We will explore the major approaches to understanding deviations from ?normal? behaviour, including the neurobiological, behavioural, psychoanalytic, humanistic, cognitive and social/family systems approaches. We will also look at the context within which abnormal behaviours are defined, including historical views of such phenomenon, changes in psychiatric classification and thinking in our century, and variations in symptoms, interpretations and treatment in different cultures. Apart from covering some of the major mental disorders described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR), we will also explore various treatment modalities and discuss the associated legal and ethical issues. d in understanding mental illnesses.
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This module is about mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, dissociative identity disorder, depression, etc. You will be learning about the causes, symptoms and treatment aspects of every illness. A content-heavy module, but interesting if you like to know more about mental illnesses!
Lectures are recorded. Content taught in the lecture can help you to estimate what will be tested for exams. There are content in the lecture slides that are not covered in textbook, so you do have to read both for your exams. Videos will also be shown during lectures to enhance understanding.
Since it is content-heavy, do keep up with the lecture pace!
Mid-terms are just MCQs and it is manageable if you have studied your lecture slides well. DO TAKE NOTE of the statistics shown in the lecture slides, e.g. prevalence of bipolar disorders, because they will be tested. Even though there are 2 mid-terms, they are helpful in making you keep up with readings.
For the course participation component, it mostly comprises of your participation in discussion board on NTULearn. There are a total of 3 discussion cycles, each worth 4 marks. Basically, for each round, you can choose to comment on your peers' or professor's thread, or create your own thread. Discussions should be of quality and comprise of some research about the topic and your opinions and experiences related to it. For me, I commented/created around 4 posts per cycle to get the full 4 marks.
For the finals, the whole syllabus will be covered. For the MCQs, emphasis is on the later half of the syllabus. However, the short answers and short essays, which formed the bulk of the grade, are quite evenly spread, so you should not neglect the front topics! Do take notes of statistics, and some specific details such as the neurotransmitters involved for each disease, etc.
Programme: PSY(HSS)
We will explore the major approaches to understanding deviations from ?normal? behaviour, including the neurobiological, behavioural, psychoanalytic, humanistic, cognitive and social/family systems approaches. We will also look at the context within which abnormal behaviours are defined, including historical views of such phenomenon, changes in psychiatric classification and thinking in our century, and variations in symptoms, interpretations and treatment in different cultures. Apart from covering some of the major mental disorders described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR), we will also explore various treatment modalities and discuss the associated legal and ethical issues. d in understanding mental illnesses.