sexual dysfunctionLet's revisit the DSM for today's free practice question. Flipping randomly into the purple book, just as an exam item writer might, we land on the Sexual Dysfunctions chapter. Here are the disorders contained therein:

Delayed Ejaculation (what it sounds like)

Erectile Disorder (ditto--difficulty in obtaining or maintaining an erection during sexual activity)

Female Orgasmic Disorder (delay, infrequency, absence or reduced intensity of orgasm)

Female Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder (what it sounds like)

Genito-Pelvic Pain/Penetration Disorder (persistent or recurrent difficulties with vaginal penetration)

Male Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (More than six months of deficient or absent sexual/erotic thoughts and desire)

Premature (Early) Ejaculation (within 1 minute of penetration and before individual wishes it)

Substance/Medication-Induced Sexual Dysfunction (what it sounds like again)

Here's a sample question:

A client reports difficulty maintaining an erection when having sex with his wife ever since their honeymoon ended, a year ago. The problem occurs during what he describes as "vanilla" sex. As he reports details, the client seems fairly irritated, but not especially haunted by the issue. What set of specifiers is MOST appropriate to add to the diagnosis of erectile disorder:

A. Lifelong, situational, mild

B. Acquired, situational, mild

C. Lifelong, generalized, mild

D. Acquired, generalized, mild

What do you say?

This is one of those questions where you just need to know some definitions--or be able to suss them out with a little common sense. Here are the specifiers for erectile disorder:

Lifelong (present since the individual became sexually active)

Acquired (present after a period of relatively normal sexual function)

While we don't have details about the client's honeymoon or pre-marital sex life, we have to go with the contents of the question. Acquired is the better fit here. Hey, look, two answers already eliminated!

Generalized (not limited to certain types of stimulation, situations, or partners)

Situational (only occurs with certain types of stimulation, etc.)

The client's problems occur only during "vanilla" sex. We're quickly narrowed down to the answer. But we'll keep going. Mild, moderate, and severe are measures of the client's distress. Those specifiers don't describe symptoms, but the client's reaction to the symptoms. This client is irritated--a low level of distress. "Obsessed" or "unable to function" would be indicators of a more moderate or severe level of distress.

Also note, the problem has to have persisted for at least six months for a diagnosis of erectile disorder to be made.

TL;DR: Our answer is B, acquired, situational, mild.

For more reading about sexual dysfunctions in this chapter and beyond, take a look at:

And, of course, your DSM-5 is a friend as you prep DSM-5 questions--especially the desk reference edition.

For full-length practice tests covering the wide range of questions that can show up on the social work licensing exam (not just DSM!), sign up and create your exam bundle!


February 17, 2017
Categories : 
  DSM  
  practice  
Previous
Next