...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? ...
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...Foundations of Psychology This paper will identify the major schools of thought in psychology and examine their major assumptions. The two beginning schools of thought were structuralism and functionalism. The major schools of thought in psychology are the psychodynamic, behaviorist, cognitive, and evolutionary perspective. This paper will also identify the primary biological foundation of psychology linked to behavior. These primary biological foundations are the central nervous system and the behavioral genetics. Psychodynamic Perspective The Psychodynamic perspective is a school of thought that was initially developed by Sigmund Freud. This perspective focuses on three main points. The first point is that an individual’s actions are determined by the way thoughts and emotions are connected in the individuals mind. The second point is that most of the mental events happen outside of conscious awareness. The third point is that the mental events that happen tend to conflict with each other. Many psychologists disagree with this theory because there is nothing that relates scientifically. The psychologists that agree with this theory are working on incorporating the concepts into scientific psychology (Kowalski & Weston, 2011). Behaviorist Perspective The behaviorist perspective focuses on what is common between the environmental events and the actual observable behaviors. “According to behaviorist, scientific knowledge comes from using experimental methods to study...
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...Anxiety Mood/affective Somatoform Disorders Marie K Cesar Abnormal Psychology In this paper I will analyze the biological, emotional, cognitive and behavioral components of several disorders. The DSM-IV-TR offers professionals to opportunity to use a standard classification of mental disorders by the mental health professionals. Anxiety Disorders Anxiety is similar to a fear, it is defined as a unpleasant emotion associated with a general sense of danger or the feeling that something bad is going to happen ( hansell & Damour 2008). Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorder among the U.S population. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) can be long term. If someone makes changes in their lifestyle as well as seek psychological counseling and develop coping skill. It is not completely know what causes GAD, the natural chemicals serotonin and norepinephrine may be a possible contributor. Depending on the severity of the condition it may also include genetics as part of the equation. When a person is going through a great deal of stress, they may develop irritability, sleep issues as well as difficulty with concentrating or staying on task. There are many diagnostic criteria for GAD a person must have continuous anxiety for at least six months and have difficulty controlling the anxiety. (Damour & Hansell, 2008) Many people may have difficulty dealing with stress and worry that this may cause them distress and could interfere with their function in day to day...
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...The “Cognitive behavioral therapy” is defined as a psychotherapy treatment that encompasses practical approaches to solving mental problems. The main objective of the CBT is changing the patient’s behavior and thinking and hence changes his feelings (Rothbaum, 2014). It is widely used as a treatment for various issues in individuals’ lives. Some of the healthy issues CBT treat include relationship problems, sleeping difficulties and depression among others. It helps in changing the people’s behaviors and attitudes by focusing particularly on beliefs, images and attitudes (Meadows, 2014). References Rothbaum, B. O., Meadows, E. A., Resick, P., & Foy, D. W. (2014). Cognitive-behavioral therapy Reflection: How plagiarism violates the ethical responsibility of a psychology: It is unethical and immorally wrong to copy information word for word from a particular scholarly source. Copying and pasting the information from any source be it electronic source or any other source is without. Doing so infringe...
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...Major Depressive Disorder and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Argosy University Abnormal Psychology Brandy Rhodes 12/08/11 Abstract: Major depression disorder is a wide and complex disorder than many Americans suffer from. This paper will review the research and material of major depression disorder and the effective treatment with cognitive behavioral therapy. Although there are several types of therapy available to treat depression and other mood disorders, CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) has been one of the most widely used and thought to be very effective in treating the disorder. First the paper will review what the disorder is and the criteria needed to diagnosis one with major depressive disorder and then we will take a look at how CBT helps the client overcome the signs and symptoms of the disorder. Lastly the paper will follow up with why CBT is thought to effective with treating major depressive disorder. Major Depressive Disorder and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Many clients’ that are seen in today’s clinics suffer from major depressive disorder (MDD) which is one of the most common disorders. “Major depressive disorder has a life time prevalence of 15.8 % (Mor and Haran, 2009). Many times MDD is characterized by early onset with development occurring throughout the life span. MDD is a disorder characterized by extreme depressed mood that lasts at least 2 weeks and includes cognitive symptoms such as feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, and indecisiveness;...
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...late to work or class. In addition, I find myself very tired and stressed throughout the day. This in effect makes me often irritable toward other people. I am tired of living my life in a constant flurry every morning. Thus, the behavioral change that I would like to alter is my sleeping schedule. Being tired after a night of sleep just leads to anxiety and causes even more problems for me. I am determined to fix this issue for myself by setting some goals and planning. Throughout the course of history, people did not always struggle with their sleep schedule. Virginia Tech History Professor Roger Ekirch conducted some research to study the sleeping schedule of humans in the 18th century. Before the 1800s, acquiring the recommended 8 hours of sleep per night was accomplished in two separate four-hour cycles per night. Ekirch discovered that people would actually sleep for a four-hour period, followed by a 2 to 3 hour period of wakefulness, and then another four-hour sleep cycle. This was in fact the common method of sleeping during these times. In the period between the four-hour sleep cycles, people would engage in certain activities such as meditation, prayer, or reading. However, shortly after the end of the 20th century, this sleeping schedule method became obsolete. In the present day, the norm is for people to acquire sleep over a continuous 8-hour cycle. Unfortunately, the following statistics prove that humans domestically and globally are struggling to get...
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...research topic, as the wording is very understandable. The title clearly identifies the intended population of older adults, as well as reveals the key independent variable of cognitive behavioral therapy that is suggested to affect the dependent variable of insomnia. The title encompasses the idea that the population of older adults who take hypnotics for insomnia will be exposed to some sort of psychological treatment. The abstract is well organized and summarizes the main sections of the study. It contains the most relevant and extensively used terms and ideas from the article. The problem statement of this study is clearly presented and identifies that insomnia is a condition that can have detrimental effects on many older adults, and therefore, Soeffing et al. (2008) found the importance in developing new interventions to improve insomnia in older adults who are habitual users of sleep medications. The purpose of this study seeks to evaluate whether the psychological treatment of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) will have an effect on older adults that suffer from insomnia and chronically use hypnotics. Many of these older adults are comfortable with their sleep medication regimen; however, introducing CBT as a second line of treatment could lead to further improvement of their sleeping patterns. Being that the prevalence of insomnia is higher among older adults than younger adults and is more serious, this study can only serve as beneficial if the hypothesis is proven...
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...Psychological Disorder Analysis Rosemary Scheel Creeden PSY/270 Heather Hensell July 21, 2012 Today I had a session with a woman named Marla, who is a 42-year-old Hispanic female. She came to my mental health clinic complaining of having trouble sleeping, feeling “jumpy all of the time,” and experiencing an inability to concentrate. These symptoms are causing problems for her at work, where she is an accountant. When I first met Marla I did a patient intake and asked her some questions about her life. I did this in hopes of gaining a better understanding of the root of Marla’s difficulties, what she might be suffering from, and how I could better help her. “Since ancient times, people have tried to explain, treat, and study abnormal behavior,” (Comer, 2011). My first question for Marla was why she decided to seek treatment. Marla told me that she had tried to wait and see if things would get better, but she was becoming very sleep deprived, and she was worried that she would get in trouble at work because of her fatigue and lack of concentration. I asked her how she thought therapy would help her or improve her symptoms. She said that she wasn’t quite sure but that maybe I could help her identify what was causing these symptoms so that she could find some relief. This led me to ask her how she described herself now compared to her current self. She told me that her ideal self was energetic, attentive, and not so edge. She aimed to excel at work...
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...help limit misdiagnosis. Prioritizing the issues will help a counselor to focus on the most accurate diagnosis while presenting the most probable treatment outcomes. Prioritizing Key Issues: * Uncontrollable and excessive worry that interferes with decisions and performance, * Tense, restless, muscle ache, always on guard, * Fatigued through most days, * Long term sleeping issues, * Dependent on sleeping pills, * Worry leads to depression for weeks after losing all pleasure in life and activities, * Twice in past anxiety led to feelings of a heart attack with symptoms of sweating palms, dizziness, heart palpitations, and shortness of breath, and * Family recognize Donald’s symptoms of always being on the go. Rationale The most consistent symptom in Donald’s case is his excessive worry. He worries about everything. His family, children, grandchildren, work, promotions, not excelling the right way at work, he even worries about circumstances that are out of his control. It is evident that his worry is the primary issue, so that is the first key issue. The sleeping issues, fatigue, and...
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...the disorder? Kristin Staub Brookfield High School Dreaming is a vital part in sleeping, yet in some individuals it interferes in their waking state. For example, schizophrenics have hallucinatory images while they’re not sleeping causing some psychologists to speculate why this happens. People without the disorder and other people with other disorders have been found to dream while they’re in REM sleep which is a major mental process that allows people to dream. The following articles, “Sleep Fantasy in Normal and Schizophrenic Persons,” “An Extension of Freud and Jung’s Theory of Relation of Dream States to Schizophrenia,” “The Neurochemistry of Waking and Sleeping Mental Activity: The Disinhibition-Dopamine Hypothesis,” “Dream Content of Schizophrenics, Nonschizophrenic Mentally Ill, and community Control Adolescents,” “Sleep Disturbance in Schizophrenia” “Rorschach Responses Subsequent to REM Deprivation in Schizophrenic and Nonschizophrenic Patients,” attempt to explain the problem statement: How do dreams differ in people with schizophrenia to those without the disorder, through REM sleep in normal individuals and schizophrenics. Dream content will also be investigated to answer the problem statement and certain sleep habits. In addition Jung’s and Freud’s theory attempt to explain how dreaming is connected with schizophrenia in their conscious state rather than in their sleeping state through thought processes and verbal patterns. Another article also attempts...
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...Joel A Head Dilbur Arsiwalla Development Psychology April 11, 2016 Journal 2 Sleep Sleeping disorders consist of falling and staying asleep, Problems staying awake, Sleep disordered breathing, sleep disruptive behaviors, rhythmic movements. Falling involves difficulty falling asleep or maintaining sleep, including early awakenings is insomnia. Insomnia is often secondary medical condition. Primary insomnia is learned sleep prevention associations and physiological arousal, resulting in sleeplessness and decreased daytime functioning. Transient insomnia is days to week. Acute insomnia 3 weeks to 6 months. Chronic insomnia lasts for years. Problems staying awake is narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is a chronic lifelong neurological disorder characterized by profound daytime sleepiness and functional impairment. The symptoms are excessive daytime sleepiness. Cataplexy sudden loss of muscle strength after an intense emotion. Sleep paralysis brief inability to move or speak. Hallucinations may occur at sleep onset or upon wakening. “Treatments for sleepwalking and sleep terrors are safety, sleep hygiene, behavioral management, medications, and scheduled awakenings.” “Consequences of sleep deprivation, decreased performance, impaired memory, and cognitive functioning, stress in relationships, poor quality of life, longevity, physical health, and mental health.” The readings didn’t tell us how to behavioral management to treat sleep walking and sleep terrors. Chapter 5 Jean Piagets...
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...Depression: Unipolar Vs. Bipolar Rebecca M. Azurmendi Psychology 270 July 14, 2013 Professor Moore Depression: Unipolar Vs. Bipolar Depression is sometimes not taken seriously or is misunderstood. Key emotions in mood disorders are depression and mania. Depression is an overwhelming feeling from the challenges of life and a low, sad state in which life seems dark. Mania is an exaggerated belief that the world is for the person’s taking. Unipolar depression is a form of depression that does not have a history of mania. Bipolar disorder is marked by the mixture of periods of mania and depression (Comer, pg. 194). Unipolar depression is often mistaken for clinical depression. Severe unipolar depression is twice as severe in women as it is in men. Between young boys and girls unipolar depression is similar (Comer, pg. 194). We have all experienced a form of depression at some point in our lives. The signs and symptoms are all different depending on the individual. Some symptoms can be less severe than the others. Symptoms of unipolar depression feed off emotionally, motivationally, behaviorally, cognitively, and physical categories of symptoms. Emotionally individuals feel sad, miserable, and unwanted. The lose most if not all pleasure in most things. Their sense of humor tends to fade away and many of them experience anxiety, anger, and agitation. Some individuals feel humiliated and dejected (Comer, pg. 195). The motivation symptoms of depression usually lead to...
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...University of Maryland University College Physical, Behavioral, and Emotional Developmental Effects of Child Sexual Abuse Cathy F. Breingan PSYC355, Child Psychology Joann Altiero, Ph.D. April, 2009 It is difficult to believe that it is a sick world out there full of very sick and vile people. Not only is it bad enough that adults cannot even feel safe anymore out there in the world but the children are just as vulnerable—they are more vulnerable and at risk in more ways than one. One of those vulnerability and risk is child abuse. There are different types of child abuse. They are child neglect, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and the focus of this paper, child sexual abuse. The Darkness to Light Organization “defines child sexual abuse in four distinct ways: (1) Any sexual act between an adult and a minor or between two minors when one exerts power over the other; (2) Forcing, coercing or persuading a child to engage in any type of sexual act. This, of course, includes sexual contact. It also includes non-contact acts such as exhibitionism, exposure to pornography, voyeurism and communication in a sexual manner by phone or internet; (3) an ongoing and traumatic experience for its victims; and (4) a crime punishable by law” (cited in Dove & Miller, 2007). With sexual abuse come negative effects and developmental issues that can carry through adulthood. These effects will haunt the victims for the rest...
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...Every person in this world struggles with a variety of emotions every single day. These variety of emotions are what are known as a person’s mood. The area of psychology that intrigues me the most is mood disorders and how they can be established and affected. Mood disorders are “A category of mental disorders in which significant and persistent disruptions in mood or emotions cause impaired cognitive, behavioral, and physical functioning; also called affective disorders” (Hockenbury, 2014, 547) The reason I enjoy this topic is because I don’t have much prior knowledge of how these disorders may come about. Aspects of psychology I feel work closely with mood disorders, is sleep, drugs, and motivation. One topic in psychology that can be related...
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...Foundations of Psychology Jacob Wilkins PSY 300 July 29th 2013 Genevieve Molina Abstract A large part of psychology is devoted to discovering and treating mental health issues, but that's just the beginning when it comes to applications for psychology. As well as mental health, psychology can be used for a variety of issues that affect our health and daily life. Throughout the history of psychology it has branched into different thought. These schools of thought are used to explain different views on human thought and behavior. The different schools of thought in the field of psychology are; psychodynamic, behaviorism, cognitive, and the evolutionary perspective. While these schools of thought are sometimes seen to compete against each other, collectively each perspective has helped our understanding of psychology as a whole. The psychodynamic perspective is the approach that is considered the most popular with the discipline of psychology. Sigmund Freud, a Viennese physician. First developed this theory in the late 19th century. This approach was based on the fact that people's problems can not only be caused by physical pain or conscious thoughts, but by powerful unconscious motives. This way of thinking became popular due to its ability to explain human behavior. The psychodynamic perspective is based on three ideas. "First, people’s actions are determined by the way thoughts, feelings, and wishes are connected in their minds. Second, many of these mental events...
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