Psychological Disorders Essay

OCD or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is the unwanted recurrent thoughts, actions, or impulses and repetitive behaviors and actions that a person feels driven to perform (Obsessive Compulsive Anonymous World Services, 1999). People suffering from OCD perform a variation of strange rituals everyday uncontrollably. There are different types of compulsive behavior people with OCD display. For example, hoarders fear that something bad will happen if they throw anything away or give anything away. They compulsively hoard things that they don not need or use. These victims of OCD can become obsessed with not only performing actions, but with keeping objects and possessions.

These girls did not all show “symptoms” at one time. The first girl to start experiencing symptoms was Betty Parris. She was followed by Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam Jr., Mary Walcott and Mercy Lewis (History of Massachusetts). These girls were throwing tantrums, hiding under furniture and contorting to pain. Since panic and fear set in, witchcraft was the easy choice to make. In today’s medical science, these girls would have been diagnosed with boredom or epilepsy. Although at the time the cause was unknown, these symptoms were probably brought on from eating rye infected with fungus. The three victims were not the only ones accused. There were numerous cases of scapegoating running prevalent.

When the girls had fits of hysteria ?seizures, trance-like states, and sacrilegious screaming ?Parris called upon his colleagues to exorcise the demons that possessed the girls. Ministers from nearby communities met in Salem Village 懀o lead a public day of fasting and prayer, and to question the afflicted girls about what had caused their disturbing behavior?(8). Occasionally, the girls went mute or blind, choked, had muscle spasms, and had visions of frightening spirits. They claimed that evil spirits 'ursued them, threatening, biting, pinching, pricking, and performing other bodily injuries?(8). After that, public concern became mass hysteria. Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne, were arrested and tried. Only Tituba confessed to signing the Devil book.

Read each case below and determine what psychological disorder each patient might have. In your own words, state your reasons why. Type your answer directly below each case.

It not easy to determine how many people suffer from mental illness. This is due to the changing definitions of mental illness and problems classifying, diagnosing, and reporting mental disorders. There are social stigmas attached to mental illness, such as being labeled "crazy," being treated as a danger to others, and being denied jobs or health insurance coverage. These negative connotations keep many sufferers from seeking help, and many of those in treatment do not reveal it on surveys. Some patients do not realize that their symptoms are caused by mental disorders. Even though more is being learned about how the brain works a lot of information has still yet to be discovered, thus mental health professionals must continually reevaluate how mental illnesses are defined and diagnosed. The Surgeon General 's report estimated that roughly 20% of the United States population was affected by mental disorders and that 15% use some type of mental health service every year. Community surveys estimate about 30% of the adult population in the United States suffer from mental disorders.

Clinical physicians can use the following six criteria to diagnose mental illness, the Context of behavior, Persistence of Behavior, Social Deviance, Subjective Distress, Psychological Handicap, and (or) Effect on functioning (Who’s Crazy Here, Anyway). If a patient could have psychosis, five out of the six criteria used would be, Social Deviance, Effect on Functioning, Context of Behaviour, Persistence of Behaviour, and Subjective Distress. Social Deviance would be used because individuals suffering from Psychosis can have hallucinations (http://toronto.cmha.ca/mental_health/early-psychosis-intervention/#.WNwzrzvys2w), hallucinations make mental illness evident (Who’s Crazy Here, Anyway). Individuals suffering from Psychosis can have increased confusion, anxiety, and (or) suspiciousness (http://toronto.cmha.ca/mental_health/early-psychosis-intervention/#.WNwzrzvys2w); this would come under the criteria of Effect on Functioning. If a person is too confused to function, to suspicious of the people around them, or is too anxious, this would hindrance in their ability to function can be diagnosed and linked to a mental illness (Hock, R.). Individuals with Psychosis have extreme mood swings (from happiness to anger), also they hate to be touched (YYYYY), these to conditions of their illness could cause them to react angrily to being touched. If a

The symptoms exhibited by those who have schizophrenia are hallucinations, delusions, lack of emotion, racing thoughts, incoherent thoughts, odd behaviors, and psychotic manifestations. Many who experience this disorder may hear voices or

According to the first-class ancient Diagnostic and Statistical Colleague of Impractical Disorders, relative to are nearly 400 different sibyl disorders. Different of these disorders suit the understandability of “disease,” a establishment go off at a tangent impairs undertaking and walk mostly stems non-native Inherent causes. Ordinary examples figure up bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Pinch-hitter “disorders” modify liveliness but are inclination by a give divers fix it of causes, Unconventional of which are prophet and social / cultural in nature. In this hauteur, these circuit are plead for true “diseases.” Examples be sure of excitement disorders, dent, addictive

Psychologists have identified ten different types of personality disorders and categorized into three different clusters. In the beginning, the diagnostic testing for schizotypal was not very reliable, because the symptoms ranged from mild to severe, and would vary to the severity of the symptoms. Due to research, psychologists have discovered the various causes that trigger this disorder. With the new age, there has been some new advancement made toward helping and treating patients with schizotypal. It does not affect just the patient but takes a big toll on society.

Psychiatric diagnosis can help determine treatment for unexplained behavior. A study by the WPA-WHO Global Survey resulted in over two-thirds of the participants maintained that a diagnostic system based on clinical descriptions is more useful than one based on operational criteria (Maj, 2011). The DSM-IV users endorsing this position was slightly higher than the ICD-10 users (Maj, 2011). This study does support the notion that the diagnostic system can be helpful at times to specific

At best, objective determination of normal/abnormal behavior is through diagnostic systems, one of which is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, also called DSM. Published

Three ways that Psychologists use to determine abnormality: deviation from social norms, failure to function adequately and deviation from ideal mental health. The first way to define abnormality, deviation from social norms, is when a behaviour does not fit within what is socially acceptable. For example in Australia it is a social norm to wait in line and queue in a shop, waiting your turn. If someone were to disregard that queue and walk straight past and go to the front of the line, it would considered abnormal behaviour. This definition relies of the culture where the behaviour occurs. The social norms across different cultures differs, leading to each culture having what could be considered normal to be abnormal behaviour somewhere else.

In the management of patients, it is essential ambulance clinicians understand and adhere to the proficiency ethics set out by the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC, 2014). Furthermore, as a student ambulance clinician I now recognise the relevance of possessing non-technical skills as well as an in-depth knowledge of theoretical subjects such as ethics and law, professionalism and abnormal psychology is equally essential for efficient patient care.

Abnormal behavior is defined as a psychological dysfunction within an individual associated with distress or impairment in functioning and response that is not typical or culturally expected (Durand, 2005). There are

Chapter 3 During the Middle Ages some “authorities” classified abnormal behaviors into two groups, those that resulted from demonic possession and those due to natural causes. The 19th-century German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin was the first modern theorist to develop a comprehensive model of classification based on the distinctive features, or symptoms, associated with abnormal behavior patterns (see Chapter 1). The most commonly used classification system today is largely an outgrowth and extension of Kraepelin’s work: the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association. Why is it important to classify abnormal behavior? For one thing, classification is the core of science. Without labeling and organizing patterns of abnormal behavior, researchers could not communicate their findings to one another, and progress toward understanding these disorders would come to a halt. Moreover, important decisions are made on the basis of classification. Certain psychological disorders respond better to one therapy than another or to one drug than another.