treatment practices
This week we 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 journal entry, 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? What are the ethical implications involved in using a questionable treatment option?
