...For this assignment, I choose to review the book: I Hate YouDon't Leave Me: Understanding the borderline personality (Kreisman & Straus, 2010). This book helps shed light on Borderline Personality Disorder. Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is exemplified by intense emotional dysregulation. This is a serious mental illness in which affected individuals experience severe mood swings for no apparent reason. They are moved to rage over the slightest insult. Mood swings begin quickly and explosively. The person with BPD can go from experiencing intense pleasure, to explosive rage, in a matter of hours or sometimes even minutes. These negative emotional states tend to be prompted by feelings of hollowness and despair. People with BPD are inclined towards experiencing intense selfhate and depression. Periods of prolonged happiness are alien to the person with BPD. Chronic emptiness and selfloathing prompts the individual with BPD to engage in destructive, impulsive acts, such as substance abuse, risky behavior, selfmutilation, binge eating episodes, gambling, basically anything to escape the pain inside. Not surprisingly, the rates of suicide in patients with Borderline Personality Disorder are quite high (Kreisman & Straus, 2010). Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder lack a core sense of who they are. People with BPD typically have a conflicting sense of self. They are constantly searching for a sense of self, and often move from one role to the next...
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...Influence of Early Life Experiences on Anxiety disorders Anxiety disorder is a mental health description for all forms of uneasiness, excessive worry,and phobias of life events. Such fears can based on events that happened or just imagination and it affects the physical well-being of a person. Different studies have shown that anxiety disorders in different family members overlap. This may be due to the factors experienced while growing up, family factors and genetic transmission. A Childs needs and issues are diverse but a general assessment would indicate that all early experiences can lead to psychological problems. For example, a need to over-achieve, an anxiety disorder of a generalized nature or dysthymic disorder (mood disorder characterized by chronic depression). Such disorders can be traced to a long standing inability to derive satisfaction from one’s life alongside the family issues that worry people, the expectations from the society that leave one apprehensive and a person’s coping strategies which mostly are maladaptive (Corey, 2012). The details do not present a clear diagnosis as to anxiety disorder’s root cause in many cases, hence the need to be cautious when deciding on a therapeutic course of action. Everyone’s unique experiences bring up psychosocial challenges which may become the main focus of the clinical therapies. People may experience phase-of-life issues; present parent-child problems while at the same time having partner...
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...have a genetic component that leads to a predisposition to develop addiction, a disease model of addiction or as the result of self-medicating of a primary disorder. This paper will take a theoretical view of the causes of addiction as well as developing a working definition of addiction. Causes of Addiction There are numerous theories regarding addiction and the causes of addiction; however, for the purpose of this paper we will discuss three areas or models of addiction as it relates to substance and alcohol related abuse. Before delving into the causes of addiction we will develop an understanding of what addiction is and what it is not by viewing a few theories and definitions of addiction. We will also develop an understanding of what constitute a diagnosis of addiction and causes one to develop an addiction in the context of genetic predisposition, disease and the prevalence of addiction among individuals with co-occurring disorders stemming from traumatic experiences such as childhood abuse. Addiction Defining addiction is not a simplistic task as there are many theories and definitions of addiction and how addiction develops. In Drugs and addiction: an Introduction to Epigenetics, Wong, Mill, & Fernandes (2011) defines addiction as “a debilitating psychiatric disorder, with a complex etiology involving the interaction of inherited predispositions and environmental factors” (Wong, Mill & Fernandes, 2011, p. 480). One may...
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...of sexual disorders. A sexual disorder is classified as a disorder that involves sexual functioning, desires, or performance (Mosby 2009). These disorders have a huge affect on people because they can affect their own personal social lives. There are many sexual disorders and dysfunctions that individuals suffer from. Along with these disorders, there are many different factors and many treatments that have been used to help these individuals. One specific sexual disorder is Fetishism, which was first explained by Sigmund Freud. Much more research needs to be done to explain this disorder because it is not completely clear at this time. Fetishism is a sexual disorder, which is also a form of paraphilia where the patient has reoccurring sexual fantasies that usually involve a nonliving object. The object has a connection with sex and sexual gratification. An individual is diagnosed with this disorder when they act on these urges, are distressed by them, or must have the object to receive gratification (“Fetishism,” 2010). The demographics for Fetishism in the world or United States is not known because these patients are not counted or tracked unless in rare instances where the patient has a desire to be counted. This disorder is usually more popular with males than females. There is also no information on whether genetics has any effect on the disorder (Fallon, 2005). Fetishism closely meets the criteria for the axes of the DSM. This disorder falls under...
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...have long suspected that childhood sexual abuse is a common theme in the back ground of women with bulimia nervosa. This hypothesis has come under much scrutiny and as a result, has been tested and re-tested time and again. Studies have had findings stating everything from, there is no evidentiary support for this hypothesis, to there is a non-specific correlation and yet other studies claim that childhood sexual abuse is a direct risk factor for bulimia nervosa. More recent articles seem to point toward some type of relationship between bulimia nervosa and childhood sexual abuse. The process of finding this information takes some digging. Many search engines (including Medscape, Proquest, and Google’s scholarly article search) were used. Much of the research in this area seems to have been done approximately ten years ago and therefore was not current enough to be used. These older studies also have a common theme in that they tended to lean toward the opinion that bulimia nervosa and childhood sexual abuse are not directly related. The more current articles on this subject agree more with the school of though that bulimia nervosa is closely related to childhood sexual abuse. According to Pearlstein (2002) “Many older studies involved clinical rather than community samples” (p. 5) which may shed some light on why their results showed little to no correlation with bulimia nervosa and childhood sexual abuse. If there is a relationship between childhood sexual abuse and bulimia...
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...Mental illness is an important topic that is rarely spoken or taught in today’s society. About half of people in the world have a mental health disorder, yet most people don’t know what it really means to have a serious health problem. There are numerous theories on why these disorders happen; additionally, some disorders in the world are still a mystery to the science community and also millions of people share these personal experiences through writing. What is Mental Health and its comparison to Mental Illness Numerous people in today’s society have yet to fully understand what mental illness is; therefore, they really need to understand the meaning of the word. According to the article “What is Mental Illness,” mental health is foundation for thinking, communication, learning, self esteem, and it also plays a key role in close relationships. Sadly people with mental illness suffer with thinking skills, learning new things, expressing emotion, and it also causes problems in their social lives, but this does not mean that people with disorders can’t manage their lives on their own....
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...involves different developmental stages. According to Baltes, (1996), the entire life cycle has four eras. These eras, he says, take an approximate time of 20-25 years. Levinson goes further to identify the developmental periods as childhood and adolescence, early childhood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood. At this point in time, it is formal to simplify various terminologies that relation to human development. This is because they will feature constantly in the preceding sections. First and foremost is development. This is simply a change characterized by movement from one state to another. Usually, development leads to transitions. Development, as will be used in this paper, will refer to growth, and progression through certain stages, commonly termed as “maturity.” Another term of significance is stage. This refers to sections that differentiate the various phases of growth. The phases involve changes which are either physical or intellectual and their subsequent impact on life events and experiences. This paper examines the wider field of lifespan development. It begins by exploring the stages of human development. As regards, the stages, the paper focuses on seven main stages i.e. the infancy stage, early childhood, middle childhood, Adolescence, early adulthood, middle...
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...Dissociation Disorder Rebecca Lynn England General Psychology; Valley College Abstract An exploration of Dissociative Disorder including an overview of debates, disorder description, causes, and treatment. Hundreds of studies have been performed concerning this subject. There are countless theories and allegations concerning multiple personalities, even dating back to the days of the witch hunts. Initial symptoms generally begin in childhood. By adulthood, a person has usually forgotten the actual abuse or trauma that caused the psychological disorder, but are left with a myriad of manifestations of abnormal behaviors throughout life. Memories that begin to reemerge later in life are caused by what is called triggers. In depth testing must be undergone to determine if a person actually has this condition. Once diagnosed, treatment is extensive, lasting over many years. Realistically, the person may never completely function normally. Keywords: Dissociative Disorder, multiple personalities, alter personalities, psychological conditions, treatment, abuse, trauma, switching, post-traumatic stress disorder Living Beyond Oneself: The Reality of Dissociation Disorder The Creation of an Alter Person Dissociative Disorder is part of a series of conditions called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, “a condition of reoccurring persistent mental and emotional stress as a result of injury or severe psychological shock.” (NLM) Originally known as “multiple personality disorder,” it is...
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...Middle Childhood PSY/103 Middle Childhood There are various aspects of human development, including physical, cognitive, social, moral, and personality development. In this paper the author will discuss the middle childhood (6-12 years) stage of human development. Incorporated will be the factors that affect physical and cognitive development both hereditary and environmental. I will also discuss the factors that affect social, moral, and personality development. Developmentally, middle childhood is a big time in a child’s life. During this time, they begin their academic journey. “During middle childhood, defined by psychologists as the period between 6 and 12 years of age children develop the emotional, cognitive, and social skills necessary to become educable members of society” (Campbell, 2011). They are growing and changing in so many ways. Children begin learning how to relate to others outside the home. They also learn to respect others and how to treat others properly. A child’s physical and cognitive development can be affected by many things. Genetics, nutrition, home environment, income, and parenting affect how a child will develop during middle childhood. Culture also comes into play when a person looks at social, moral, and personality development. All of these things will affect how a child thinks and feels about the world around him or her. Genes have an effect on middle childhood development. Everything from height and weight to hair color are determined...
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...an infant needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for the child’s successful social and emotional development, and in particular for learning how to effectively regulate their feelings. Attachment theory in psychology originates with the seminal work of John Bowlby (1958). In the 1930’s John Bowlby worked as a psychiatrist in a Child Guidance Clinic in London, where he treated many emotionally disturbed children. This experience led Bowlby to consider the importance of the child’s relationship with their mother in terms of their social, emotional and cognitive development. Specifically, it shaped his belief about the link between early infant separations with the mother and later maladjustment, and led Bowlby to formulate his attachment theory. Bowlby defined attachment as a “lasting psychological connectedness between human beings” Attachment theory has become the dominant theory used today in the study of infant and toddler behavior and in the fields of infant mental health, treatment of children, and related fields. Secure attachment is considered to be the best attachment style. Secure attachment is when children feel secure in the presence of their caregivers. When the caregiver leaves the infant alone, the infant feels separation anxiety. Separation anxiety is what infants feel when they are separated from their caregivers. Anxious-ambivalent attachment is when the infant feels separation anxiety when separated from his caregiver and does...
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...There are three different perspectives that could explain why a person has a disorder or does a certain behavior. Those three dissimilar perspectives are called Psychodynamic, Evolutionary, and Behavioral perspectives. What are psychodynamic, evolutionary, and behavioral perspectives? They each have their own meanings and definitions. Psychodynamic perspective means viewing personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences, then Evolutionary perspective is the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection, and lastly Behavioral perspective is the study of behavior and learning. Each of these perspectives have been brought up and tested as theories by different men named Charles Darwin, John Watson, and Sigmund Freud. A disorder that all the perspectives could explain is Substance Use disorder. Psychodynamic perspective can explain substance use disorder along with anxiety very well for a couple reasons. For example, each person has an ego, superego, and most important in this situation an...
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...it poorly, if you get it done at all. Unfortunately, this is just one of many scenarios for people who have grown up and are living with ADHD. But what is ADHD? Well, to start, ADHD is short for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. ADHD is a psychiatric disorder and is characterized by either significant difficulties of inattention or hyperactivity and impulsiveness or a combination of two. There are three subtypes of the disorder which consist of it being predominantly inattentive, predominately hyperactive-impulsive, or the two combined. It is the most commonly studied and diagnosed psychiatric disorder in children, affecting three to five percent of children worldwide, all starting before the age of seven. ADHD impacts school-aged children and results in restlessness, acting impulsively, and lack of focus which impairs their ability to learn properly. My brother was diagnosed at a mere age of three years old. Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to diagnose and many children are often misdiagnosed with either having it when they do not, or not being diagnosed and treated when they do have it. There are many children that never grow out of it. ADHD is a chronic disorder with thirty to fifty percent of those individuals diagnosed in childhood continuing to have symptoms into adulthood. It is estimated that 4.7 percent or eight million American adults live with ADHD. But how do you find out if you or someone you know has it? The key...
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...behavior is expressed because of a psychological factor and can have features of deviance depending on the distress and the possibility of injury to their self or others. Abnormal psychology has a long history and has numerous types of dysfunction and abnormal psychology studies the causes and the possible treatments of the dysfunction of this disease. Primarily the research in the field has been done with Western perspectives and research method. Spiritually understanding of mental illness was recognized in ancient Western civilizations and in Eastern culture the scientific community has dismissed by the majority of the psychologist in modern times. The twentieth century there are two opposing perspectives on the etiology of mental disorders developed somatogenic physical origins and psychogenic psychological origins. The two have produced research and treatment methods. In abnormal psychology has been described as an area of psychology and the study of people who are unable to adapt and function in a number of conditions. There are four factors that contribute to how well the individual will be able to function and they include their genetic makeup, physical condition, socialization, and learning and reasoning. The biological model this method id adopted from a...
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...evaluation and was diagnosed with anti-social personality disorder. Two years after divorcing his wife Carole he confessed to the murders. One year before his final trial he went through hundreds of hours of psychological testing at Menard Correctional Centre. He told the doctors he had multiple personality...
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...I have always been curious about behavioral and psychological issues in children as well as in adults. I want to understand why someone acts or reacts the way that they do. However, after some research and experience with those affected, what I have found most intriguing is what's behind the behavior and what causes it. There are many things that can factor into these issues but among these, abuse and neglect are very large contributors. Many studies have been done on the effects child abuse can have. The first study I came across is a study of how violence can affect a child not only when they are young, but also in to adolescence. It is also said that many of the children who witness domestic violence have also experienced some form of child abuse. These events can effect a person's psychosocial outcome so tests were performed to determine to what extent the child was affected. The study was conducted on 457 children/adolescents. According to the Journal of Family Violence, children that were only exposed to domestic violence were more prone to low self esteem, withdrawal, depression and anxiety. Those who were exposed to violence as well as abuse had higher externalizing (acting out against others, including physical aggression, verbal bullying, relational aggression, defiance, theft, and vandalism) and internalizing behaviors( acting out against self, which includes eating too much or too little, feeling depressed, abusing substances and cutting). There were...
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