Psychiatric Disorders Essay

Psychiatric Disorders, Diseases, and Drugs 3/2/2013 Psy/240 Dr. Elizabeth Kindell

A psychiatric disorder is a pattern of psychological or behavioral symptoms that cause a person distress, impairs their ability to function in daily life, and/or increases risk of death, pain, disability, or loss of freedom. For a person to be considered to have psychiatric disorder symptoms must be more than the expected response to a particular event.
Schizophrenia is known as a “splitting of psychic functions” (Pinel 2001, pg. 467). It is a chronic brain disorder that affects close to 2.5 million Americans and more than 24 million people worldwide. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that makes it hard for the person suffering to tell the difference between what is real and not real. They have a difficult time having normal emotional responses and acting normally in social situations.
There are many different theories around Schizophrenia. Some of theories state that there is a genetic component to the disease that can be set off by stress or trauma to the individual. Other theories show that there is an increased level of dopamine, a brain chemical; this is known as the dopamine theory of schizophrenia. The main factor in this theory is that there are high levels of activity at the dopamine receptors.
Antipsychotic medications are the best treatment for schizophrenia. These medications change the balance of chemicals in the brain and can help control the symptoms a person may experience. Some of the negative side effects are dizziness, slowed movements, and sleepiness. Long use of psychiatric drugs can increase risk for a movement disorder called tardive dyskinesia.
Affective disorders, which include depression and mania, are a form of affective disease. Mania is the opposite of depression, and instead of a person feeling down , they tend to have high energy and overconfidence. When a person experiences the two together this is known as bipolar affective disorder. These disorders are proof that a traumatic event has a large impact on the person’s mood. There is a wide variety of theories that surround the affective disorders.
Monoamine theory is based on trying to explain depression. The monoamine theory is based on the fact that depression is associated with the serotonergic and noradrenergic not working at their optimal levels. This theory is very weak since few patients benefit greatly from it. Another theory is the diathesis-stress model that states that depression holds a strong genetic component. There is evidence that shows that people who have experienced early stress in their life are more likely to suffer from depression.
Four major classes of drugs are used to assist in the treatment for affective disorders. Iproniazid, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, increases the level of monoamines by inhibiting the activity of monoamine oxidase. A negative side effect of this is known as the cheese effect. Foods that contain tyramine can lead the person to be at high risk of strokes.
Tricyclic antidepressants block the reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine and increase their levels in the brain. Another drug is selective monoamine-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). SSRIs are serotonin agonist that exert agonist effects by blocking the reuptake from serotonin from synapses (Pinel, 2011, pg. 475). The negative effect of this medication is it increases suicide in individuals. SSRIs also help fight depression by triggering mania in the individual taking them. The last class of drugs is mood stabilizers. These drugs act

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