...Amnesia is a defect in memory caused by brain damage, disease, or psychological trauma. Amnesia can also be caused temporarily by the use of various sedatives and hypnotic drugs. The memory can be either wholly or partially lost due to the extent of damage that was caused. There are two main types of amnesia: retrograde amnesia and anterograde amnesia. Retrograde amnesia is the inability to retrieve information that was acquired before a particular date, usually the date of an accident or operation. In some cases the memory loss can extend back decades, while in others the person may lose only a few months of memory. Anterograde amnesia is the inability to transfer new information from the short-term storage into the long-term storage. People with this type of amnesia cannot remember things for long periods of time. These two types are not mutually exclusive. Both can occur within a patient at one time. Research has shown that when areas of the diencephalon are damaged, amnesia can occur. Recent studies have also shown a correlation between deficiency of RbAp48 protein and memory loss. Scientists were able to find that mice with damaged memory have a lower level of RbAp48 protein compared to normal, healthy mice. In people suffering with amnesia, the ability to recall immediate information is still retained, and they may still be able to form new memories. However, a severe reduction in the ability to learn new material and retrieve old information can be observed. Many...
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...conscious awareness of a traumatic experience while the trauma is occurring. For some people, conscious thoughts and feelings, or "memories," about the overwhelming traumatic circumstance may emerge at a later date. This delayed retrieval of traumatic memories has been written about for nearly 100 years in clinical literature on military veterans who have survived combat.In fact, in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a psychiatric diagnosis common among people who have survived horrific events, the defining diagnostic features are memory distortions. People with PTSD inevitably experience extremes of recall regarding traumatic circumstances: intrusive memories of the event (hypernesia) or avoidance of thoughts and feelings about the event (amnesia). Some people...
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...Anxiety, Mood/Affective, Dissociative/Somatoform Disorders Lisa Mac Donald-Clark PSY/410 January 9, 2012 Mark Hurd Anxiety, Mood/Affective, Dissociative/Somatoform Disorders There are few things in this world as complex and fascinating as the inner workings of the human mind. Understanding mental disorders will afford people the opportunity recognize when an individual is suffering from a disorder, offer assistance, and support for friends and family who suffer from a disorder and be better equip to distinguish normal and abnormal behaviors and characteristics in oneself. By analyzing the biological, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components of anxiety, mood/affective and dissociative/somatoform disorder one can begin to understand and identify the complexity of mental disorders. Diagnostic categories and classification for the use of identifying and diagnosing mental disorders is outlined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV-TR) (Hansell & Damour, 2008). This paper will explore the major categories of anxiety, mood/affective and dissociative/somatoform disorders, list symptoms associated with each, and discuss the biological, cognitive, and behavioral influences of each. The DSM IV-TR category for anxiety encompasses several disorders that fall within similar or shared symptoms. Obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic attacks, specific phobias, and general anxiety disorder are a few covered in the matrix. The matrix also categorizes...
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...Living Beyond Oneself: The Reality of 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...
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...Hello, I am back! I have just finished my research on 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...
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...Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), previously known as multiple personality disorder, first appeared in DSM-III as a diagnostic unit (DSM-III; American Psychiatric Association, 1980). Although research on DID has become prevalent in the last 30 years, knowledge and acceptance of this disorder is still far from certain. While there are professionals that believe they regularly see DID in clinical practice, there are still many professionals that believe it does not exist. In order to decide if DID is a valid disorder, it is important to take the concerns of both arguments into account. These concerns include: validity, diagnostic, cultural and conceptual challenges (Dorahy, et al., 2014, pp. 402-417). After examining current research, I believe...
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...will determine whether or not a person can be judged insane by a court. To define behavior as abnormal, it must meet the following standards. 1. Distressful – It is upsetting for self and others. 2. Dysfunctional – It is maladaptive, inhibits personal goals or ability to function on own. 3. Dangerous – Potentially to self or others. 4. Deviant – Is not tolerated by cultural norms and/or is statistically odd, keeping in mind context of behavior. (Religious practice gets a pass.) 5. *Duration – Behaviors, Affects and/or Cognitions are persistent regardless of circumstance over time. 6. *Detachment – Person holds beliefs or acts in ways that do not correspond to reality. (Religious practice gets a pass.) TYPES OF RESEARCH- One and two apply only to the social sciences, whereas three, four and five apply to both natural and social sciences, with exception to history, which relies solely on case studies and archaeological based observations. In this case though, I’m only talking how these methods are used for psychology. 1. CASE STUDIES- A detailed account of a subject’s personal history that can be used to draw conclusions based on availability. While specific and possibly accurate to an individual, case studies lack internal and external validity (The confounding factors cannot be...
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...Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) has a unique position in psychopathology; in previous eras and still, in modern-day society, the idea and validity of the occurrence of dissociative identities, inside a single person, has caused much debate and conflict between mental health care specialists (Traub, 2009). It produces an extraordinary combination of both approval and refutation in the scientific world. Starting with approval, DID is a formally documented diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM; APA, 2013) in addition to the International Classification of Diseases. Furthermore, the study of DID yields a mild but stable output of publications supporting cases of the disorder in nations all...
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...The Many Faces of Dissociative Identity Disorder Abstract This research paper aims to explore the mental disease known as Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), previously known as multiple personality disorder. I explore the meaning, symptoms, and effects of DID. My research describes those diagnosed with DID and the probable reasons of why they have the disorder. This study also explains the many different treatments and the effects those treatments might have on a person that has the disorder. I include a research study done on someone diagnosed with DID, the method used to help treat her, and the results of her treatment. Lastly, I state my opinion on DID and the methods I believe with help people prevent, treat, and cope with Dissociative Identity Disorder. The Many Faces of Dissociative Identity Disorder Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder, is a mental condition where a person possesses two or more different personalities which may alternate within the individual’s conscious awareness. A person living with DID many have as little as two personalities, referred to as alters, or as many as 100, though the average is about ten. Alters may exhibit differences in speech, behaviors, attitudes, thoughts, and gender orientation. They may even have physical differences, such as allergies, right-or-left handedness, or the need for eyeglass prescriptions. At least two of these personalities assert themselves repeatedly to...
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...Anxiety, Mood/Affective, Dissociative, and Somatoform Matrix By Mary R. Torczon PSY/410 Dr. Jones July 25th, 2011 Anxiety, Mood/Affective, Dissociative, and Somatoform Matrix A disorder is a disruptive condition or combinations of symptoms that an individual experiences that may debilitate to his or her daily lives. Some disorders are more complex than others such as hypochondriasis, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Anxiety, mood, dissociative, and somatoform disorders make the ability for normal daily functioning impossible. This paper will analyze the disorders of anxiety, mood/affective, dissociative, and somatoform disorders in reference to the biological, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components of each disorder category. Anxiety Disorders Anxiety disorders, which are many of the most severe mental disorders, stem from phobias or fears. All people experience some form of generalized anxiety or worry from time to time. Categories of anxiety disorders are general anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and post-traumatic disorder (PTSD). Inappropriate anxiety causes the heart to race, breathing becomes rapid, and muscles tense for no reason (AllPsych, 2004). The symptoms, such as excessive worry and fear, become a disorder when they become part of normal daily life. Cognitively, individuals may fixate on perceived dangers and threats. They may over exaggerate the severity of undesirable situations, and...
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...Neurological Disturbances Found in the Brain Due to Childhood Traumas. Emotional disturbances have such an impact to the brain that it can affect various important changes if that trauma continues. In the journal European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience by Ana Martin Blanco, et. al., discusses how the Hypothalamus Pituitary-Adrenal gland is an important component in patients with personality disorders. In the study conduct by the researchers for the journal was to analyze the dysfunction of the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal gland and its effects of childhood trauma in a large sample of Dissociative Personality Disorder patients. The DID patients underwent a proper medical interview classifying them with a true diagnosis of...
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...Psychological Disorders Writing Assignment The purpose of this project is to give you experience in making clinical diagnoses and to attempt to make sense of the many psychological disorders that are out there. You have been assigned to watch a popular movie. I decided to give this to you before Christmas Break because you will have at least 2 weeks to think of the movies form the list and watch one or two or whatever number you want. Pretend that you are a clinical psychologist, and the character in the movie has come in to your office. There is one central character in the movie that has symptoms of a psychological disorder (sometimes there may be more than one character; I have given you the character with the most obvious symptoms). In your paper, you should give a brief description of the character. Then, you should answer the following: o Identify the diagnosis that you would make of the character. • You should back up your diagnosis with the relevant symptoms displayed by the character (in other words, explain why did you make the diagnosis that you did). Refer to the movie to illustrate the symptoms that the character demonstrates. • Discuss all the possible symptoms of the disorder; does the client show all the possible symptoms, or only some of the possible symptoms of the disorder? • In some cases, the character may be lying, and does not really have a disorder. For example, the person may be faking the disorder to avoid prosecution...
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...When people think of depression, stress, or amnesia, do they think of a mental illness, or someone’s fake act for attention? The novel associated with the research is called “We Were Liars”, by E. Lockhart. The books main focus is about a story of riches to rags; going from king of the world to the lowly beggar. Underneath the main plot lies the book’s main themes of depression, loss of memory, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The main point of this essay is the misinterpretation, treatment, and our thoughts toward individuals suffering from amnesia, trauma, and depression. The themes researched for the novel “We Were Liars” by E. Lockhart are depression, loss of memory, and PTSD. Information obtained after investigating these themes are,...
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...Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder) There are disorders in this world where people dissociate themselves from the world. This dissociation is a state of mind where a person becomes detached or separated from reality (Swartz, 2001). Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), is one of many of the dissociative disorders. This disorder specifically was previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder. It was known as Multiple Personality Disorder because of the multiple personalities or alters with people who have DID. They changed the name of the disorder because of the loss of memory when changing between identities. DID is a disorder that is very misunderstood, as well as, being controversial (Tartakovsky, 2013). This...
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