Clinical Assessments

What is a psychological disability?

Individuals with psychological disabilities have a significantly compromised ability to think, feel, interact, and carry out daily activities. This interference can lead to severe difficulties in navigating daily life. People with psychological disabilities face challenges that are not visible to the outside world yet may hinder the pursuit of educational goals. These invisible disabilities may manifest in a variety of ways, such as difficulty concentrating, fatigue, impaired memory, feeling low or anxious, distorted thinking, disorganization, difficulty concentrating, erratic emotions, personality change, paranoia, blaming others, or suicidal thoughts.

Psychological Diagnosis

A student with psychological disability may experience one or more of the following conditions:

Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders are pathological conditions characterized by disruptions in one or more of the following: hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking (speech), grossly disorganized or abnormal motor behavior (including catatonia), and reduced expression of emotions.

Bipolar and Related Disorders are characterized by alternating periods of mania and depression. During the manic phase, a person may exhibit prolonged periods of high energy, increased productivity, and decreased need for sleep. Conversely, the depressed phase is characterized by feelings of sadness, fatigue, hopelessness, and/or loss of motivation.

Depressive Disorders are mental health conditions that cause persistent feelings of sadness, worthlessness, or guilt, as well as a lack of pleasure in formerly enjoyable activities. They can start at any age and are sometimes accompanied by insomnia and suicidal thoughts.

Anxiety disorders are characterized by fear and anxiety that can lead to a range of behavioral disturbances. Fear is an emotional reaction to a present or imminent threat, while anxiety is related to anticipating a future perceived threat.

Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders involve a pattern of distressing, obsessive thoughts and repetitive behaviors which impact daily life and cause distress.

Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders are a collection of mental health issues that may be caused by a person's exposure to physical or emotional abuse, neglect, or family conflict during childhood. These distressing experiences can have a lasting effect on a person's emotional and behavioral wellbeing.

Personality Disorders are psychological disorders in which rigid and unhealthy patterns of thinking, functioning, and behavior impede an individual's ability to interact with people and situations in their daily life.

Functional Limitations

The following functional limitations related to psychological disabilities may affect a student's academic performance and will need to be accommodated for:

• Side effects of certain psychiatric medications may have a negative impact on academic performance. These side effects can include drowsiness, fatigue, dry mouth and thirst, blurred vision, hand tremors, a slowed response time, and difficulty initiating interpersonal contact.

• The inability to screen out environmental stimuli, such as sounds, sights, or odors, that make focusing on tasks difficult. Low tolerance for noise and overcrowding.

• Having difficulty sustaining focus and attention: restlessness, inability to concentrate for long periods of time, difficulty with staying on task, getting easily distracted, and difficulty comprehending and remembering instructions.

• Struggling to have enough energy to last an entire day of classes on campus; combating drowsiness caused by medications.

• Having difficulty managing multiple assignments, prioritizing tasks on time, and meeting deadlines while trying to juggle numerous tasks.

• Having difficulty interacting with others (i.e., getting along, fitting in, contributing to group work, and understanding social cues).

• Difficulty with interacting or communicating with instructors or teaching assistants due to fear of authority figures. When responding to negative feedback, it can be difficult to understand and accurately interpret criticisms or receive low grades. It may be difficult to separate oneself from the task (personalizing or becoming defensive due to low self-esteem).

• Responding to Change: Difficulty in adjusting to sudden alterations in coursework requirements, such as different assignments, deadlines, and instructors. Inability to adapt to unexpected interruptions.

• Severe test anxiety is a state in which an individual experiences high levels of emotional distress and physical discomfort, making it difficult or impossible to take an exam.

What are psychological testing?

Students with psychological disabilities are entitled to an equitable learning experience by way of removing any barriers that may prevent their full participation in class, courses, and programs. The focus of psychological testing is to provide equal access, rather than ensuring a successful outcome, whether through classroom accommodations, examination accommodations, assignment accommodations, or an adjusted attendance policy.

Documentation Guidelines

To receive psychological testing for psychological disabilities, students must make a request at  assessments.caps@lums.edu.pk. 

• A consent form must be signed by the student before the psychological evaluation.

• If the student has pre-existing history with either CAPS or externally, the information must be shared with the clinician before the session.

• If the student does not have any prior history, they must get psychological and psychiatric evaluation done to verify the diagnosis

• The symptom severity range would denote which accommodations would be appropriate for the student. Please note that not all accommodation is suitable for every student.

• All the information should be current and in case the student takes therapy externally, their therapist must share history with us, e.g., full description of current symptoms from the current mental health treatment provider, including symptom frequency, duration, and intensity.

• Psychological disabilities can change over time, documentation should be up to date and include a current psychiatric update, completed within the past year, if the initial diagnosis is more than one year old. The update should describe the current impact of the student's disability.

• The diagnosis would be supported by psychological testing.

Timeline to get psychological testing Report

• The report will be sent to Academic Accommodation & Accessibility (AAA) within two weeks after the assessment session.

Mental Health Petitions

• The students need to send an email to assessments.caps@lums.edu.pk and request for a petition assessment session.

• The student will receive a consent form which they will sign first and only then their appointment will get booked.

• No assessment session will be booked if CAPS will not receive the consent form. 

• After the psychological evaluation session, the respective request will be sent to Student Support Services (SSS).

• Walk-in requests will not be entertained.