Read the passage

Think about the main ideas contained in the passage.

Make a list of four (4) main ideas contained in the passage.

summarize the main ideas in paragraph form with a minimum of four (4) complete sentences.

Do not quote directly from the passage.

Summarize the following:

To be human is to encounter difficulties and problems in life. A course in abnormal psychology dwells on human problemsmany of them will be familiar. As a result, as you read this text, you may be prone to the medical student syndrome: reading about a disorder may lead you to suspect that you have the disorder or that a friend or relative has the disorder. This reaction to the study of abnormal behavior is common and important for you to recognize. Similarly, medical students reading about physical disorders sometimes begin to imagine that they have the illnesses they are studying. "Diarrhea? Fatigue? Trouble sleeping? That's me!" In this way, a cluster of symptomsno matter how mild or how briefly experiencedcan lead some people to suspect that they are ill.

Students who take a course that examines psychopathology are equally prone to believing that they have one or more of the mental disorders described in their text. The problem is compounded by easy access to the Internet where brief research on mental disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, or anxiety can produce a multitude of descriptors that seem to fit them. It is possible, of course, that some of usdohave an undiagnosed psychological disorder and would benefit from counseling or therapy. Most of us, however, are merely experiencing an exaggerated sense of our vulnerability to disorders. Two influences, in particular, may make us susceptible to imagining that we have a disorder. One is the universality of the human experience. All of us have experienced misfortunes in life. The depressed mood following the loss of a loved one or anxiety before giving a speech to a large audience are perfectly normal reactions. We can all remember and relate to feelings of fear, apprehension, unhappiness, or euphoria. In most cases, however, these feelings are normal reactions to life situations, not symptoms of illness.