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 example, they often find it hard to communicate. Most people would expect a conversation to be flowing logically, however people suffering from this disorder don’t follow those general rules. They may jump from subject to subject because the words rhyme or remind them of something else at the time which may be something completely different than what you are talking about.
Delusions are other positive symptoms. There are three different types of delusions. Delusion of persecution; which are false beliefs where the person believes people are plotting against them. Delusions of grandeur are when people feel like they are all mighty abd have god-like powers that nobody else possess. Lastly, delusions of control are where people believe they are being controlled by others like from something implanted in their head.
Negative symptoms are known for the absence of normal behaviors, such as flattened emotional response, lack of speech, lack of initiative or persistence and the inability to express pleasure. These symptoms are not specific to schizophrenia though, and are seen in many other neurological disorders. Positive symptoms tend to respond better to medication, whereas negative symptoms are more typical of chronic schizophrenia, and do not respond to medication very well.
In 1953 neuroleptics were discovered; which are major tranquilizers. Originally developed as a sedative, but after further studies were found to have specific effects on psychotic symptoms. The discovery of Chlorpromazine had an astounding effect for those with schizophrenia. This medication was able to sedate with out losing consciousness. Not only did it cause sedation but reduced symptoms like delusions and hallucinations. The medications reduced the dopamine levels in the brain. This led to the dopamine theory, that states if dopamine activity is reduced and symptoms improve, than schizophrenia must be caused by too much dopamine levels in the brain.
There are four main dopaminergic pathways where dopamine is released. The first passage is a short passage, that controls the release of some hormones. The second passage is known as the nigro-striatal pathway; which is part of the motor system. The third passage is known as the mesolimbic pathway. The fourth passage is known as the mesofrontal pathway. When taking neuroleptics, the release of dopamine in the four pathways may be affected. The major problem with taking neuroleptics is that it can cause tardive dyskinesia, which is late movement. This can occur in people who have been taking anti-psychotic medication over a long period of time, and fro some people never go away.
Another common psychiatric disorder is depression. Depression disorders come in many forms, but each has its own unique symptoms and treatments. Major depression is the most common depression disorder. There are many symptoms that characterize major depression that may interfere with work, eating, studying, and sleeping. This disabling episode can happen once, or many times throughout a lifetime. Major depression is diagnosed in terms of severity, such as mild, moderate, and severe. Dysthymia is a less severe form of depression; which involves long-term, chronic symptoms that are not debilitating, but do keep a person from functioning or feeling well.
Another form of depression is Bi-Polar disorder which is known as manic-depressive illness. Bipolar disorder is characterized by mood changes; such as severe highs that are known as mania, and extreme lows known as depression. These moods can be dramatic and rapid, but are generally gradual. When a person is in the depression state, they can show symptoms of a depressive disorder. When a person is experiencing the mania state, they can be overactive, over talkative, and have a lot of energy. Mania can cause problems with thinking, as well as judgment, and social behavior that can lead up to severe problems or embarrassment.
There are four major classes of drugs that are used to treat depression. The first class is the manoamine oxidase inhibitor. In this class, the medication Iproniazid, was the first antidepressant drug that was originally developed for tuberculosis, but did not work; however did work against clinical depression. MAO inhibitors have several side effects, one being the most dangerous is the cheese effect, when people consume tyramine-rich foods and then run the risk of a stroke caused by surges of high blood pressure. The second class is known as the tricyclic antidepressants. They are named so because their chemical structures include three rings of atoms. Imipramine is a drug in this class and was originally developed for antischizophrenic drugs, but did little to help in that area. Instead, they seemed to work for some depressed patients. Tricyclic antidepressants block the reuptake serotonin and norepinephrine, increasing the levels in the brain. The third class is known as the selective monoamine-reuptake inhibitors. SSRIs block the reuptake of serotonin from synapses. Prozac was the first SSRI to be developed. SSRIs have few side effects and can act against many psychological disorders. The fourth class is known as moos stabilizers. Mood stabilizers are drugs that help against depression without increasing Mania, or act against Mania without increasing depression. Lithium is a drug used in this class that acts as a mood stabilizer.
One theory is based that MAO inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are all agonists of serotonin, or norepinephrine, sometimes both. A second theory is the Diathesis-stress model; where as people inherit diathesis( a genetic susceptibility), which is capable of inheriting the disorder by itself. Example shows that if people are exposed to stress at a young age, they become permanently sensitized, and overreact to small situations the rest of their lives.
The next psychological disorder is Anxiety, which is chronic fear that persists in the absence of any direct threat. When anxiety becomes so severe that it disrupts a persons way of living it is known as anxiety disorder. As with any disorder, there are symptoms such as fear, worry, despondency, as well as other psychological stress reaction such as high blood pressure or rapid heart beats. There are five classes of anxiety disorders. The first class is known as generalized anxiety disorders; where stress responses and extreme feeling of anxiety that occur in the absence of participating stimulus. The second class is the phobic anxiety disorders; which are triggered by exposure to particular objects or situation. The third class is the obsessive compulsive disorder; characterized by the frequently reoccurring uncontrollable, anxiety producing thoughts and impulses. The fourth class is the panic disorders and the final class is the post-traumatic stress disorder.
There are three categories of drugs that help treat anxiety disorders; Benzodiazeprine, serotonin agonists, and antidepressant drugs.
Lastly Tourette syndrome is the final psychiatric disorder in this paper. Tourette syndrome is a disorder of tics, which are involuntary movements or vocalizations. TS generally begins early in life during childhood with simple motor tics such as blinking or head movements, and become more complex the older the person becomes. Some common tics are hitting, touching different objects, hopping and twirling and sometimes inappropriate language. Symptoms generally reach a peak after a few years and lessen as the person ages. TS does seem to be more prominent in men and runs in families. There are no tests to diagnose TS. The tics of TS can be treated with neuroleptics.
We have now discussed the four different kind of psychiatric disorders and now have a better understanding of each disorder and some treatments for each. Hope this paper can be informative for you as it was for me. There is much more we can learn from each disorder if we each take the time to read through the information.

References
Biopsychology, Eighth Edition, by John P.J. Pinel. Published by Allyn &
Bacon. Copyright © 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Depression Treatment Copyright © 1992-2012 Psych Central. All rights reserved.
Site last updated: 8 Dec 2012 visited 12/8/12 http://psychcentral.com/lib/2006/depression-treatment/

Tourette’s Disorder Copyright © 1992-2012 Psych Central. All rights reserved.
Site last updated: 8 Dec 2012 visited 12/8/12 http://psychcentral.com/disorders/sx81.htm