Mental Health and Illness

The goal of this module is to equip students with knowledge necessary for formulating effective treatment plans for clients with mental health needs. To this end, this course will expose students to various psychiatric disorders, with emphasis on those that occur in adults. For each disorder, students will learn about its clinical features, course and prognosis, and treatments (pharmacotherapy and psychosocial therapies). Students will also learn about social, psychological, and biological factors that not only contribute to the development of common mental disorders, but also promote mental health at the individual and population level. Related to practical skills, students will be introduced to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (5th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 2013), a handbook used by clinicians and researchers for the classification and diagnosis of mental disorders, early on during the semester. Through this introduction, students will learn about the use of diagnostic criteria for making various diagnoses. Whenever possible, students will also learn clinical skills and values necessary for working with individuals with mental health needs.