Questionable Treatment Practices in Psychology
This weeks discussion touched on changes in perception regarding psychopathology in response to shifts in societal attitudes toward specific behaviors. Now, let us look critically at treatments in general. A number of treatments for currently diagnosable disorders have been discontinued, such as trepanning and lobotomies, because they were discredited and are now considered crude and/or barbaric. A number of disorders have been completely removed from diagnostic manuals and their corresponding treatments have been discredited and discontinued. For example, the treatment known as conversion therapy or reparative therapy for lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals is known to be ineffective and even harmful.
In this 400-word journal entry, you will consider current treatment methods (e.g., electroconvulsive therapy, exposure, and response prevention). Choose a current treatment method and comment on what ways future researchers might consider this current treatment barbaric or crude. Explain why you chose to comment on this treatment. What would need to happen for current acceptance of this treatment procedure to change? W
hat are the ethical implications involved in using a questionable treatment option?
Consider any other questions that came up for you over the course of this weeks assignments. You may share as much or as little as you wish, as long as it is evident in your journal that you have taken the time to reflect.
Your journal will be graded based on whether or not you provided a substantial and thoughtful entry.
preview of the answer
The current treatment method used in psychopathology is Electroconvulsive Therapy. This treatment method is the most widely used non-medication treatment option for cases of major depression. It is also the preferred treatment used by psychiatrists when several efforts to utilize alternative treatment options such as psychotherapy fail to yield significant improvements especially in patients exhibiting dangerous behaviors such as suicidal intent, psychosis and medical debilitation (American Psychiatric Association, 2001). In spite of its less risky nature and broad use, some researchers in psychopathology have raised concerns about the long term implications of the side effects of this treatment. Memory loss and confusion
APA 491 words