Alabama Social Studies SS24.P.16

SS24.P.16 is a cluster heading. These are the individual standards under it.

• SS24.P.16a

  Describe various approaches for explaining mental illness, including biological and medical, cognitive, and sociocultural models.

• SS24.P.16b

  Differentiate among types of mental illness, including mood, anxiety, somatoform, schizophrenic, dissociative, and personality disorders.

01

What Students Need to Do

Students look at context, duration, distress, and daily functioning to tell when behavior may need clinical attention. They distinguish mood, anxiety, somatic symptom, schizophrenia spectrum, dissociative, and personality disorders. They explain how biology, thought patterns, and social context can shape mental health, and describe possible treatments.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

Given fictional cases, a student identifies the likely disorder family and cites a clue. They separate a brief bad day from sustained low mood that disrupts life. They name a plausible treatment without claiming to diagnose the person.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may call any unusual behavior a disorder, even when it causes no lasting distress or disruption. They may confuse schizophrenia with multiple identities or assume physical symptoms in somatic symptom disorders are faked. Some think medication is the only treatment.

04

How to Assess It

Exit ticket: “A student misses school for weeks after repeated panic attacks. Name the likely disorder family, one sign this is more than ordinary nerves, one cognitive explanation, and one possible treatment.”

1. 01

   Sort six fictional case cards by disorder family, then attach a treatment card and point to the clue that supports each match.

2. 02

   Give pairs two worry vignettes and ask which shows sustained distress or disrupted daily life, and what else they need to know.

3. 03

   Play a card-match using a fictional anxiety case: connect biological, cognitive, and sociocultural explanations to medication, cognitive behavioral therapy, and family check-ins.

4. 04

   Read a printed community clinic intake page and write two questions someone could ask about evaluation and treatment options.

• SS24.P.19

  Describe different types of biomedical and psychological treatments for mental disorders.

• SS24.P.19a

  Explain how mental health professionals determine the appropriate treatment from the variety of psychological treatments available for various mental health iss...