Is Psychological Debriefing A Harmful Intervention for Survivors of Trauma?YES:- PTSD lifetime prevalence rate is 8%- Psychological debriefing = “emotional first aid”o Any brief psychological intervention that involves some reworking/reliving/recollection of the trauma and subsequent emotional reactions- Critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) and critical incident stress managemento Noxious, ineffective, no effect, provoke more negative symptoms- More emphasis placed on screening and early intervention for those who develop pathological reactions-- CISD and CISM indistinguishableNO:- CISD is a seven step, small group crisis intervention process- CISM is comprehensive, systematic, multicomponent- Debriefings are not recommended until a few weeks after the disaster- Crisis intervention is a support service, not a replacement for psychotherapy  assess individuals to see if they need further therapyShould Memory Dampening Drugs be used to prevent and treat trauma in combat soldiers?YES:- Propanolol can dampen memory and make life more bearable for some trauma survivors  targets fear based memories- 20% of American soldiers have developed PTSD- Individuals will still remember facts about the traumatic event, but their evaluation and appraisal will change- Normal memory evolution includes some decay- Not conceptually different than giving someone an anesthetic- PTSD is triggered by events outside the control of the individual - When PTSD impairs daily function, an individual has already lost his sense of self- Treatment does not induce memory loss, but dissociates emotions from memoryNO:- Altering memories risks falsifying our perception and understanding of the world and undermining our true identity- Benefit from dealing w/ posttraumatic memories as it allows for posttraumatic growth and room to mature emotionally- Drugs must be administered during trauma or shortly after  how do you judge who to give them to?- Happiness depends on our memory  knowing who we are in relation to who we have been (we need a sense of self)- Violate identity and sense of self, affect society by desensitizing people to other’s actions- Drugs are likely to be prescribed to more than war veterans, and may be given before a traumatic event- Hard to tell immediately after a traumatic event how this person is going to respond to it (will PTSD actually develop?)- We have an obligation to remember certain events (Holocaust)Would Legalization of virtual child pornography reduce sexual exploitation of children?YES: - Such material is a form of free speech, reduce the extent to which real children would be exploited- Technology allows to distinguish between a real and a virtual imageNO:- Internet users with no previous sexual interest in children may find themselves drawn into a world in which societal prohibition against adult-child sex is undermined- Evidence showing the more you are exposed to a certain type of pornography, yougenerally start to lose interest- Transforms children into sexual objects- Possible to become attracted to children after being exposed to child pornography- Turn to child porn after becoming bored with adult porn- Pedophiles sexual arousal intensifies when exposed to child pornography  prelude to masturbation or sexual abuse of children- Provided with a model to shape and intensify their desires- Normalization of child pornography through cartoons, prevalence of child pornography sites, undermines a pedophile’s internal inhibitions against acting outtheir desires to have sex (makes it seem okay to victimize a child)- Diminished fear of disapproval and of legal and social sanctions- Showing pornography to children as an attempt of seduction  normalizes these acts for children, desensitizes them, make them feel guiltyDoes research confirm that abortion is a psychologically benign experience?YES:- Women who deliver an unplanned pregnancy are at the same risk for mental health problems as those who have an unplanned pregnancy- Utilized all empirical studies published in English in peer-reviewed journals post-1989- No evidence supporting association between mental health and the abortion itself, as opposed to other factors- Predictive factors for more negative responses: perceptions of stigma, need for secrecy, low social support, prior mental health history, low self-esteem- Abortion is not a unitary event, but encompasses a diversity of experiencesNO:- Politically motivated bias (afraid of reporting negative effects of abortion due to pro-choice movement) is present in research and literature selection- Selective reporting reviews of literature- Many limitations to the studies (controls were not properly measured, small sample sizes)- Ignored large studies like the Swedish oneIs it ethical to support the wish for healthy limb amputation in people with body integrity identity disorder? (BIID)YES:- People with BIID are in emotional pain because of their experience of incongruitybetween their body image and their actual body- People with BIID have spent many years, since childhood, with a nonstandard sense of embodiment; their experience of themselves built around this sense- Some may try to perform the amputation themselves  huge risk of harm- An individual’s conception of his or her own good should be respected in medical decision-making- Why would someone want to be a “wannabe”?o Body dysmorphic disorder- individual believes a part of them is ugly/diseasedo Sexual attraction to other amputees or to being an amputee o Mismatch between experience and actual structure of body (BIID)- Mismatch between person’s body schema and actual body- Mismatch between body and body image- Anorexics fail to recognize the discrepancy between body and body image, wannabe is too aware of the discrepancy - Ignoring this request is ignoring an individual’s autonomy (much like ignoring religious beliefs about certain treatments)- Harm minimization, autonomy, therapeutic NO:- Views individuals with BIID as mentally disturbed; need treatment, not amputation- Insufficient thought given to post-amputation regret- Physicians are duty bound to “do no harm”- Whether or not someone “owns” a limb does not make it any less real- Calls it a “neurotic obsession”Is forced treatment of seriously mentally ill individuals justifiable?YES:- Society has