A Brief Note On Psychological And Psychological Disorders

An out-of-body experience is explained by few as a sense of being detached from one’s body, and if associated with other factors like a sense that the world is not real, far away, or even foggy. This with the combination of failure to recall significant personal information, or the content of a meaningful conversation forgotten from one second to the next are signs of a psychological disorder known as Dissociative Disorder. Considered as a rare and mysterious psychiatric curiosity, Dissociative Disorders will be the psychological disorder that will be discussed in this paper.

During any court proceeding, it is required that the defendant is competent to stand trial. Legal competency is defined as “the presence of those characteristics, or the absence of those disabilities, which render a witness legally fit and qualified to give testimony in a court of justice” (thelawdictionary.org). Defendants that are found mentally incompetent to stand trial are usually hospitalized and receive some type of treatment until the person is competent to stand trial. To determine mental competency there are a few commonly used tests.

31 y/o AA male patient seen today for psychiatric-mental health assessment. He is awake, alert and oriented x4. He is calm, cooperative and follows commands during assessment. The patient reports he is depressed, difficulty sleeping and nightmares at night. The patient explained his depression is as a result of deep thinking from a news he received two days ago from his elder brother that his mother is ill. Stressors identified by the patient include losing his job a week ago before the news about his mother; his wife is 6-months pregnant with their first child, who currently works part-time at her present job; patient relates difficulty paying monthly bills and inability to provide adequately for his family as a man. The patient denies mood swings, suicidal/homicidal thoughts and ideation. Patient reports his spouse is at work at the moment and he does not want to put stress on his wife due to her current condition. Patient denies been hospitalized for depression or psychiatric illness; and denies family history of mental illness. Patient reports he is seeking help because he does not like feeling this way using terms of “helpless and loss of worth from his spouse”. Patient reports he needs help with his depression and nightmares before his current condition get out of hands and ruined his marriage.

After reading Chapter 2 of Ronald J. Comer’s book, Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology, I now understand key principles of 4 models that that contribute to understanding abnormalities. The first model is the biological model, which can be linked to Roman and Greek times as I read in chapter 1. It mainly states that the cause of psychological abnormalities is that of physical illness. In addition, the abnormalities are introduced because of malfunctioning parts in the brain. This includes the possible malfunction of neurons that are found in the cerebrum and the possible malfunction of these neurons and the transmissions between them. Other factors may include genes, evolution and viral infections

During the criminal proceeding of the Andrea trial there were several mental health professionals that were call by the defense to testify in the first trial, including several of her treating psychiatrist. In the Yates trial, both defense and prosecution experts agreed on three issues, Yates suffered from a mental disease, she knew that her conduct was against the law and that a subjective moral wrongfulness issue had to be considered (Resnick P,2007). In the Yates case, the legal test in Texas was: “at the time of the conduct charged, the person, because of severe mental disease or defect, did not know that her conduct was wrong, (Texas Penal Code § 8.01.). Yates had a long history of mental illness and prior to the death of her children she twice attempted suicide, was diagnosed with recurrent postpartum depression

The major psychological disorders fall under anxiety disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia and other disorders such as eating, personality or dissociation disorders. By classifying these disorders, scientist can then describe and predict its future course. Mental health workers view psychological disorders as patterns of thoughts, feelings, or actions that are deviant, distressful and dysfunctional. The standard for what is deviant behavior is different in different cultures and in different context.

The article’s aim was to identify possible management and identification strategies for Malingering by Proxy using 16 case-reports. Articles from computer databases were reviewed by two evaluators. By comparison of typical characteristics and motives, methods of identification and management were obtained. Generally physical examinations, history reports, neurophysiological testing and collateral information including videotapes were used for identification. These should be thorough as false accusations can threaten the professional-patient relationship. For management, long-term follows ups involving the discontinuation of unnecessary medications, safety assessments of the proxy and access to psychological care and child protective services,

The term Psychological disorder, known more as mental disorders or psychotic disorders. Mental disorders are patterns of behavioral or psychological symptoms that impact multiple areas of life. There are lots of different psychological disorders such as; major depressive disorder, anxiety, schizophrenia, PTSD, OCD, substance use and addictive disorder. These disorders can create distress for the individual experiencing these symptoms. Psychological disorders affect most peoples daily lives some worse than others. Some people are born with psychological disorders, others may have suffered a traumatic event that opened a door in the brain that caused the disorder. There are millions of people that suffer mental or behavioral

An assessment or evaluation of malingering can pose a difficult task for forensic psychologists or evaluators. In other words, malingering can be difficult to detect. However, a series of psychological tests have been developed to help forensic psychologists detect a person who is faking symptoms of mental illness. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) is one of the most frequent used psychological test in assessing mental illness. The MMPI-2 consists of various scales which accurately detect symptoms of false exaggeration. Another psychological test is the Structured Interview of

Mental illness refers to a wide-ranging of mental health conditions. A mental illness is a disorder that affects mood, thinking and behavior. Some examples include anxiety disorders, depression, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2012). A mental health concern becomes a mental illness when signs or symptoms cause regular stress and impacts the ability to function. A mental illness can led to being miserable and cause problems in day-to-day life such as relationship with others and work (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2012). Often, mental illness symptoms are handled with a combination of medication and psychotherapy. The symptoms and signs of mental illness differ depending on the disorder. Some signs include confused thinking, or alcohol/drug abuse (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2012). Throughout this paper, I will discuss what is currently known about mentally ill offenders based on the correlation between mental disorders and criminal activity.

A psychological disorder, also known as a mental disorder, is a pattern of behavioral or psychological symptoms that impact multiple life areas and create distress for the person experiencing these symptoms. These symptoms are characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual 's cognitive, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental process underlying mental functioning. Mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress in social, occupational, or other important activities. Approximately 26 percent of American adults over the age of 18 suffer from some diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. (Cherry)

Abnormal and clinical psychology are two branches in the field of psychological studies. In simple words, abnormal psychology can be defined as the study of people who engage in unusual behavior and emotional thoughts. These actions and thoughts are considered abnormal compared to those of other members of society, and they significantly interfere with their functioning in life. Clinical psychology goes hand in hand with abnormal psychology because it is the study that deals with the assessment and treatment of those abnormal actions. Learning about these branches of psychology can help us understand and predict behaviors of people who that are affected by these disorders. It is also essential to advance our knowledge to help assess the people who suffer these illnesses to lead a life of better quality. In this paper, a case study that entails a brief vignette of a 35 year old paralegal named Greg will be analyzed. According to concepts of abnormal and clinical psychology, Greg will be diagnosed with the psychological disorder of obsessive-compulsive disorder (more formally known as OCD) that might have originated in the anal stage of the psychoanalytic theory, for which cognitive behavioral therapy will be used as a possible treatment.

According to (Resnick & Knoll, 2005), there is a lack of consensus within the field regarding the best approach to confront malingering with a patient. Some clinicians argue that a malingering patient should not be directly confronted at all whereas others such as suggest that a clinician should ask the patient to clarify/explain discrepant responses.

Although today's data is limited on the identification and management of malingering and malingering by proxy both the textbook Abnormal Psychology and academic forensic journal Malingering by Proxy: A Literature Review and Current Perspectives bring attention to the harm of malingering. One difference between both writings was the direct information given such as the definition and ways they connected to the reader. The text and journal vary in which malingering type they focus on and present to the reader.

Physical well-being is assumed to be directly associated with the mental and behavioural well-being of an individual. It is commonly noted that people adopt difficult and irritating behaviour once they are not in perfect state of physical health. The root cause of depression is often attributed to disturbed situation one is facing. However, it may not be valid in all cases.