Research methods - Assignment Example

sistent health anxiety not only causes great suffering for the patient and those around them but is also costly in terms of higher medical care utilization (Barsky, Ettner, Horsky & Bates, 2001). Hence, it remains a priority to understand the aetiology and maintenance of hypochondriasis and to develop effective treatments. Although DSM-IV-TR (2000) currently classifies hypochondriasis as a somatoform disorder it has been argued that the underlying cognitive processes are more consistent with those in anxiety disorders (Mayou, Kirmayer, Simon, Kroenke, & Sharpe, 2005; Noyes, 1999; Olatunji, 2009; Deacon &Abramowitz, 2009,) and thus it has been conceptualized as such for the purposes of treatment (Paul, Warwick, Deale, 2003; David Clark et al.

, 1998; Wells, 1997). Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling mental illness that has a particularly negative impact on patients with the disorder. For example, compared to normal people, schizophrenics will often face significant problems with developing social relationships, self-care, and are often unable to hold down a job. As a result, everybody knows that they are usually unemployed, socially isolated, and dependent on the financial support of family or public welfare. It is, therefore, imperative that mental health professionals develop effective treatments to tackle the problem.

A number of different treatments have been developed to target the problem of Schizophrenia. These include antipsychotic medications, electroconvulsive therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, family education and therapy, and social skills training (Rosenberg & Kosslyn, 2014). Many Schizophrenics don’t like taking medication, usually because of the many distressing and long term negative side-effects. Consequently, I would recommend treating Schizophrenia with psychological interventions, rather than medication.

An experiment was carried out to examine the impact of drinking alcohol on driving ability. One hundred participants took