Culture in DSM-5

What's happened with culturally-bound symptoms in DSM-5? For one thing, they're now called "cultural concepts of distress." And they've been, to some extent, integrated into the main body of the DSM. Here's how the APA explains it in a pdf-only bulletin:

Rather than a simple list of culture-bound syndromes, DSM-5 updates criteria to reflect cross-cultural variations in presentations, gives more detailed and structured information about cultural concepts of distress, and includes a clinical interview tool to facilitate comprehensive, person-centered assessments...

Throughout the DSM-5 development process, the Work Groups made a concerted effort to modify culturally determined criteria so they would be more equivalent across different cultures. In Section II, specific diagnostic criteria were changed to better apply across diverse cultures. For example, the criteria for social anxiety disorder now include the fear of "offending others" to reflect the Japanese concept in which avoiding harm to others is emphasized rather than harm to oneself.

(Here's the complete bulletin, cached by Google.) So can you still expect to see culture-bound cultural concepts on the exam? Yes. They're still relevant as ever (and useful to exam writers faced with coming up with Effects of Diversity items). Here's the APAs DSM-5 list:

• Ataque de nervios
• Dhat syndrome
• Khyâl cap
• Kufungisisa
• Maladi moun
• Nervios
• Shenjing shuairuo
• Susto
• Taijin kyofusho

Knowing the ins and outs of each is probably not necessary. Just being able to ID them as relevant culturally-specific diagnostic information should get you close to the correct answers if not all the way through the exam. If you want to get more familiar with them, Wikipedia awaits (with the old DSM-IV list). Enjoy.

(Note: If you're taking the ASWB exam before July, '15, ignore the DSM-5 parts of this post. The exam will still feature DSM-IV-TR questions till mid-summer.)

DSM-5 and the Social Work Exam

It's 2015, the year that exam preppers bid adieu to DSM-IV-TR. Which version of the DSM should you be studying? Depends upon when you're taking the exam. The BBS in California has already switched to DSM-5. Everyone else, taking the ASWB exam, waits till July for the big switch. After July, it's all DSM-5 all the time for social work licensing test takers.

So, if you're going to be ready soon to take the big test, how to proceed? Should you get the exam over with using DSM-IV-TR, which you may already have a decent handle on from putting it to use in practice? Or should you delay your exam till July, learn DSM-5, and move forward, licensed and versed in the latest manual.

Hmmm...?

It's a question you'll have to answer for yourself. Seems it would depend upon your particular time pressure, planned study duration, and other personal details. It's not a one-size-fits-all situation. It may help you to browse DSM-5 changes--what really is are the differences?

Here are some good places to begin to get a sense of what's what:

• DSM-5 Fact Sheets (APA)
• DSM-5 Changes (Psych Central)
• DSM-5 (Wikipedia)

Whatever you choose, good luck studying, and good luck with the exam!

The Stages of Change and the Social Work Exam

The Stages of Change are pretty likely to show up on the social work licensing exam. They're probably already turning up in your licensing exam prep. Where are you in your quest for licensure? Here are the Stages of Change applied to the exam-prep process.

--Precontemplation (Not ready for change): Not thinking about the social work exam. Can't be, you're reading this!

--Contemplation (Getting ready for change): Poking around the edges of exam prep, unsure. Could be you!

--Preparation (Ready for change; sometimes called "Determination"): Change is coming soon. Reading a blog or two, checking out different social work exam programs, etc.

--Action (Like it sounds): Underway studying, taking practice exams...on it.

--Maintenance (Sustained action): Continuing action as test day approaches. If that's you, congratulations! It's only a matter of time...

For more on the Stages of Change, here's some reading and listening.

• The Transtheoretical Model (Wikipedia)
• Prochaska and DiClemente's Stages of Change Model for Social Workers (The Social Work Podcast)
• The Stages of Change (PsychCentral)

 Good luck on progressing through your exam-prep stages and good luck on the exam!

Social Media and Social Work

Imagine you're an exam item writer. You've got to generate a certain number of questions and answers on a deadline. You take a break and check your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. You return to your work and think, what should I write this next question about? Maybe social work and social media!

This scenario doesn't have to ring true for it to be worth your time to give some thought to the intersection of social media and social work. How can social workers best navigate all the newish decisions regarding relationships with client outside of the professional space. What information is okay to include in email? How do you respond if a client asks to be friends on Facebook? Or a former client wants to connect on LinkedIn? What if that former client regularly refers people to the social worker's practice? What if a client writes a review on Yelp that includes criticism of the social worker never mentioned in session?

Knowing how to respond to these questions is tricky, whether they come up in real life or on the social work licensing exam. Happily--though the NASW Code of Ethics hasn't directly addressed social media issues as of this writing--there is reading and listening to do that will help you figure out BEST answers for the exam and for your social work career.

Here, two articles and a podcast on the topic worth checking out:

• Developing a Social Media Ethics Policy (Social Work Today)
• Social Media Use and Social Work Practice: Boundary and Ethical Considerations (inSocialWork Podcast)
• Social Media and Social Work: A Question of Ethics (SocialWorkLicensure.org)

Get those skimmed and you're well on your way to being an ethical social work social media user and exam passer! Here's a really quick summary: Don't engage with clients on social media. Avoid dual relationships. Respect privacy. Got it? Great! Good luck!

Season's Greetings from Pass the ASWB Exam

Happy Holidays from Pass the ASWB Exam! Wishing you a fast path to licensing in 2015! Thanks, social workers, for all that you do.

Social Work Exam Quiz: Name the SSRI

Here's another social work licensing exam prep quiz: Name the SSRI! (Cue theme music.) The rules are simple. From the list of medications below, identify which are Selective Sertonin Reuptake Inhibitors and which are not. Extra points for identifying what the non-SSRIs do!

Here's the list:

1. Ativan
2. Celexa
3. Depakote
4. Fluoxetine
5. Fluvoxamine
6. Klonopin
7. Mellaril
8. Restoril
9. Zoloft
10. Zyprexa 

Answers, from Wikipedia's list of psychotropic medications, are in comments. Good luck. And good luck on the big exam!

Medication Match Game

Here's another quick quiz based upon the psychotropic medications page at Wikipedia. Test your medication knowledge, prepare for the social work exam, have fun.

Match the medication with its description.

Example:

1. Fluoxetine
2. Lithium

A. A mood stabilizer used in treating bipolar disorder.
B. Used to treat major depressive disorder, bulimia nervosa (an eating disorder) obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).

Answers: 1B, 2A

Got it? Go for it.

Match each medication with the correct description.

The medications:

1. BuSpar
2. Benzodiazepines
3. Celexa
4. Clozaril 
5. Concerta 
6. Cymbalta 

The descriptions:

A. An antidepressant of the SSRI class
B. An atypical antipsychotic
C.  An anti-anxiety medication
D. An antidepressant of the SSNRI class, similar to Effexor (venlafaxine)
E.  A class of sedatives
F.  Used to treat ADD/ADHD

Answers in comments. How'd you do?