...Psychological Disorders Psychological disorder - a syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior Disturbed, or dysfunctional thoughts, emotions, or behaviors are maladaptive - they interfere with normal day-to-day life. Understanding Psychological Disorders Medical Model Brutal treatments may worsen, rather than improve, mental health. Philippe Pinel opposed such brutal treatments. He insisted that sickness of the mind is caused by severe stress and inhumane conditions. Curing them requires “moral treatment’” including boosting patients’ moral by unchaining them and talking with them. Medical model - the concept that diseases, in this case psychological disorders, have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and in more cases, cured, often through treatment in a hospital Biopsychosocial Approach The biopsychosocial approach emphasizes that mind and body are inseparable. Negative emotions contribute to physical illness, and physical abnormalities contribute to negative emotions. Epigenetics - the study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change Classifying Disorders & Labeling People Classification aims to: * Predict the disorder’s future course * Suggest appropriate treatment * Prompt research into causes DSM-5 - the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition;...
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...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...
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...PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS AND DISEASES BY: Vivian Alfonso PSY/240 Professor: Desra Hohlbein February 20, 2015 Abstract The biopsychology of Psychiatric disorders (disorders of psychological function sufficiently severe to require treatment). One of the main difficulties in studying or treating the psychiatric disorders is that they are difficult to diagnose. Because they cannot identify the specific brain pathology associated with various disorders, their diagnosis usually rests entirely on the patients symptoms. The diagnosis is guided by the DSM-IV-TR (the current edition of the Diagnostic and statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Associations. I will be discussing the following psychiatric disorders Schizophrenia, Anxiety Disorders, Affective (emotional) disorders, Anxiety Disorders and Tourette syndrome. These disorders are all very important and are treatable. Most people can live happy and healthy lives if treatments are followed by a doctor. The major difficulty in studying and treating schizophrenia is accurately defining it (Heinrichs, 2005; Kreuger & Markon, 2006). Its symptoms are complex and diverse; they overlap greatly with those of other psychiatric disorders and frequently change during the progression of the disorder. Also, various neurological disorders have complex partial epilepsy; have symptoms that might suggest a diagnosis of schizophrenia. In recognition of the fact that the current definition of schizophrenia likely includes...
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...Schizophrenia which affects approximately 1 percent of the population usually begins before age 25 and persists throughout life. The illness is a life long debilitating condition for about 40% of patients and is enormously costly in both social and economic terms. Despite the presence of delusions, hallucinations and cognitive impairment which characterize the illness, overall life expectancy is not altered (although there is a significantly increased risk-of suicide in the early years). Schizophrenia is usually viewed as a functional psychosis, a label which implies that the symptoms arise from the disorderly activity of neurons without accompanying anatomical and pathological alterations of brain structure. This view is due to the failure of pathologists to find convincing pathological changes associated with the disease in the first seven decades of the century. Over the last ten years things have changed considerably. Recent CT and MRI scan, and also postmortem studies show that various brain areas of schizophrenic patients are altered. HISTORY The two key people in the history of Schizophrenia were Emil Kraepelin and Eugene Blealer. Kraepelin organized the seriously mentally ill patients by three diagnostic groups: dementia praecox, manic depressive psychosis, and paranoia. Kraeplin’s description of dementia praecox emphasizes a chronic deteriorating course, in addition to including such clinical phenomena as hallucinations and delusions. Kraepelin reported that...
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...committed adultery, those pregnant out of wedlock, or even those who were mentally different, were all singled out, treated the same, and considered abnormal. Abnormal behavior cannot simply be defined into a single definition, with no definite line that can be crossed which separates whether someone on one side of the line has abnormal tendencies, with someone on the other side which is considered normal behavior. This paper focuses on Schizophrenia, a major mental illness, and will discuss and evaluate the symptoms, causes, and treatments which are currently being used. The human mind can be fragile, and there are many diseases and disorders that can affect it. Some may be serious while others are minor and barely recognizable. Schizophrenia is just one of those diseases which can encompass being both minor and serious. The definition for a mental illness is an illness that affects a person's mind, thoughts, emotions, personality, or behavior. Just like a physical illness, mental illness also shows symptoms that make it possible for the mental disorder or illness to be identified. Some of the recognizable symptoms can be extreme moods, sadness, anxiety, and inability to think clearly, or remember well. It does not mean, that just because a person may experience some of these symptoms, that she or he is suffering from a mental illness. Everyone at one point in their lives, or another, will not be able to think clearly, or be in a bad mood, this is part of human nature and is most...
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...Understanding Schizophrenia: a Biological Approach NAME: Maria Saldias DATE: 4-28-2011 TITLES OF ARTCILES: 1-“ What Causes Schizophrenia”, by John M. Grohol, Psy.D.& the National Institute of Mental health12,Nov,2006. 2- “The Concept of Progressive Brain Change in Schizophrenia: Implications for Understanding Schizophrenia”, by Linn E. Delisi. 2008 INTRODUCTION Schizophrenia is a brain disorder, which interferes with normal brain functioning. It is mainly characterize by major disturbances in perception, language, thought, emotions and behavior. Furthermore, it can also trigger hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, and lack of motivation (Rosenberg and Kosslyn). Experts now agree that schizophrenia develops as the result of the combination of a biological predisposition, and the kind of environment the person is exposed to. However, not until recent days, schizophrenia was thought to have “no “organic” cause and thus related to the psychological environment that one was born into” (Delisi). In “What Causes schizophrenia, by Grohol, even though the author emphasis how genetic, behavioral and other factors, are interrelated in the development of the disorder, he emphasis his article in how the tools of biomedical research are being used to search for genes or critical moments of brain development. At the same time, “The concept of Progressive Brain Chain in Schizophrenia: Implications...
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...Analyzing Psychological Disorders Lynn Bible PSY/240 December 2, 2012 Pam Stoelzel Analyzing Psychological Disorders Schizophrenia, drug abuse, and anxiety are all complex psychological disorders. When helping someone that suffers from these disorders, you must understand how and why they work the way that they do. All three disorders come with symptoms that can cause people not blend in with society and live a normal life. The right kinds of treatment can help people to overcome the symptoms of these disorders and live a normal life, but they are not curable. Schizophrenia Schizophrenia affects the most crucial parts of the brain: the forebrain, the hindbrain, and the limbic system. The forebrain includes the cerebral hemispheres (hypothalamus, thalamus, corpus callosum, and the limbic system). It controls cognition, sensory and motor functions, temperature regulation, hunger, sleep cycles, and emotional expressions. The frontal lobe of the forebrain causes positive symptoms of schizophrenia like delusions. The temporal lobe of the forebrain distorts sounds and visions causing hallucinations. The hindbrain includes the pons, medulla, and the cerebellum. Schizophrenia affects this part of the brain causing the negative symptoms as in distorted motor functions, body language, and catatonic behaviors. The limbic system includes the hippocampus and the amygdala. The functions of this area of the brain are regulated emotions, memories, learning, and...
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...Chapter.8. Schizophrenia Objective.1. Discuss the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia, as well as the current criteria for brief psychotic disorder. What is the typical age of onset? What percent of people will develop this schizophrenia? Following is the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia. i. Two (or more) of the following, each present for a significant portion of time during a 1-month period (or less if successfully treated): 1. Delusions 2. Hallucinations 3. Disorganized speech (e.g., frequent derailment or incoherence) 4. Grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior. 5. Negative symptoms, (affective flattening, alogia, or avolition ii. For a significant portion of the time since the onset of the disturbance, one or more major areas of functioning such as work or school, interpersonal relations, or self-care is markedly below the level expected for the individual or achieved prior to the onset. iii. Continuous signs of the disturbance persist for at least 6 months. This 6-month period must include at least 1 month of symptoms (or less if successfully treated) that meet Criterion A and may include periods of prodromal or residual symptoms. During these prodromal or residual periods, the signs of the disturbance may be manifested by only negative symptoms or two or more symptoms listed in Criterion A present in an attenuated form (e.g., odd beliefs, unusual perceptual experiences). iv. Schizoaffective disorder and mood disorder with psychotic...
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...Psychological Disorders Schizophrenia isn’t something you hear about in everyday life, but we are surrounded by it daily. You may not know, but schizophrenia is a complex brain disorder. It can affect a person’s ability to think clearly, their feelings, make decisions, and relate to others. Schizophrenia is a lifelong illness. Research suggests schizophrenia may be caused by too many or too few of some of the chemicals in the brain. These chemicals are to control emotions, motivation, movement, and how people experience the world around them. A problem with these chemicals may cause messages in the brain to get mixed up and bring about symptoms. While some research suggests that schizophrenia is caused by a combination of genetic factors or inherited genes that are linked to schizophrenia, it may also be linked to environmental factors. Scientists still do not know the cause. There is no cure yet; however, the symptoms of schizophrenia can be managed with psychiatric care, medicine, and support. In this article that I found from the New York Times it talks about new clues to cure the treatment, and how scientist still aren’t sure how this disorder can develop, but they know the disorder can be related to many different other mental disorders, but it all depends on the person. In March of 2008 researchers had no break. They were trying to figure out this disorder, and what they did was take blood samples, and discovered that rare and undetectable genetic mutations had something...
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...Mental Illness and Schizophrenia Mental Illness and Schizophrenia Joyce Dalton PSY350: Physiological Psychology Instructor: Brandy Goldston February 5, 2012 Mental Illness and Schizophrenia Mental illness has been acknowledged for thousands of years. Those who were different, or acted different from what main stream society felt was the norm; those who committed adultery, those pregnant out of wedlock, or even those who were mentally different, were all singled out, treated the same, and considered abnormal. Abnormal behavior cannot simply be defined into a single definition, with no definite line that can be crossed which separates whether someone on one side of the line has abnormal tendencies, with someone on the other side which is considered normal behavior. This paper focuses on Schizophrenia, a major mental illness, and will discuss and evaluate the symptoms, causes, and treatments which are currently being used. The human mind can be fragile, and there are many diseases and disorders that can affect it. Some may be serious while others are minor and barely recognizable. Schizophrenia is just one of those diseases which can encompass being both minor and serious. The definition for a mental illness is an illness that affects a person's mind, thoughts, emotions, personality, or behavior. Just like a physical illness, mental illness also shows symptoms that make it possible for the mental disorder or illness to be identified. Some of the recognizable symptoms...
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...committed adultery, those pregnant out of wedlock, or even those who were mentally different, were all singled out, treated the same, and considered abnormal. Abnormal behavior cannot simply be defined into a single definition, with no definite line that can be crossed which separates whether someone on one side of the line has abnormal tendencies, with someone on the other side which is considered normal behavior. This paper focuses on Schizophrenia, a major mental illness, and will discuss and evaluate the symptoms, causes, and treatments which are currently being used. The human mind can be fragile, and there are many diseases and disorders that can affect it. Some may be serious while others are minor and barely recognizable. Schizophrenia is just one of those diseases which can encompass being both minor and serious. The definition for a mental illness is an illness that affects a person's mind, thoughts, emotions, personality, or behavior. Just like a physical illness, mental illness also shows symptoms that make it possible for the mental disorder or illness to be identified. Some of the recognizable symptoms can be extreme moods, sadness, anxiety, and inability to think clearly, or remember well. It does not mean, that just because a person may experience some of these symptoms, that she or he is suffering from a mental illness. Everyone at one point in their lives, or another, will not be able to think clearly, or be in a bad mood, this is part of human nature and is most...
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...What is schizophrenia? A living nightmare. Can you imagine living in a world full with bizarre paranoid ideations and hellish voices, an episode of the twilight zone without the entertainment. Schizophrenia is a chronic severe mental disorder that affects the mind and brain, which causes an individual to have a hard time differentiating what is real and what is not. Individuals with schizophrenia, including those who have never been treated, have a reduced volume of gray matter in the brain, especially in the temporal and frontal lobes. Patients with the worst brain tissue loss are known to have the worst symptoms. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 1% of the population suffers from this disorder. Schizophrenia occurs in men and women across all races, however it occurs more frequently in men than in women. Cases of children having a schizophrenic disorder are rare but none the less possible. Signs and Symptoms There are many symptoms associated with the different types of Schizophrenia. In order to classify Schizophrenia into subtypes, certain symptoms must be present. Paranoid Schizophrenics suffer with delusions or auditory hallucinations. Catatonic Schizophrenics have immobility, a possible vegetative state, or excessive motor movement. Schizophreniform Disorder is characterized by any of the above symptoms excluding major depressive or manic disorders. Schizoaffective Disorder is also characterized by the previous symptoms including...
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...Analyzing Psychological Disorders University of Phoenix Analyzing Psychological Disorders Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that makes it hard to tell the difference between what is real and what is not real. Schizophrenia makes it hard to think clearly, and have normal emotional responses. Act normally in social situations is also affected by this disorder. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 1 percent of the U.S. population is diagnosed with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia has no exact known cause but is categorized as a brain disorder affecting the balance in neurotransmitter concentration of dopamine, glutamate and serotonin systems. Symptoms present in the disorder are positive, which means psychosis, or negative, which means affecting emotions and behavior. The primary areas of the brain implicated in schizophrenia are the forebrain, hindbrain and limbic system (LIVESTRONG, Aubri, John, 2011). The forebrain is the topmost and largest portion of the brain and includes the cerebral hemispheres which are divided into four lobes; they are the limbic system, thalamus, hypothalamus and corpus callosum. As a whole, the forebrain serves to control cognition which is the process of thinking, knowing, learning, judging, sensory and motor function, temperature regulation, reproduction, hunger, sleep cycle and emotional expression. It is within the frontal lobe where thought organization occurs, creating the delusional ideas that are a common positive...
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...To what extent is it possible to explain Schizophrenia from a biological perspective? Schizophrenia is a serious brain disorder. It is a disease that makes it extremely difficult for a person to tell the difference between real and unreal experiences, to think logically, to have normal emotional responses to others, and to behave normally in social situations. People with schizophrenia may also have difficulty in talking, remembering and behaving appropriately. Schizophrenia is one of the most common mental illnesses. Schizophrenia is a neurological disorder that affects the cognitive functions of an individual. The cause of this illness to this day is still unknown, but there are several theories of how an individual may get schizophrenia. Because there are so many symptoms of the disease and because the symptoms can vary quite significantly among several individuals and even within the same individual over time, the diagnosis of schizophrenia can be quite difficult. Schizophrenia is sometimes seen as a functional disorder with professionals often referring to it as a sociological phenomenon, meaning patients with schizophrenia are normal people driven insane by the insane world (Gelder, et al., 1989). However, with many years and numerous advances in genetics/brain imaging, molecular biology and neuroscience over the years, evidence has been found for the biological bases underlying schizophrenia. There have been quite a few theories of possible causes. Firstly, a...
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...top ten most debilitating diseases. Schizophrenia is a long-term major mental disorder that affects several aspects of behavior, thinking, and emotion, which makes it difficult to tell between what is real and unreal; it is also characterized by positive and negative symptoms. Either being acute with a rapid beginning and good hopes of resurgence or a chronic longer term course that builds over time. Such variation in symptoms leads to observations of discord in patients. “According to the DSM-IV, schizophrenia is a disorder characterized by deteriorating ability to function in everyday life and by some combination of hallucinations, delusions, thought disorder, movement disorder, and inappropriate emotional expressions” (Kalat, 2009, p. 449). The positive symptoms fall into two cluster (psychotic and disorganized) and represent behaviors that are distorted version of normal functions. Psychotic symptoms consist of delusions (unsubstantiated beliefs) and hallucinations (hearing voices, seeing things others do not or feeling things that are not there). Disorganized symptoms “consist of inappropriate emotional displays, bizarre behaviors, incoherent speech, and thought disorder” (Kalat, 2009, p. 449). The negative symptoms represent behaviors deficiency or absence that should be present. They include poor motivation, emotional expression, social interactions, cognitive functioning (speech and working memory). The history of schizophrenia starts with attempts to explain and categorize...
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