...abnormality and psychological disorders for humans. Before I go into the different abnormalities and the disorders, I think it is best if you first understood what is considered “abnormal.” Everyone has their own view on what is normal or abnormal; you may think someone is normal when they actually are a threat to the people around them. Also, you can see someone in the park wearing something outlandish and think he or she is very weird, but that just might be their sense of style. This would be known as social nonconformity, where the person may be wearing an unusual outfit or they may have colorful tattoos and piercings covering their whole body. This does not necessarily mean that the person is mentally unstable. There is also something called statistical abnormality, where the person scores extremely high or extremely low on a score of some dimension, like an IQ test. These very high or very low scores will fall in the top and bottom 2.5% on a bell-curve graph. The lower 2.5% is the portion that is categorized with different disorders. The study of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders is called psychopathology. These psychological problems are classified using the DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders). This book helps psychologists determine what disorder a person has and the best way to treat the patient. A mental disorder is a significant impairment in psychological functioning. There are many different types of mental disorders, all of them...
Words: 1309 - Pages: 6
...Psychological Disorder July, 20, 2011 Psychological Disorder Paper Psychological disorders are stated to be abnormalities of the mind, known as mental disorders (Klasco, 2011). Abnormalities of the mind cause persistent behaviors that affect an individual’s daily function and life (Klasco, 2011). The different types of psychological disorders include mood disorders, personality disorders, anxiety disorders, and eating disorders (Klasco, 2011). The causes of these disorders are unknown, but factors that contribute to these disorders include childhood experiences, chemical imbalances in the brain, illnesses, heredity, stress, and prenatal exposures (Klasco, 2011). Psychological disorders can be serious and can be life-threatening (Klasco, 2011). One psychological disorder that will be discussed in this paper is anxiety disorder, more specifically obsessive-compulsive disorder. This paper will discuss the relationship between human development and socialization, along with how this relationship affects obsessive-compulsive disorder. Anxiety Disorder Anxiety is something that each and every person experiences at some point in their life (Chakraburtty, 2009). An individual who has an anxiety disorder can have feelings of fears and worries that can cripple the individual (Chakraburtty, 2009). An anxiety disorder is stated to be a serious mental illness and can interfere with an individual living a normal life (Chakraburtty, 2009). Symptoms of anxiety disorder include feelings...
Words: 1168 - Pages: 5
...Psychological Disorders Shirley Myers Psy/240 06/26/2011 Gazda There are a plethora of psychological disorders to be discussed and the many theories about these disorders are endless. Along with theories about the disorders there are also many different kinds of treatments with many different effects. There are also levels of severity that come along with each individual mental disorder. Some of these disorders include Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Panic Disorder, Bulimia Nervosa, and Tourette syndrome. There are treatments for these disorders but with all treatments there can be negative results associated with the treatment. The theories associated with each disorder give professionals some insight into what the mental disorder is exactly and how it is to be treated and has caused psychological medicine to come a very long way from its sordid beginning. Schizophrenia is classified as one of the many major psychological disorders and can be incapacitating. Pinel explained that the term Schizophrenia means, “The splitting of psychic functions” (Pinel, 2009). There are several symptoms associated with the diagnosis of Schizophrenia and they are as follows: delusions, inappropriate affect, hallucinations, incoherent thought, and odd behavior (Pinel, 2009). For most professionals it usually only takes one sort of symptom to form a diagnoses of Schizophrenia. One of the theories that are believed to cause Schizophrenia is that an individual may inherit the...
Words: 1238 - Pages: 5
...Psychological Disorders & Treatment Paper Candace Ward PSY/203 Foundation of Psychology November 16, 2015 Kurtis Armstrong Psychological Disorders is a disorder of the mind involving thoughts, behaviors, and emotions that cause either self or others significant distress. Significant distress can mean the person is unable to function, meet personal needs on their own, or are a danger to themselves or others. There are many types of psychological disorders, this paper will focus on Dependent personality disorders, cyclothymic disorders and well as PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorders. I will also include treatments and what each treatment option will entail. This paper will be concluded with my thoughts on how these disorders can affect our everyday lives and how important it is to be aware of these particular disorders. Dependent personality disorders or DPD is a psychological disorder that is characterized by a persuasive psychological dependence on other people. According to the Psych Central, Dependent personality disorders lead individuals to engage in dependent and submissive behaviors as well as sometimes being seen as “clingy” or “Clinging” to others. It also mentioned that people who suffer with dependent personality disorders tend to have self-doubt, they may belittle themselves a lot, and or repeatedly refer to themselves as “stupid.” Symptom may include having a difficult time making everyday decisions. For example, the individual may need extra help...
Words: 1414 - Pages: 6
...Psychological Disorders By: Jennifer PSY / 240 Psychiatric disorders are disorders of psychological function suffiently severe that they require treatment. Psychiatric disorder can be difficult to diagnose because they psychiatrist or clinical psychologist must first decide whether the problem is pathological, or if it is in fact an extreme of normal human variation. Currently there is no way to identify a specific brain pathology associated with different disorders; diagnosis usually relies on the patients symptoms. This paper will discuss four psychiatric disorders: Schizophrenia, Depression Mania, Anxiety, and Tourette syndrome. Schizophrenia affects about 1% of the world’s population. Over 2-3% of the population shows symptoms. Some people only ever experience one, maybe two episode and get better, while others go through periods of being healthy, which is also known as remission. There are other cases where patients suffer long-term and are usually severe impairments. Schizophrenia literally means “split mind.” Many people often confuse schizophrenia with the meaning split personality-which is something entirely different. Split personality is a disorder known as multiple personality disorder or syndrome. Symptoms of schizophrenia are divided into two categories, negative and positive. Positive symptoms include thought disorders, hallucinations, and delusions. Thought disorders is disorganized and irrational thinking, and is one of the most important symptoms. For...
Words: 1547 - Pages: 7
...Psychological Disorders Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) occurs when someone has gone through or experienced a traumatic event in their life. The person suffering from PTSD experiences reoccurring episodes of the traumatic event they experienced. There are many different types of traumatic events that could trigger this disease. Some examples that may lead to PTSD are witnessing a crime, domestic abuse, and war. The most experience I have had with PTSD is learning about soldiers who have been affected by fighting in war. I’ve read several fiction novels that display a soldier dealing with PTSD. In Tim O’Brien’s fiction novel The Things They Carried, many soldiers are affected by fighting in the Vietnam War. The book takes the reader through the soldiers’ experiences while fighting, and then fast-forwards to years down the road when the veterans are much older. The reason for this is to show how the veterans are still affected by the war many years later. One particular soldier, Norman Bowker, spent his late years reflecting on his time in the war. He blamed himself for what happened to his fellow soldiers. He first handily watched one of his good friends die in combat. Bowker had the chance to save his friend, but he was unable to do so. Norman had reoccurring episodes where he found himself in the middle of combat, not knowing what to do. After these episodes occurred, he felt no purpose of living anymore. The aftermath of the war is what got to Bowker...
Words: 989 - Pages: 4
...Hewlett-Packard | Psychological Disorders | Bipolar Disorder | | Misty Whitehead | BEH/225 | Bipolar disorder is one of the oldest mental illnesses documented, although it has not been substantiated as a mental illness until the last 60 or so years. | Bipolar disorder was first known as manic depressive. According to “Bipolar” 1995, the symptoms of this disorder have been found to be mentioned in ancient writings as early as the second century. However, the disorder was not substantiated until the year 1650 after scientist Richard Burton wrote the book The Anatomy of Melancholia. Later in 1854 Jules Falret was able to link depression and suicide through his research. Falret’s work led him to recognize the term bipolar disorder through the links of depression lows in the mood and heightened points in the mood. In 1875 Falret found that this disorder was different than simple depression and later termed the disorder as manic depressive psychosis and that this was a real psychiatric disorder. Falret was also the first scientist to determine that there was a genetic link to the disorder. The disorder did not receive its own classification from other mental disorders of the time until Francois Baillarger characterized the depressive phase of the disorder. Later in 1913 Emily Krapelin began using the term manic-depressive. She completed an extensive study around the disorder explaining the phase of depression extensively and touching a little on the manic...
Words: 1338 - Pages: 6
...PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS Students with psychological disorders have experienced significant emotional difficulty that generally has required treatment in a hospital setting. With appropriate treatment, often combining medications, psychotherapy and support, the majority of psychiatric disorders are controlled. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that one in five people in the United States has some form of psychiatric disability, but only one in five persons with a diagnosable psychiatric disorder ever seeks treatment due to the strong stigmatization involved. Below are brief descriptions of some common psychological disorders. D EPRESSION is a major disorder that can begin at any age. Major depression may be characterized by a depressed mood most of each day, a lack of pleasure in most activities, thoughts of suicide, insomnia and feelings of worthlessness or guilt. BIPOLAR DISORDER (manic depressive disorder) causes a person to experience periods of mania and depression. In the manic phase, a person might experience inflated self-esteem, a decreased need to sleep, irrational thinking, irrational behaviors and impulsivity. A NXIETY DISORDERS can disrupt a person’s ability to concentrate and cause hyper-ventilation, a racing heart, chest pains, dizziness, panic and extreme fear. SCHIZOPHRENIA can cause a person to experience, at some point in the illness, delusions and hallucinations. Some considerations: • Trauma is not the sole cause of psychological disorders;...
Words: 497 - Pages: 2
...Question 1a WRITE NOTES ON Eating disorder Introduction Eating disorders (EDs) are psychiatric disorders with diagnostic criteria based on psychologic, behavior, and physiologic characteristics. Eating disorders is a broad name for a number of problems faced by human beings with food in our society. While majority slip into overeating or comfort eating at some point, for some the problem goes to life-threatening extremes. For instance a common type of eating disorder is the anorexia nervosa and bulimia; there is a deep fear of being overweight that leads to an obsession about restricting the number of calories the person is taking in. This leads to an extreme state of starvation, which in turn has a number of effects on the way that the body functions and how hormones are produced. The common symptom of someone affected by an eating disorder includes: a. Mentally keeping a balance between calories taken in and calories used up b. Deep-seated feelings of anxiety if they consume a few calories too many c. Self-loathing, depression or panic if they haven’t lost any weight or put a little on, despite their best efforts Many scholars have researched the issue of diet quite deeply and know the damage they are doing to themselves but are still unable to stop. This just makes the feelings of despair and self-loathing even worse, causing their condition to continue. Common types of eating Disorders Research has given support to the existence...
Words: 5268 - Pages: 22
...“Primal Fear” The character Aaron Stampler’s diagnosis is “multiple personality disorder”. This is a mental disorder characterized by at least two distinct and relatively enduring identities or dissociated personality states that alternately control a person's behavior, and is accompanied by memory impairment for important information not explained by ordinary forgetfulness (Hockenbury, 2011). The symptoms displayed by Aaron are: * The presence of two distinct or split identities or personality states that continually have power over his behavior: which is shown when the lawyer Vail confronts him and accuses him of having lied, he breaks down crying and suddenly transforms into a new person: a violent sociopath who calls himself “Roy” and confesses to the murder of the Archbishop. * The inability to recall personal information beyond what is expected through normal forgetfulness, which is shown in two scenes: first in the cell when Aaron becomes his old self and appears to have no recollection of the personality switch, and second in the courtroom where he says that he didn’t recall anything from what happened including the judge’s dismissal. In the final scene the character seems to be lying and faking the disorder to avoid prosecution for the murder and he even reveals that he has been pretending to be insane the whole time after Vail confronts him. Because he asked him to tell Miss Venable he hopes her neck is okay, which he could not have been able to remember...
Words: 735 - Pages: 3
...Lukasz Giza Essay discussing causes of disorders for three selected case studies The case of Bess Obsessive compulsive disorder commonly referred to as OCD is an anxiety disorder; people who suffer from OCD act compulsively and have obsessive thoughts. The fear of contamination is most common type of OCD; it leads to compulsive cleaning rituals as fear of germs, or dirt is a frightening thought for OCD sufferers. OCD could be explained biologically and psychologically. Genes could be a factor that could expose one to OCD. It is thought of that OCD could be passed on genetically. Family studies are good source supporting this theory; the siblings, parents or children of OCD sufferer have 50% genes similar to the OCD sufferer. The risk of getting OCD is between 2-3%, if the percentage is bigger than 2-3% within the family members it is the suggested as an evidence for genetic influences. Close family members have 10-15% risk of developing OCD which stands as a strong evidence. Another study has concentrated on the twins both identical and fraternal. The twins that were studied where selected based on if one had definitely OCD and they looked if the other twin had it too. The results showed that the second twin had 53-87% risk of developing OCD. With the fraternal twins the risk was smaller at 23-43%. To fully understand OCD psychological factors that could trigger OCD need to be taken into consideration too. Regression to an anal stage is an example of psychodynamic explanation...
Words: 2288 - Pages: 10
...Psychological Disorder By: Russchelle Wilson October 31, 2011 Glorivy Arce Psy 450 Personality is the blend of beliefs, feelings, and behaviors that makes everyone a unique individual and is the way people observe, identify with and relate to how they look at themselves and how they see the outside world. Characteristics of a person form during childhood and forms through the interaction of two factors that include inherited tendencies, genes, one’s surroundings or life circumstances. Understanding antisocial personality disorder is learning what a personality disorder involves. A personality disorder is a constant pattern of beliefs, outlooks, and behaviors considerably different from what maybe normal with the person’ s own culture (Kinscherff, 2010). A personality disorder affects a person’s thought process and how they react to certain situations, this makes it difficult for the person with a personality disorder to live and to be a part of what is considered to be normal (Kinscherff, 2010). The diagnosis of a personality disorder proposes that the individual can’t get along with other people and cope with normal everyday life (Kinscherff, 2010). It is difficult for a person with a personality disorder to control their feelings and behavior and which may cause them to become angry to a point where they are hurting themselves or hurting other people (Kinscherff, 2010). Personality disorders, causes a person’s range of...
Words: 928 - Pages: 4
...Please scroll all the way down for comments and graded rubric. Psychological Disorder Paper PSY/450-Diversity and Cultural Factors in Psychology Kimberly L. Herrington Due: Tuesday January 15, 2013 People decisions, attitudes, and beliefs are acquired from their cultural roots. Psychology has established social perception results from the individual’s cultural milieu. Social perception is a process that aids us to understanding others as well as ourselves. This paper will discuss anxiety disorder; examine the connection between human development and how this connection affects anxiety disorders. There are several types of anxiety disorders, some of the most common are; Specific Phobia, Panic Disorder, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. A person who has anxiety disorder may experience feelings of excessive fear, worrying or discomfort in situations where majority of others do not share those emotions. Left untreated, anxiety disorders may become severely damaging and may affect his or her relationships, work performance, and or study ability. As more research and studies are performed it has been concluded from severe cases that even simple tasks such as cleaning, shopping or leaving the house is a major challenge. In addition to inability to perform daily activities, anxiety may also cause decrease in self-esteem, drug abuse, and separation from loved ones ( Shiraev & Levy 2010) In the United States...
Words: 2387 - Pages: 10
...Analyzing Psychological Disorders Introduction Many people do not realize how biology can play a role in psychological activities and disorders. Biology is a key aspect of psychology. Understanding the role of biology in behavior and cognitive abilities will create a better understanding of the disorder a person may have. Part A: Schizophrenia “Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disorder that has affected people throughout history. About one percent of Americans have this illness” (National Institute of Mental Health, 2009). This illness affects a large portion of the brain and is known to be associated with wide spread brain damage. The first studies of the brains affected by schizophrenia reported a reduced brain size. Other studies have shown widespread neuron loss and abnormalities of neuron structure and circuitry in several parts of the brain (Pinel, 2011). Schizophrenic is such a complex disorder and it has many different symptoms. Symptoms related to this disorder include hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thoughts and incoherent speech, and odd behavior; these symptoms are known as positive symptoms. Negative symptoms of this disorder include a reduction or lack of emotional expression, lack of speech, lack of motivation, and the inability to experience pleasure (Pinel, 2011). Because this illness has so many symptoms that are also associated with other disorders, it has been difficult to accurately define the illness and identify the exact...
Words: 1440 - Pages: 6
...Psychological Disorder Analysis LeAnn Lawyer Axia College of University of Phoenix Abnormal Psychology: Abuse, Addiction, and Disorders PSY/270 Stacie Flynn December 05, 2010 Psychological Disorder Analysis This Psychological Disorder Analysis will analyze Marla’s disorder using the information provided in the Faces of Abnormal Psychology Interactive Application. Ten clinical interview questions along with the existing symptoms are crucial to making a final diagnosis of this disorder. Furthermore, important summarized aspects of the disorder will make this disorder more understandable. In addition, the origin of this disorder will show the possible treatment needed for the disorder. Marla is a 42-year-old Hispanic female, who decided to seek professional help and arrives at the mental health clinic experiencing and complaining about symptoms such as trouble sleeping, jumpy all of the time, and an inability to concentrate. Furthermore, these symptoms are affecting her performance and causing problems at work where she is an accountant. Following the given information in the Faces of Abnormal Psychology Interactive Application and the DSM-IV criteria, Marla is most likely suffering from Dysthymic Disorder. An additional interview, which includes interview questions will result and support the same conclusion. The questions during the interview would include is she currently taking any medication? If so how long has she been taking this medication? ...
Words: 1554 - Pages: 7
