Purpose: Analyze and apply critical thinking skills in the psychopathology of mental health patients and provide treatment and health promotion while applying evidence-based research. Scenario: C.Z. is a 20-year-old Caucasian male who is in his second year of college. He is seeking treatment due to persistent fears that campus security and the local police are tracking and surveilling him. He cites occasional lags in his internet speed as evidence that surveillance devices are interfering with his electronics. His intense anxiety about this has begun getting in the way of his ability to complete schoolwork, and his friends are concerned – he says they have told him, “you’re not making sense.” C.Z. occasionally laughs abruptly and inappropriately and sometimes stops speaking mid-sentence, looking off in the distance as though he sees or hears something. He expresses concern about electronics in the room (phone, computer) potentially being monitored and asks repeatedly about patient confidentiality, stating that he wants to be sure the police won’t be informed about his treatment. His beliefs are fixed, and if they are challenged, his tone becomes hostile. Questions: Remember to answer these questions from your textbooks and NP guidelines. At all times, explain your answers. Discuss the etiology, course, and the structural/functional abnormalities of schizophrenia. Discuss the evidence-based pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatment for this patient using the US Clinical Guidelines. Submission Instructions: Your initial post should be at least 500 words, formatted and cited in current APA style with support from at least 2 academic sources. Your initial post is worth 8 points. You should respond to at least two of your peers by extending, refuting/correcting, or adding additional nuance to their posts. Your reply posts are worth 2 points (1 point per response.) All replies must be constructive and use literature where possible. Please post your initial response by 11:59 PM ET Thursday, and comment on the posts of two classmates by 11:59 PM ET Sunday. Late work policies, expectations regarding proper citations, acceptable means of responding to peer feedback, and other expectations are at the discretion of the instructor. You can expect feedback from the instructor within 48 to 72 hours from the Sunday due date. null
