• Review Module 34 of Psychology and Your Life. List the major classifications of psychological disorders. Select one and discuss what types of treatment approaches are available for this disorder.
One of the many psychological complications is mood swings or disorders. This type of disorder may to some extent be genetic or due to some medication interactions, which a person may be taking. The treatments for mood disorders include hospitalization in a mental institution that is if the person is found out to be a threat to him and the society. Therefore, the preventive measures become must to cure the person’s disorder. If the mood disorder is due to a wrong medication than such a condition can be cured to a better extent by consulting a physician and discarding the medication effecting your health. Other than medication , if a person feel that this isn't working, a person should try out these things such as supplements, herbs and possible yoga whatever treatment is best suited for his or her condition, as an additional therapy as these come without any side effects as well.
• Review pp. 388–392. Explain two definitions of abnormal behavior. Compare the differences between the psychoanalytic, behavioral, and cognitive perspectives on abnormality.
If we go by the text, there are two definitions of abnormal behavior. They are:- Abnormality due to personal discomfort and abnormality due inefficient functionality. Abnormality due to personal discomfort is when a person’s behavior causes anxiety or stress in the person or causes harm to another. We all go through these moments of this type of behavior, when we say harsh words and hurt someone's feelings. But the main difference between a normal individual and a sick person is that a sick person will have this kind of behavior for a prolonged period of time and that will interfere with his normal working. Abnormality as the inability to function effectively, on the other hand, is when someone is not able to adjust to society and is unable to function. For example, one who does not understand the rules of society might want to think that it is normal to never leave his or her home and have no contact with other people.
The psychoanalytic perspective of abnormal behavior tries to find out whether the current psychological condition of a person is caused by some incident of violence that happened or some kind of physical or mental abuse that the person had to experience in the past. Abnormal behavior, over here, is considered as a symptom to a deeper problem. Whereas the behavioral perspective of abnormal behavior infers that the behavior itself is the root cause of the entire problem. The cognitive perspective of abnormal behavior has the perspective that the beliefs that a person possesses interferes with his behavior.
• What are the differences between anxiety disorders, somatoform disorders, and mood disorders? Provide two examples for each one.
Going by the text anxiety disorders involve problems that affect people's daily routines. Some of the anxiety disorders are panic attacks, phobic attacks, obsessive-compulsive attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder. Somatoform disorders are psychological complications arising out of physical problems. These are further divided into hypochondriasis and conversion disorder. Mood disorders are strong behavioral changes that affect day to day life. Even this is further divided into major depression and bipolar disorder. One thing that differentiates all these disorders is that all of them are caused by different reasons. The anxiety disorders are mainly phobias. These are things that make people fear certain things in life. The somatoform disorder is the fear of getting really sick. This is really similar to anxiety disorders, but for some strange reason it is not under that category. Mood disorders are a completely different problem. They concentrate on stress and personality. Many a times these people turn out to be bipolar. People with bipolar disorders generally change out of nowhere. They would be nice one minute and the next they would be raging with anger.
• Take the How Anxious Are You? assessment on p. 398 of Psychology and Your Life. What is anxiety and how does it affect your daily life? List some types of anxiety disorders. Anxiety is when you feel apprehended or tensed, in reaction to stressful situations. They are of four major categories. They are phobic disorder, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Phobia is one of the more common disorders. Phobia is an intense, irrational fear of a particular object or situation. It would be safe to say that everybody has the phobia of one thing or the other even if it is a small phobia. I have a phobia of heights. I just cannot stand great heights. The fear makes me act out very unusually. But let me assure you that there are ways to overcome most phobias. With most phobias come panic attacks. Well at least that is what happens to me. There are many types of phobias. When i first started this online school, it had me very stressful simply because i had so much to do in a days time. I had faced Anxiety attack, my doctor put me on medication for but i didn't like it. So i stop taking it and found another solution and just organized myself.
• Watch the Mental Disorders: Causes, Nature, and Treatment – Interactive Tutorial located at the following link: http://media.pearsoncmg.com/pcp/pcp_94123_psych_axia/lesson_11/select.htm o Select one mental disorder to examine. o Define the disorder and discuss the behaviors associated with it. o Are there any treatment options available for this disorder? If so, please explain.
Multiple personality disorder. Some well known behavior that may occur with this disorder are alter in moods. A person might also assume the identity of another individual to a great extent without letting the person have the slightest of idea about it. This happens due to the power of our subconscious mind. What medical science explains to us about multiple personality disorder is that the person tries to erase all that caused trauma to him earlier and thus takes the identity of an absolutely different individual. This makes the individual think that this will avoids him or her from such other behaviors such as suicide tendencies and becoming outcastes from social groups. Even though there is no proper solution to this kind of disorder but constant care from somebody and determination from the patient’s side can prove to be very much curing at the end for whoever is going through this. 