to withdraw further

e. none of the above

True-False Questions

1. DSM is used in every country in the world.
2. Hallucinations and delusions are examples of positive symptoms,
3. A delusion is usually auditory.
4. Delusion is another term for hallucination
5. During manic periods, people may experience extreme agitation and need little sleep.
6. Thought insertion is the belief that thoughts are being inserted in one’s brain by others.
7. Women are more likely than men to have an eating disorder.
8. Bulimia involves heavy drinking followed by aggressive behaviour.
9. Mood stabilizers are used to treat bipolar disorder
10. Withdrawal from alcohol can be extremely dangerous.
11. People with co-occurring disorders have a substance use problem and a mental disorder.
12. People who talk about suicide aren’t serious about killing themselves.
13. Counsellors should not ask people if they intend to kill themselves as this might plant the idea in their minds.
14. Brain plasticity refers to the damage done to brain’s frontal cortex by untreated mental illness
15. Tolerance is the need for more of the same substance (drug) to obtain the same effect.

Answers: True - 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 15; False 1, 3, 4, 8, 12, 13, 14

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the DSM? Briefly describe its structure.

2. What are some of the significant warning signs that a person might have a mental disorder?

3. What is bipolar disorder?

4. List the different types of psychiatric medications.

5. What is meant by the terms “tolerance” and “withdrawal”

Paper Topics and Research Projects

1. Critically explore the strengths and limitations of the DSM for use by people in the helping professions
2. Write a paper on the topic of mental illness that explores the following issues and questions:

• Think about clients who have had mental disorders such as schizophrenia.

• Identify best practices skills and strategies. What works? What doesn’t work?

• In what ways are persons with mental illness the same or different than persons w/o mental illness? What unique challenges do people with mental illness present?

• How do you know if someone has a mental disorder?

3. Research the topic of AIDS and report on the latest research findings. All of your source material should be no more than four months old.

4. Research best practice counselling strategies for working with people who have an eating disorder.

5. Research the principles of psychosocial rehabilitation (P.S.R.). Demonstrate your knowledge of the principles by setting up a case plan for Janine:

Janine finished high school at 17 and was preparing to pursue a career as a dental hygienist at a local college. The summer before her first semester she suffered her first psychotic break when she was 17. Now 27, the past ten years look to her like a nightmare from which she never woke. Her first admission to a psychiatric ward came after her parents returned from a night out to find her naked on the front lawn. After two weeks in the hospital she was diagnosed with schizophrenia, stabilized on medication and released. She received no ongoing support other than bimonthly meetings with her psychiatrist to monitor her medications. Janine resisted accepting her diagnosis, often preferring the freedom and excitement of being off medication to the hideous side-effects that she suffered with her anti-psychotic medication. Off medication, she felt a sense of control even if meant the return of frightening hallucinations.

The next ten years saw her in and out of the hospital over a dozen times. Addicted to street drugs, she was only able to sustain herself through prostitution. Her family, while initially supportive, increasingly dreaded her visits and they gradually decreased their support. Through it all Janine felt alone feeling that “even God has abandoned me.” Two weeks ago, Janine awakened suddenly to a loud noise, then

realized she has been sleeping in a dumpster that was now being emptied. Unaware how she got there she scrambled to safety, barely escaping with her life, but breaking her wrist in the process.

Traumatized by this latest experience Janine has begun to accept the need for treatment. Her family “reluctantly agree to give her one last chance.” Her psychiatrist remains pessimistic and thinks that “at best she can be stabilized on medication and live out her life in a supported environment.”

Imagine that you are a mental health worker at Acme Mental Health. Draw on the philosophy of P.S.R, to develop a three month plan for working with Janine.

6. Research how evolving discoveries about the brain and brain plasticity are enabling neurologists to treat a range of mental disorders and brain injuries.

7. Choose a major mental disorder (schizophrenia, bipolar, depression). Prepare a one-two page brochure that might be used to educate families on the disorder and its treatment.

8. Develop a short PowerPoint presentation that might be used to help a group of clients with mental disorders better understand their condition as well as strategies they can use to support their recovery.

9. Develop a PowerPoint presentation for families who are dealing with a member who has a mental disorder.