Tag: clinical psychology

Categories
Psychiatric Disorders

Diagnostic Features of Dyscalculia

Written by Najwa Bashir

Dyscalculia

Two of the most common learning disorders are dyslexia and dysgraphia. One is dyscalculia, characterized by having trouble with math (Ahuja et al., 2021). Dyscalculia is a learning disorder that makes it hard to understand and use numbers. This can affect students’ mathematics education and well-being (Asalisa & Meiliasari, 2023). According to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), dyscalculia is a unique developmental disease that causes problems with speech, motor skills, and the ability to see and understand where things are in space (Aquil, 2020). Although dyscalculia is as prevalent as dyslexia and dysgraphia, it is less well-known and has received less research attention than the other two (Grigore, 2020). Consequently, many educators possess an inadequate understanding of dyscalculia (Kunwar & Sharma, 2020), and pupils afflicted with dyscalculia fail to receive the necessary assistance during their mathematical education (Salisa & Meiliasari, 2023).

Prevalence

Dyscalculia affects 3-7% of all children, adolescents, and adults. Severe, ongoing difficulties with math computations cause significant impairment in the workplace, in school, and daily life. It also increases the likelihood of co-occurring mental problems (Haberstroh & Schulte-Körne, 2019).

According to large-scale cohort research conducted in England, there are significant psychological and economic problems linked to low mathematical proficiency: Of those impacted, 70–90% dropped out of school before the age of 16, and just a small percentage had full-time jobs when they were 30. Compared to people without dyscalculia, their chances of being jobless and experiencing depressed symptoms were twice as high (Parsons & Bynner, 2005). An estimated £2.4 billion is spent annually in Great Britain on expenses related to severe mathematical impairment (Gross, 2006).

Diagnostic Criteria for Dyscalculia

Behavioral specialists can determine whether an individual has dyscalculia or a severe arithmetic problem by using the Dutch protocol “Dyscalculia: Diagnostics for Behavioural Professionals” (DDBP). The following criteria are addressed by the DDBP procedure in order to diagnose dyscalculia:

  • First criterion: To ascertain whether the math issue exists and how serious it is
  • Second criterion: To identify the math issue associated with the individual’s capabilities
  • Third criterion: Assessing the mathematical problem’s obstinacy

The protocol also notes that a fourth criterion—difficulties that predate the age of seven—is incorporated in many studies. For most kids, this is accurate; nevertheless, dyscalculia is typically identified later in life among (very) brilliant kids.

Diagnostic Features of Dyscalculia

The following are the typical features of dyscalculia (Salisa & Meiliasari, 2023):

Trouble understanding and using numbers and amounts starting in preschool

  • It’s hard to make the connection between a number (like 2) and the thing it stands for (like 2 apples).
  • People don’t fully understand the relationship between numbers and amounts (two apples and one apple = 2 + 1).
  • Because of this, it’s hard to count, compare two numbers or amounts, quickly evaluate and name small groups of dots, find a number’s position on the number line, understand the place-value system, and transcode.

Problems with simple math operations and other math-related tasks

  • Individuals don’t understand how to use computation rules because they don’t understand numbers and amounts well enough (17 + 14 = 1 + 1 and 7 + 4 = 13 or 211).
  • Questions with remembering math facts (like the multiplication table), which are facts that let you get the answers to simple math questions without having to do the math all over again.
  • No change from counting to non-counting methods (8 + 4 = 8 + 2 and 2 = 12) when doing math (8 + 4 = 9, 10, 11, 12 = 12).
  • These problems get worse as the math gets harder (bigger number range, written calculations, computations with multiple steps, word problems).

Important

  • Finger-counting is not a sign of dyscalculia; it is a normal way to help you remember math facts and learn how to do calculations quickly and correctly. Finger-counting over and over, especially for simple calculations that are done over and over, does show that there is a problem with the calculations.
  • What matters is not just that there are mistakes in the calculations; what matters is their range, how long they last, and how often they happen.

The main thing that is used to diagnose dyscalculia is a difference between a person’s brain and their supposed math skills. In a full test that can also be used to plan a therapy intervention, the cause of dyscalculia and problems understanding visual information should both be taken into account. This should be taken into account when choosing the right test methods. The new definition of dyscalculia takes into account not only IQ and math success in school, but also problems with basic skills that are common in people with dyscalculia. The IQ difference and the best IQ test for dyscalculia are still debated. One new thing about this work is that it uses a multidisciplinary method to give a full picture of dyscalculia and how to diagnose it. This could help scholars from other fields (Aquil, 2020).

Early diagnosis of dyscalculia will ensure early management of the problem. The aforementioned criteria and diagnostic features can help diagnose dyscalculia.

References

  • Ahuja, N. J., Thapliyal, M., Bisht, A., Stephan, T., Kannan, R., Al-Rakhami, M. S., & Mahmud, M. (2021). An investigative study on the effects of pedagogical agents on intrinsic, extraneous and germane cognitive load: experimental findings with dyscalculia and non-dyscalculia learners. IEEE Access, 10, 3904-3922. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3115409
  • Aquil, M. A. I. (2020). Diagnosis of dyscalculia: A comprehensive overview. South Asian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 1(1), 43-59. Available at: https://acspublisher.com/journals/index.php/sajssh/article/view/1124
  • Grigore, M. (2020). Towards a standard diagnostic tool for dyscalculia in school children. CORE Proceedings, 1(1). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.21428/bfdb1df5.d4be3454
  • Gross, J. (2006). The long term costs of literacy difficulties. KPMG Foundation.
  • Haberstroh, S., & Schulte-Körne, G. (2019). The diagnosis and treatment of dyscalculia. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, 116(7), 107. https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.2019.0107
  • Kunwar, R., & Sharma, L. (2020). Exploring Teachers’ Knowledge and Students’ Status about Dyscalculia at Basic Level Students in Nepal. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 16(12). https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/8940
  • Parsons, S., & Bynner, J. (2005). National Research and Development Centre for adult literacy and numeracy. London: Institute of Education.
  • Salisa, R. D., & Meiliasari, M. (2023). A literature review on dyscalculia: What dyscalculia is, its characteristics, and difficulties students face in mathematics class. Alifmatika: Jurnal Pendidikan dan Pembelajaran Matematika, 5(1), 82-94. https://doi.org/10.35316/alifmatika.2023.v5i1.82-94
  • Van Luit, J. E. (2019). Diagnostics of dyscalculia. International handbook of mathematical learning difficulties: From the laboratory to the classroom, 653-668. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97148-3_38
Categories
Psychiatric Disorders

Diagnostic Features of Dyslexia

Written by Najwa Bashir

Dyslexia

Individuals with dyslexia face trouble learning to read out loud and spell. According to the DSM5, dyslexia is a type of neurological disease. Neurodevelopmental diseases are genetic conditions that last a lifetime and show symptoms early in life. Research on dyslexia was based for a long time on the idea that it was a specific learning disability. By this, we meant that the disability could not be explained by clear causes like sensory issues or general learning challenges (low IQ). Then, because it wasn’t possible to tell the difference between how well kids with dyslexia and kids with more general learning problems read and use sounds, this way of defining “discrepancy” lost favor (Snowling et al., 2020).

Given that they have problems with the phonological part of language, people with dyslexia have trouble connecting spoken and written language. Decoding words correctly and quickly can make it harder to understand what you read and build your knowledge (Kim et al., 2012). Spelling problems can make it hard to compose written work properly. Dyslexia can make people do badly in school, feel bad about themselves, and lose drive. This doesn’t mean someone is stupid, lazy, or has bad eyesight; it happens to people of all brain levels (Berninger et al., 2013).

At first, the word dyslexia was called “word blindness” (Campbell, 2011). It comes from the Greek words for “days” (lexi, from lexicon) and “ia,” which means “impaired.” People with developmental dyslexia have trouble reading, decoding, and writing words at the word level; writing seems to be the most chronic problem (Berninger et al., 2008). The Working Definition of Dyslexia under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a “specific learning disability” (Roitsch & Watson, 2019). Developmental dyslexia is one important example of a learning disability that has social and emotional effects that aren’t thought to be the main symptoms of the disorder. These problems can still be there or even get worse as an adult (Livingston et al., 2018). Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment of the disorder are essential to ensure the prevention of adverse consequences. Given next are the diagnostic features of dyslexia.

Diagnostic Features

The following are prominent features of dyslexia (Roitsch & Watson, 2019):

  1. Trouble developing sound awareness and thinking skills.
  2. Trouble correctly interpreting nonsense or things you need to know.
  3. Trouble reading single words on their own.
  4. Oral reading is wrong and hard to do.
  5. Not being able to read quickly.
  6. Different levels of learning the names of letters and the sounds they make.
  7. Trouble learning how to spell.
  8. Trouble finding words and naming things quickly.
  9. Having different levels of trouble with different parts of writing.
  10. Different levels of trouble understanding what they read.

Most of the time, kids in preschool and early elementary school who have dyslexia have trouble learning to talk, learn sounds and letters, colors and numbers, write, use their fine motor skills, and recognize sight words. The fact that these kids have trouble with pronunciation is often a sign that they might have trouble reading later on. Older kids with dyslexia may have bad handwriting, trouble learning foreign languages, issues with ordering language, trouble remembering things, spelling mistakes, and ongoing reading, writing, and math problems (IDA, 2019). Spelling and remembering words with more than one letter can be noticed in written language. Comprehension and understanding may be hard in reading skills, and reading skills that are slow and often wrong may be noticed. People who have dyslexia often have trouble phonologically coding words, which means they have trouble knowing how words sound and what they mean (Snowling, 2019, as quoted in Roitsch & Watson, 2019).

Cognitively, people with dyslexia have trouble recognizing hidden shapes (Martinelli & Schembri, 2014), shifting their attention, and having problems with parts of their working memory that deal with spoken and written language (the phonological loop) (Berninger et al., 2015). Working memory is one of the most common symptoms of dyslexia that people name. When someone with dyslexia has trouble with working memory, they have trouble temporarily storing knowledge while doing other cognitive tasks at the same time (Baddeley, 1992, as cited in Roitsch & Watson, 2019). Teenagers’ ability to read quickly is affected by their language knowledge, which is linked to their verbal working memory (Shaywitz et al., 2008). Language experts, interventionists, and diagnosticians face new problems with a group of people that consists of those who are talented and also have dyslexia. People who are “twice exceptional” often do better than their regular peers on tasks that test their speech, working memory, and language skills, but they take longer to learn phonological awareness and how to name things quickly. Additionally, these individuals show very high verbal reasoning skills. However, it can be hard for teachers and parents to diagnose dyslexia in these individuals because their abilities often hide the effects of dyslexia on spoken and written language tasks as well as standardized tests (van Viersen et al., 2016), while the core deficits associated with dyslexia remain (Nielson et al., 2016). The same is true for adults with dyslexia: their symptoms are often less obvious because they have learned how to deal with the condition and the problems that come with it. Mental problems like not understanding sounds and naming things quickly, as well as problems with working memory and written language, may still be present (Kilpatrick, 2015), along with other thinking and reading problems (Chung et al., 2011).

Conclusion

Dyslexia is a learning disorder that makes it hard to read, write, spell, and even talk. The International Dyslexia Association says that about 10% of people have dyslexia. Individuals with dyslexia cannot meet school standards because of their disabilities, which makes them feel overwhelmed and unimportant. With a world prevalence of at least 10%, a lot of students with dyslexia don’t get identified or get help for their symptoms. However, 90% of dyslexic children can be taught in normal classrooms with other kids their age if they get help early enough. It’s concerning that dyslexia was found in a large portion of the study sample. This highlights the need for more research and programs, such as campaigns to raise awareness among teachers, parents, and school officials. It’s also important to find children who haven’t been diagnosed with dyslexia yet and give them the right help as soon as possible (Sunil et al., 2023). The features mentioned above can help identify and diagnose dyslexia.

References

  • Berninger, V. W., Lee, Y. L., Abbott, R. D., & Breznitz, Z. (2013). Teaching children with dyslexia to spell in a reading-writers’ workshop. Annals of Dyslexia, 63, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-011-0054-0
  • Berninger, V. W., Raskind, W., Richards, T., Abbott, R., & Stock, P. (2008). A multidisciplinary approach to understanding developmental dyslexia within working-memory architecture: Genotypes, phenotypes, brain, and instruction. Developmental neuropsychology, 33(6), 707-744. https://doi.org/10.1080/87565640802418662
  • Berninger, V. W., Richards, T. L., & Abbott, R. D. (2015). Differential diagnosis of dysgraphia, dyslexia, and OWL LD: Behavioral and neuroimaging evidence. Reading and Writing, 28, 1119-1153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-015-9565-0
  • Campbell, T. (2011). From aphasia to dyslexia, a fragment of a genealogy: An analysis of the formation of a ‘medical diagnosis’. Health Sociology Review, 20(4), 450-461. https://doi.org/10.5172/hesr.2011.20.4.450
  • Chung, K. K., Ho, C. S. H., Chan, D. W., Tsang, S. M., & Lee, S. H. (2011). Cognitive skills and literacy performance of Chinese adolescents with and without dyslexia. Reading and Writing, 24, 835-859. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-010-9227-1
  • International Dyslexia Association (IDA, 2019). Dyslexia Basics. Retrieved from https://dyslexiaida.org/dyslexia-basics-2/
  • Kilpatrick, D. A. (2015). Essentials of assessing, preventing, and overcoming reading difficulties. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Kim, Y. S., Wagner, R. K., & Lopez, D. (2012). Developmental relations between reading fluency and reading comprehension: A longitudinal study from Grade 1 to Grade 2. Journal of experimental child psychology, 113(1), 93-111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2012.03.002
  • Livingston, E. M., Siegel, L. S., & Ribary, U. (2018). Developmental dyslexia: Emotional impact and consequences. Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties, 23(2), 107-135. https://doi.org/10.1080/19404158.2018.1479975
  • Martinelli, V., & Schembri, J. (2014). Dyslexia, spatial awareness and creativity in adolescent boys. The British Psychological Society. Available at: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/91865
  • Nielsen, K., Abbott, R., Griffin, W., Lott, J., Raskind, W., & Berninger, V. W. (2016). Evidence-based reading and writing assessment for dyslexia in adolescents and young adults. Learning disabilities (Pittsburgh, Pa.), 21(1), 38. https://doi.org/10.18666/LDMJ-2016-V21-I1-6971
  • Roitsch, J., & Watson, S. M. (2019). An overview of dyslexia: definition, characteristics, assessment, identification, and intervention. Science Journal of Education, 7(4). https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjedu.20190704.11
  • Shaywitz, S. E., Morris, R., & Shaywitz, B. A. (2008). The education of dyslexic children from childhood to young adulthood. Annu. Rev. Psychol., 59(1), 451-475. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093633
  • Snowling, M. J., Hulme, C., & Nation, K. (2020). Defining and understanding dyslexia: past, present and future. Oxford review of education, 46(4), 501-513. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2020.1765756
  • Sunil, A. B., Banerjee, A., Divya, M., Rathod, H. K., Patel, J., & Gupta, M. (2023). Dyslexia: An invisible disability or different ability. Industrial psychiatry journal, 32(Suppl 1), S72-S75. https://doi.org/10.4103/ipj.ipj_196_23 van Viersen, S., Kroesbergen, E. H., Slot, E. M., & de Bree, E. H. (2016). High reading skills mask dyslexia in gifted children. Journal of learning disabilities, 49(2), 189-199. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219414538517
Categories
Cognitive Psychology

Overview of The Cognitive Triad

Written by Abdullah Qureshi

Aaron Beck was one of the first people to say that the way people think about things can cause negative emotional experiences. In fact, the way people think about and process personal information can maintain this depressive state.

In particular, Beck’s (1979) cognitive theory says that the cognitive triad is a key process that makes depressed symptoms worse.

This concept is a three-part system made up of bad views of the self, the world, and the future.

In this article, I will attempt to describe the cognitive triad using both negative and positive views.

Structure of the Cognitive Triad

One of Beck’s most important ideas is that cognitive mental illness are caused by three bad views about regarding one’s circumstances.

These three categories are shown below:

The Cognitive Triad

People with negative views of the self think they are not good enough, worthy, or loveable. People with negative views of the world think that the world and other people are unfair and getting in the way of their goals. Lastly, having a bad view of the future means thinking that it will be hard and that the problems you are having now will last forever.  

On the other hand, some people may have a positive view of themselves, the world, and the future. This is called the positive cognitive triad, and it makes them happier, more satisfied with their life, and less likely to become depressed.

To put it another way, being strong helps people think positively. They have a positive view about themselves, the world, and the future. This in turn improves their health and makes them feel less stressed.

Views About Oneself

Negative

A bad view of the self is a trait of many illnesses and feelings. These conditions are obviously not healthy, such as depression or anxiety. People who are sad think they are flawed, inadequate, and unworthy. Tarlow and Haaga (1996) confirmed a link between having a bad view of oneself and having negative feelings in general. This backs up what the older and newer literature indicates.

People with more frequent negative states tend to have more negative views of themselves.

Positive

It is said that resilient people are self-efficacious, bold, and driven (Wagnild & Young, 1990). People with these traits are more likely to talk positively to themselves. So, this improves their self-image and makes them more independent. People who are strong have a good attitude about themselves. This attitude makes them look for and enjoy situations that make them feel good about themselves (Walsh & Banaji, 1997). In turn, they improve their mental health.

Views About the World

Negative

When someone is feeling down, they start to see the world in a bad light. For instance, people who are sad are unhappy with their current life and think that everyone is expecting too much from them. This indicates that they view the world having too many hardships. Moreover, they could perceive themselves as inferior to many people in their surroundings. This connects views about the self to the view of the world as well.

Positive

Conversely, a positive view of the world is common among people who are highly resilient (Parr et al., 1998). These people want to get back on their feet after problems and move on. People who have a positive view of the world are better able to see chances in tough situations and come up with ways to solve problems (Wang, 2009).

So, being able to think straight during tough circumstances makes them less prone to depression.

Views About The Future

Negative

People who have major mental problems might not be optimistic about the future. When someone is sad, they do not usually believe they can achieve their goals. According to a study by Leondari et al. (1998), these ideas about the future self might make it harder for students to do well in school.

However, having views of the future that are too positive could be a major issue as well.

Positive

Research shows that people who are strong are sure in their ability to see the future (Klohnen, 1996). For example, Zaleski et al. (1998) found that college students with a lot of hope are less affected by the bad effects of worry and have fewer health problems as a result. Moreover, they are likely to accept self-agentic talk, such as “I can do this” and “I am not going to be stopped” (Snyder et al., 1998).
According to past studies, people who have a lot of hope are better at fixing problems. Mak et al. (2011) say that they are more likely to take on tasks and use active coping techniques instead of passive-avoidant ones. Because of this, they are more likely to keep going when things get tough or stressful.

Having said this, there are issues with viewing the future too positively as well. For instance, Maden et al. (2016) found that employees who had higher positive evaluations of their future were less satisfied than those who had less positive views.

This could show how having unrealistic positive expectations of the world could negatively impact us.

Final Evaluation

Even though it is very important, it is still not clear what the theory and empirical state of the cognitive triad is. On the one hand, many theories say there is only one dimension. In other words, the triad’s three parts don’t really exist as three separate things; they combine. So, the cognitive triangle describes how people think about the self and two specific parts of the self: the future and the world (McIntosh & Fischer, 2000).

Beck (1979) acknowledged this quandary. However, he said that despite this correlation, the cognitive triad is still useful for clinical work.

Some studies found that negative views of the self and the future were most strongly linked to depressive symptoms in teens (Braet et al., 2015; Timbremont & Braet, 2006). Other studies also looked at the role of negative views of the world in kids and teens (Epkins, 2000; Jacobs & Joseph, 1997).

There is one broad consensus: our beliefs significantly affect our experience.

This is one of the core curative processes in psychotherapy.

References

Beck, A. T. (1979). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. Penguin.

Braet, C., Wante, L., Van Beveren, M. L., & Theuwis, L. (2015). Is the cognitive triad a clear marker of depressive symptoms in youngsters?. European child & adolescent psychiatry, 24, 1261-1268.

Epkins, C. C. (2000). Cognitive specificity in internalizing and externalizing problems in community and clinic-referred children. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 29(2), 199-208.

Haaga, D. A., Dyck, M. J., & Ernst, D. (1991). Empirical status of cognitive theory of depression. Psychological bulletin, 110(2), 215.

Jacobs, L., & Joseph, S. (1997). Cognitive Triad Inventory and its association with symptoms of depression and anxiety in adolescents. Personality and Individual Differences, 22(5), 769-770.

Klohnen, E. C. (1996). Conceptual analysis and measurement of the construct of ego-resiliency. Journal of personality and social psychology, 70(5), 1067.

Leondari, A., Syngollitou, E., & Kiosseoglou, G. (1998). Academic achievement, motivation and future selves. Educational studies, 24(2), 153-163.

Maden, C., Ozcelik, H., & Karacay, G. (2016). Exploring employees’ responses to unmet job expectations: The moderating role of future job expectations and efficacy beliefs. Personnel Review, 45(1), 4-28.

McIntosh, C. N., & Fischer, D. G. (2000). Beck’s cognitive triad: One versus three factors. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 32(3), 153.

Parr, G. D., Montgomery, M., & DeBell, C. (1998). Flow theory as a model for enhancing student resilience. Professional School Counseling, 1(5), 26-31.

Snyder, C. R., LaPointe, A. B., Jeffrey Crowson, J., & Early, S. (1998). Preferences of high-and low-hope people for self-referential input. Cognition & Emotion, 12(6), 807-823.

Tarlow, E. M., & Haaga, D. A. (1996). Negative self-concept: Specificity to depressive symptoms and relation to positive and negative affectivity. Journal of Research in Personality, 30(1), 120-127.

Timbremont, B., & Braet, C. (2006). Brief report: A longitudinal investigation of the relation between a negative cognitive triad and depressive symptoms in youth. Journal of Adolescence, 29(3), 453-458.

Wagnild, G., & Young, H. M. (1990). Resilience among older women. Image: The Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 22(4), 252-255.

Walsh, W. A., & Banaji, M. R. (1997). The Collective Self a. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 818(1), 193-214.

Wang, J. (2009). A study of resiliency characteristics in the adjustment of international graduate students at American universities. Journal of Studies in International Education, 13(1), 22-45.

Zaleski, E. H., Levey-Thors, C., & Schiaffino, K. M. (1998). Coping mechanisms, stress, social support, and health problems in college students. Applied Developmental Science, 2(3), 127-137.

Categories
Psychology in Pakistan

History of Psychology in Pakistan

Written by Najwa Bashir

The formal history of psychology in Pakistan dates back to the 1960’s. In Pakistan, psychology was recognized as a distinct academic discipline over 59 years ago (Zadeh, 2017). According to Michal J. Stevens, Wedding Danny, Dr. Nosheen Khan Rehman, and Taylor and Francis (2004), Pakistan had two universities in 1947. The psychology department was first set up in 1887 at the University of Punjab in Lahore (West Pakistan) and again in 1921 at Dhaka (East Pakistan; now Bangladesh). The University of Karachi, Sindh was founded in 1946, and the psychology school has been running since 1951.

Further psychology departments were set up in Peshawar in 1950 and in Rajshahi (East Pakistan) in 1953. Pakistan’s oldest psychology labs can be found at University of the Punjab, Government College University Lahore, and Dhaka University, which is now in Bangladesh but used to be in East Pakistan. In the 1960s, only the academic and theory parts of psychology were up and running. Experimentation was not a big focus.

In 1964, there were only 250 teachers working, no national psychological association, and no study magazine. However, later on, a psychological laboratory was set up at Punjab University in Lahore to study applied psychology. Universities were also encouraged to do experiments and research in psychology, and more journals for psychological research were published by Michal J. Stevens, Wedding Danny, Dr. Nosheen Khan Rehman, and Taylor and Francis (2004) (Firdous, 2010).

Up until 1960, one of the places where psychology was taught as part of the philosophy curriculum was the Government College in Lahore (Rafiq et al., 2022). GC Lahore used to teach psychology as part of the philosophy curriculum up until the 1960s. Psychology became its department at GC Lahore in 1962, thanks to the strong direction of Dr. Muhammad Ajmal. He became the department’s founder and head (Zadeh, 2017).

Forman Christian College, Lahore, was the second school that taught psychology. At Karachi University, the first separate school of psychology was set up. It was led by Qazi Muhammad Aslam, whose main area of study was philosophy. While Sindh University became its own thing in 1960. Syed Muhammad Hafeez Zaidi was seen in Frontiers of Psychological Research in Pakistan in 1975.

The main goal was for philosophy teachers to become involved in the field of psychology. Due to this, traditional indigenous people started studying psychology, which was mostly based on theory. There were early works in Pakistani psychology written by Hafeez Zaidi and a few others.

After 1960, many psychology schools sprung up. But at first, these departments couldn’t get many students, usually only three to seven. The reason was an opening in the job market. Before 1991, there were more than 10 universities in Pakistan that mostly offered M.A. and M.Sc. degrees in Psychology. Today, in 2018, about 12 universities have started to offer BS (Hons), MS, and Ph.D. studies in clinical psychology.

From the start until now, psychologists have needed a governing group, but the idea hasn’t fully grown yet. The University of Punjab and the University of Karachi both set up the Center for Clinical Psychology because President Zia Ul Haq was very interested in the field (Rafiq et al., 2022).

From 1960 to the present day, the field of psychology in Pakistan has been progressing slowly, but steadily. The growth can be seen in the fact that full-fledged psychology schools have been set up at the universities in Karachi, Sind, and Peshawar. Several associated schools began offering M.A. programs in psychology, and it became a separate subject to study at the Inter, B.A., and BSc levels. In 2007, HEC started a four-year BS Psychology program, which changed the way psychologists are trained at the college level in a big way.

In 1983, two schools of clinical psychology opened in Karachi and Lahore, two of Pakistan’s biggest metropolises. This was a big step forward for clinical psychology. At first, both schools gave people with a Master’s degree a one-year diploma in clinical psychology. After a while, both schools added graduate programs in clinical psychology. Dr. FarrukhZahor Ahmad started the Institute of Clinical Psychology in Karachi. He is a clinical psychologist who first learned his craft at the University of Stanford in Pakistan(Zadeh, 2017).

When the National Institute of Psychology, Islamabad opened in 1976, it added another important milestone to the history of psychology (Zaman, 1991). In 2000, Bahria University in Karachi opened the Institute of Professional Psychology. Several universities in Pakistan offer bachelor, graduate, and postgraduate programs in psychology and clinical psychology. These include the International Islamic University in Islamabad, NUST in Islamabad, and Beacon House in Lahore. The Pakistan Psychological Association (PPA) was founded in 1968, and the Pakistan Association of Clinical Psychologist (PACP) was founded in 1988. Both of these events were major turning points in the field. These are two national groups for psychologists, with the third one being just for professional psychologists(Zadeh, 2017).

Psychological journals can also be used to see how psychology has changed over time. The first psychology magazine came out in 1965, and there were five more until 1991 (Zaman, 1991). The Government College, Lahore’s Journal of Psychology, now called the Psychology Quarterly, has been out since 1962. In 1978, an Urdu journal called “Zehan” started coming out. From 1992 to 1995, the Institute of Clinical Psychology at the University of Karachi put out the Pakistan Journal of Clinical Psychology every other year. Journal printing stopped from 1995 to 2005, but it started up again in 2006 and has been going strong ever since (Zadeh, 2017).

The eleven years from 1995 to 2006 marks the time when the field of psychology grew incredibly in Pakistan and a huge number of people got PhDs in psychology. During this time, a culture of research grew, and as a result of rules set by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), research papers were required for academic job openings and raises (HEC, 2019). These requirements led to a rush of research papers being published in Pakistan, and many new research magazines were also set up. Back then, from 1995 to 2006, the internet wasn’t very common, and even where it was, there weren’t many places where you could get free papers. Many researchers in Pakistan relied on the research magazines that were available in their university libraries. Due to this, these studies were mentioned hundreds of times and were the easiest to find examples of published studies. Also, most of the people who wrote these studies were professors working at both public and private colleges. These professors also oversee MPhil and PhD studies, and most of the research done at that time was for MPhil or PhD theses (Kamrani et al., 2022).

References

  • Firdous, N. (2010). Historical Perspective of Psychology in Balochistan: Depiction, Dynamics and Development. Bi-Annual Research Journal “Balochistan Review”,23(2), 93-111. Available at: http://www.uob.edu.pk/Journals/Balochistan-Review/data/BR%2002%202010/93-111%20HISTORICAL%20PERSPECTIVE%20OF%20PSYCHOLOGY%20IN%20BALOCHISTAN%20DEPICTION,%20DYNAMICS%20AND%20DEVELOPMENT,%20Neelam%20Firdous.pdf
  • Higher Education Commission (2019). Quality Assurance. https://hec.gov.pk/english/services/universities/QA/Pages/faculty-appointment-criteria.aspx
  • Kamrani, F., Kamrani, N., &Kamrani, F. (2022). Eleven Years of Psychological Researches in Pakistan (1995-2006): What Titles Reveal About Pakistani Research. Journal of Professional & Applied Psychology, 3(2), 319-326. https://doi.org/10.52053/jpap.v3i2.117
  • Rafiq, M., Zareen, G., Khalid, A., Chahal, F. M., Maqbool, T., &Hadi, F. (2022). Clinical and neuropsychology in pakistan: challenges and wayforward. Pak-Euro Journal of Medical and Life Sciences, 5(1), 119-128. Available at:https://readersinsight.net/PJMLS/article/view/2442
  • Zadeh, Z. F. (2017). Clinical Psychology in Pakistan: Past, Present and Future. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 7(11), 26-28. Available at: https://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_7_No_11_November_2017/4.pdf Zaman,R.M. (1991). Clinical Psychology in Pakistan. Psychology and Developing Societies. Sage Publication. Available at: http://www.sagepublication.com?content/3/2/221.
Categories
Psychiatric Disorders

Diagnostic Features of Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Written by Najwa Bashir

Narcissism

Book III of Ovid’s Metamorphoses is where the word “narcissism” was first used. There is a story that Narcissus falls in love with his own image because of a curse. Narcissism, on the other hand, wasn’t used in psychology until the late 1800s (Mitra et al., 2024).

Northcote (1929) says that psychologist Havelock Ellis first used the word “narcissism” in 1898 to describe a patient whose behavior was similar to Narcissus’s. Freud wrote about “narcissistic libido” soon after in his book Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (Van Haute &Westerink, 2016).Ernest Jones, a psychologist, said that narcissism is a flaw in character (Kirsner, 2007). There was a case report on grave narcissism written by Robert Waelder in 1925. According to what he termed it, “narcissistic personality” (Guttman& with the Assistance of Irene Kagan Guttman, 1987). The DSM-I did not initially include NPD, even after these revisions. Narcissism wasnot even mentioned in the DSM until the release of DSM-II in 1968 (Schmidt, 2019).

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is characterized by feeling better than others, wanting to be admired, and lacking the ability to relate to other people’s feelings. It is not uncommon for individuals with NPD to experience difficulties in social and professional environments, and it is also common for them to have psychiatric and substance use issues. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and its cluster-based classification go into detail about the traits that make Cluster B personality disorders unique. These disorders include NPD, antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, and histrionic personality disorder (Mitra et al., 2024). In community groups, the rate of NPD is thought to be between 0% and 6.2%. Between 50 and 75 percent of people who have been labelled with NPD are men. Cluster B of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) is where NPD fits in. This group is for “dramatic, emotional, and erratic” personality disorders. Antisocial, Borderline, and Histrionic Personality Disorders are also in this group (Kacel et al., 2017).

Diagnostic Criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder

An individual with narcissistic personality disorder consistently acts or fantasizes about being very important, needs praise, and doesn’t care about other people, according to DSM 5 TR (APA, 2022). These traits show up in a number of situations starting in early adulthood and include five or more than five of the below mentioned characteristics:

  1. Really thinks they’re great (for example, they might talk about their skills and achievements and want to be seen as better than other people even though they haven’t done as much).
  2. Is full of hopes for long-lasting success, power, beauty, brightness, or the perfect love.
  3. Thinks that they are “special” and unique, and that only other “special” or high-status people (or groups) can understand them or should hang out with them.
  4. Wants praise too much.
  5. Feels too privileged, which means they think they should be treated extra well or have all their needs met naturally.
  6. Shows interpersonal exploitative behavior, which means using other people to get what you want.
  7. In this case, the person doesn’t want to learn or connect with other people’s feelings and needs.
  8. Is or thinks that other people are jealous of them a lot of the time.
  9. Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.

Diagnostic Features of Narcissistic Personality Disorder

In the light of DSM 5 TR (APA, 2022):

  • Narcissistic personality disorder is characterized by a persistent pattern of arrogance, need for praise, and lack of empathy that starts in early adulthood and shows up in a range of situations.
  • People with narcissistic personality disorder often dream about being rich, powerful, smart, beautiful, or in love(Criterion 2). They may feel good about the respect and comfort they’ve been waiting for a long time and think of how they compare to popular or wealthy people.
  • People with narcissistic personality disorder believe they are one of a kind and expect others to agree (Criterion 3). These people can be shocked or even heartbroken when they don’t get the praise they think they deserve from other people. They might think that only high-status people can understand them and that they should only hang out with those people. The people they hang out with might seem “unique”, “perfect,” or “gifted.” People who have this problem think that their wants are unique and not something that regular people can understand. They feel better about their own self-worth when they think highly of the people they hang out with. They may insist on only having the “best” person (doctor, lawyer, barber, and teacher) or being connected with the “best” schools, but they may not trust the titles of those who let them down.
  • People with narcissistic personality disorder usually need a lot of praise (Criterion 4). They almost always have very low self-esteem, and because they deal with extreme self-doubt, self-criticism, and emptiness, they need to actively seek the admiration of others. A lot of their thoughts may be on how well they are doing and what other people think of them. They might think that everyone will be very happy to see them and be shocked if people don’t want their things. They may always want praise, and a lot of the time, they do a great job of it.
  • • These people think they deserve special treatment, which shows they have a sense of entitlement that comes from having a skewed sense of self-worth (Criterion 5). They expect they will be taken care of and get upset or angry when this doesn’t happen. For instance, they might think they don’t have to wait in queue and that other people should put their needs ahead of everyone else’s. They then get angry when other people don’t help them with “their very important work.” No matter what it means to other people, they will get what they want or think they need. Like, these people might expect others to be very committed, so they might give them too much work without considering how it will affect their own lives.
  • This feeling of privilege, along with not knowing or caring about other people’s wants and needs, can lead to people taking advantage of others, whether they are aware of it or not (Criterion 6). They only date or become friends with someone if they think that person will help them reach their goals or make them feel better about themselves in some other way. They often take extra things and special rights that they believe are theirs. Some people with narcissistic personality disorder take advantage of other people’s feelings, friendships, intelligence, or money on purpose so they can get what they want.
  • People with narcissistic personality disorder don’t want to or don’t understand what other people want, experience, or feel (Criterion 7). They usually have some cognitive empathy, which means they can see things from someone else’s point of view, but not much emotional empathy, which means they can’t actually feel what someone else is feeling. Some people may not realize how hurtful their words can be.
  • When needs, wants, or feelings are seen as signs of weakness or fear, people are less likely to care about them. People who are close to someone with narcissistic personality disorder often feel emotionally cold and uninterested in them back. These people are often jealous of other people or think that other people are jealous of them (Criterion 8).
  • They might feel bad about other people’s accomplishments or goods because they think they deserve those things more. They may severely undervalue the work of others, especially if those people have already been recognized or praised for their efforts. These people act cocky and haughty, and they often have snobbish, condescending, or condescending attitudes (Criterion 9).

Conclusion

Narcissistic personality disorder is a tough clinical syndrome because it shows up in different ways, is hard to treat, and makes it harder to treat other illnesses that often happen at the same time. Therefore, early diagnosis and seeking professional help on time is crucial. This article provides the diagnostic criteria and features for narcissistic personality disorder, which can facilitate the identification of the disorder’s evident symptoms.

References

  • American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (2022). Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association.
  • Guttman, S. A., & with the Assistance of Irene Kagan Guttman. (1987). Robert Waelder on psychoanalytic technique: Five lectures. The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 56(1), 1-67.https://doi.org/10.1080/21674086.1987.11927165
  • Kacel, E. L., Ennis, N., & Pereira, D. B. (2017). Narcissistic personality disorder in clinical health psychology practice: Case studies of comorbid psychological distress and life-limiting illness. Behavioral Medicine, 43(3), 156-164. https://doi.org/10.1080/08964289.2017.1301875
  • Kirsner, D. (2007). Saving psychoanalysts: Ernest Jones and the Isakowers. Psychoanalysis and History, 9(1), 83-91.https://doi.org/10.3366/pah.2007.9.1.83
  • Mitra P, Torrico TJ, Fluyau D. Narcissistic Personality Disorder. [Updated 2024 Mar 1]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556001/
  • Northcote, H. (1929). Havelock Ellis’s studies. The Eugenics Review, 21(3), 237. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2984869/
  • Schmidt, A. (2019). Comparison of Kernberg’s and Kohut’s Theory of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Turk PsikiyatriDergisi, 30(2).https://doi.org/10.5080/u23484
  • Van Haute, P., &Westerink, H. (2016). Sexuality and its object in Freud’s 1905 edition of Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality. The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 97(3), 563-589.https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-8315.12480