Essay on Behaviors: Schizophrenia and Psychological Disorders

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Abnormal behavior - behavior that causes people to experience distress and prevents them from functioning in their daily lives; exists along a spectrum, should be evaluated in terms of gradation rather than absolute states * as deviation from the average * as deviation from the ideal * as a sense of personal discomfort * as the inability to function effectively * as a legal concept
Medical perspective - suggests that when an individual displays symptoms of abnormal behavior, the root cause will be found in a physical examination of the individual which may reveal a hormonal imbalance, a chemical deficiency, or traumatic brain injury * psychoanalytic - psychological disorders stem from childhood conflicts; behavior as symptoms of a larger problem * behavioral - assumes that abnormal behaviors are learned; behavior is the problem * cognitive - assumes that cognitions are central to psychological disorders * humanistic - emphasizes people's responsibility for their own behavior and the need to self-actualize * sociocultural - assumes that behavior is shaped by family, society, and culture
DSM - Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition, text revision * axis I - clinical disorders, disorders that produce stress and impair functioning * axis II - personality disorders and MR, enduring, rigid behavior patterns * axis III - general medical conditions, physical disorders that may be related to psychological disorders * axis IV - psychosocial and environmental problems, problems in a persons life such as stressors or live events that may affect the diagnosis, treatment, and outcome * axis V - global assessment of functioning, overall level of mental, social, occupational, and leisure functioning
Major psychological disorders * anxiety disorder - the occurrence of anxiety without an obvious external cause that affects daily functioning * phobic disorders - an intense, irrational fear of a specific object or situation * panic disorder - marked by panic attacks that can last seconds or hours; are stimulated by specific objects or situations * generalized anxiety disorder - long term, persistent anxiety and uncontrollable worry; cannot identify the reason, so they experience 'free floating' anxiety * obsessive compulsive disorder - marked by unwanted, intrusive thoughts that must be carried out as behaviors which the person feels driven to perform * somatoform disorder - psychological difficulties that take on a physical form, but for which there is no medical cause * hypochondriasis - people have a constant fear of illness and a preoccupation with their health. these individuals believe that everyday aches and pains are symptoms of a dread disease. these symptoms are not faked, rather they are misinterpreted as evidence of some serious illness * conversion disorder - involves an actual physical disturbance such as the inability to see or hear, or to move an arm or leg; the cause is psychological and often begins suddenly; people with conversion disorder remain unconcerned about symptoms * dissociative disorder - characterized by a separation of different facets of a persons personality that are normally integrated; allows people to keep disturbing memories or perceptions from reaching conscious awareness, and therefore avoids anxiety * dissociative identity disorder - displays characteristics of two or more distinct personalities, identities, or personality fragments; was rarely diagnosed before 1980, highly controversial * dissociative amnesia - significant, selective memory loss; memory is not lost, it merely cannot be recalled * dissociative fugue - in this state, people take sudden, impulsive trips and sometimes assume a new identity * mood disorders - a disturbance in emotional experience that is strong enough to intrude on everyday living. some have genetic
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