When scientists discovered that they could determine whether someone was carrying the gene for Huntington’s disease, they created the opportunity for people to know something about their future. Huntington’s disease is a genetic, fatal, degenerative disease that typically manifests itself in adults between 30 and 45 (Sharon, Ersan, & Sharon, 2007) . Dementia is part […]

A delirium is characterized by a disturbance of consciousness and a change in cognition that develop over a short period of time (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). The changes in cognition can include difficulties with attention, memory, orienta­tion, and language. Delirium can also affect percep­tion, the sleep-wake cycle, personality, and mood. Although the onset of delirium […]

LEARNING OBJECTIVES •What are the most common characteristics of people with depression? How is depression diagnosed? What causes depression? What is the relation between suicide and age? How is depression treated? •What is delirium? How is it assessed and treated? •What is dementia? What are the major symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease? How is it diagnosed? […]

Assuming that Juan is assessed properly and is found to have a mental disorder, what next? How can he be helped? Therapy for mental disorders generally involves two approaches (Qualls & Layton, 2009): medical treatment and psychotherapy. Medical treatment most often involves the use of various medications, which are based on the underlying physiological causes […]

How are adults assessed? In terms of cognitive, psychological, and social assessments, there are six primary methods (Edelstein & Kalish, 1999): inter­view, self-report, report by others, psychophysi­ological assessment, direct observation, and performance-based assessment. Clinical interviews are the most widely used assessment method (Stoner et al., 2009). They are useful because they provide both direct information […]

Health care professionals’ preconceived ideas about the people they assess may have negative effects on

What does it mean to assess someone? Assessment makes it possible to describe the behavior or other characteristics of people in meaningful ways (Stoner, O’Riley, & Edelstein, 2009). Assessment is a formal process of measuring, understanding, and predicting behavior. It involves gathering medical, psychological, and sociocultural information about people through various means, such as interviews, […]

LEARNING OBJECTIVES • What key areas are included in a multidimensional approach to assessment? • What factors influence the assessment of adults? • How are mental health issues assessed? • What are some major considerations for therapy across adulthood? J uan is a 76-year-old World War II veteran who lives in California. Over the past […]

As you saw first in Chapter 1 and elsewhere in the text, sociocultural influences are a major and often overlooked factor in understanding people’s behavior and developmental history. Mental health is no exception; in fact, sociocultural influences must be considered in assessing people’s behavior to understand its meaning more adequately and in designing effective ways […]

Suppose two people, one young and one old, came into your clinic, each complaining about a lack of sleep, changes in appetite, a lack of energy, and feeling down. What would you say to them? If you evaluate them in identical ways, you might be headed for trouble. Just as we have seen in other […]