Abnormal Behavior

Throughout this semester of Psychology 150 I have learned a great deal about several different concepts that I consciously, and sometimes unconsciously, find myself applying to my life. There are five different psychology topics I found that held the most relevance to my life. Some of these topics do not deal with myself exclusively, but they do affect the people I hold dear to me. The topics range from disorders to personality differences, and they all affect me in some way, both indirectly and directly.

This is an obsessive-compulsive personality disorder unless his driveway gets dirty everyday. Additional information can be gathered by clinical interview and questioning the person about his other behaviors and cognitive process.

An individual can take steps to promote their mental well-being and mental health. These steps could be social connections, being active, learning and developing themselves, social involvement and self awareness. Connecting with other people and developing relationships are important for an individual’s mental well-being. Staying active can help maintain a positive mental state. Learning new skills can create a sense of achievement and improve self esteem. Involvement in the local community or other social groups can develop strong social inclusion encouraging mental well-being. Being aware of own feelings and emotional state means an individual can maintain their mental well-being.

Mental health is defined as our emotional psychological and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel and act. Mental health also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices. Maintaining healthy mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence and throughout adulthood. People suffering from mental health disorders often see a change in their mood, thinking and behavior. One in 5 Americans adults experience a mental health issue. One in 10 young people experienced a period of major depression. And 1 in 20 Americans lived with a serious mental health illness (Mental Health Myths and Facts). Factors contribute to mental health problems including; biological facts, such as genes or brain chemistry, life experiences, such as traumatic events or abuse, or family history or mental health problems. Positive allows people to realize their full potential, cope with stress of life, work productively and making meaningful contributions to society (What is

Throughout the course of the first semester we as a Psychology class learned a whole variety of different and varying concepts of Psychology. Chapter one we went over all the different ways psychologists study behaviors and mental processes. Included were the contemporary perspectives, such as behavioral, which focuses on behavior that is observed. Psychodynamic focuses on our fantasies and our hidden motives. Humanistic is all about our free will and conscious choices. Physiological is the relationships between biological processes and behavior. Cognitive perspective is our acquired knowledge, and last but not least is sociocultural, which places great value on the role of cultural and social influences on our behavior.

Helping others manage chronic anxiety and unwanted obsessive thoughts can be difficult, especially since symptoms of loved ones are easy to overlook.

For this week’s assignment, I would like to share my summative reflection on this course with the class. I will reflect back on this course to recollect on specific parts that I have learned that made an impact in my practice of psychology.

Persistent fears that harm may come to self or a loved one, an unreasonable belief that one has a terrible illness, or an excessive need to do things correctly or perfectly, are common. Again and again, the individual experiences a disturbing thought, such as, "My hands may be contaminated--I must wash them"; "I may have left the gas on"; or "I am going to injure my child." These thoughts are intrusive, unpleasant, and produce a high degree of anxiety. Often the obsessions are of a violent or a sexual nature, or concern illness.

Mr. Udall shows his compulsive traits by feeling the need to lock his apartment door three times, turns the lights on and off five times and cannot step on cracks or lines in the flooring or street. These repetitive behaviors are normally not intrusive to others, but Mr. Udall does involve others in his compulsion when he is trying not to step on the cracks in the sidewalk. We do not know the exact rationale behind his compulsions, but many people fear that something bad will happen if they do not engage in their compulsion.

According to the article, “Exposure therapy involves presenting the frightening stimuli to patients in a safe environment so that they can learn a new way of responding. If the patient is afraid of a specific location, because she or he was assaulted there, for instance, slowly exposing he or she to the site while ensuring his or her safety can help his or her anxiety to diminish” (Vinci, et al. 2015). With this therapy, I would have him resist washing his hands after he has dirtied them and have him resist it for quite a while. According to the article, “Exposure and response prevention is the primary treatment for OCD. However, this behavioral treatment can be very challenging to implement because the compulsion that reduces a patient’s anxiety may be a mental act- silently repeating a number or phrase until the distress is released, for example- and thus unobservable” (O 'Connor, K. P., Aardema, F., Robillard, S., Guay, S., Pélissier, M., Todorov, C., & ... Doucet, P., 2006). I would use this therapy process slowly and continuously. According to the article, “Treatment consists of first helping the patient recognize his or her recurrent thoughts, behaviors, or mental acts, then identifying triggers for these compulsions. Next, the patient is gradually exposed to these triggers without being allowed to engage in the compulsive response that typically follows” (O 'Connor, K. P.,

Frequently, mental illness affects many areas of a sufferer’s life including academic performance. Mark Weist et al. explain that it is important for schools to recognize when students are suffering emotionally because of the impediment mental illness can have on education (par. 16). Mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression can have an especially negative impact on academic performance as the disorders can lead to students isolating themselves and a decrease in overall mental functioning.

I have always been intrigued by the mental processes of humans and animals. As a young child and into adolescence, as a student and teacher and as a caregiver, I have always been interested in psychology in one form or another. This essay will reflect not only the development of my interest in psychology, but the development of myself as a person.

When I started this class this pass September I had a little knowledge of psychology. In my junior year of high school I took Psychology as an elective class. I really enjoy it alot, it amaze me how much there was to know about our brains. This September I came with the feeling that this psychology class was going to be way different from my psychology class from high school. And that my knowledge from my class before wasn’t going to be useful at all. But I was wrong, this class has actually been better than my other class. Because it has help dust off some of the concepted that I had learn before. But it has also made gain more knowledge about psychology that I didn’t knew before. For example the next concepts are the ones that had impacted me the most: critical thinking and the eight essential, implicit learning, short term and long term memories. I chose these concept because they have not only taught me more about psychology, but they have made a big impact on me.

Mental Health as described by LaVeist and Thomas (2005) is “a state of successful performance of mental function, resulting in productive activities, fulfilling relationships with other people, and the ability to adapt to change and cope with adversity” (p. 84). Mental health functioning is important regarding a person’s well-being, being able to interact with others in a healthy manner, and contributes many things to

Therefore, it is essentially important for every student to be aware of the steps they can do in order to improve their mental health which leads to a better life style and academic performance. These steps include: