Essay on Psychological Disorders

Submitted By beenunyah
Words: 862
Pages: 4

Psychological Disorders
Betsabe Cruz
BEH 225
Julie Bruno

Anxiety Disorder


Anxiety disorders are very common amongst Americans.



Anxiety appears in the DSM IV TR as a mental illness that can cause such distress it can impede some individuals from leading a healthy normal life.



Some signs of an anxiety disorder are 

Feelings of panic or fear



Heart palpitations



Nausea



Inability to concentrate or stay calm



Sleeping problems

Dissociative Disorder


Dissociative amnesia—characterized by severe impairment in remembering important information about one’s self. This is perhaps the most common of the dissociative disorders and— like all other dissociative illnesses—is associated with traumatic events. This amnesia can be limited to specific details or events but can also encompass entire aspects of a person’s life.



Dissociative fugue—a massive disorientation of self that leads to confusion about one’s personal identity and potentially the assumption of a new identity



Depersonalization disorder—marked by recurrent feelings of detachment or distance from one's own experiences and can be associated with the experience that the world is unreal. While many people experience these sensations at one point in their lives, an individual with depersonalization disorder has this experience so frequently or severely that it interrupts his or her functioning.



Dissociative identity disorder (DID)—previously called multiple personality disorder, DID is the most famous and controversial of the dissociative disorders. This is characterized by having multiple
“alters” (personal identities) that control an individual’s behavior and actions at different times.



http://www.nami.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Inform_Yourself/About_Mental_Illness/By_Illness/D issociative_Disorders.htm Somatoform Disorder


People with somatoform disorders are not faking their symptoms. The pain and other problems they experience are real. The symptoms can significantly affect daily functioning 

Doctors need to perform many tests to rule out other possible causes before they diagnose a somatoform disorder



I have a sister in law that was sent to a mental hospital due to her constant hospital visits of pain, blurry vision amongst other
“issues”. In her reality this is true and it is happening to her and in the doctors eyes, there is absolutely nothing wrong with her.

Mood Disorder


Depression and bipolar disorder can be very crippling for an individual. If the person is unwilling to talk about their issues and swings with a psychologist, it may go undetected.



Depression can cause a person to have thoughts of suicide or even harming themselves due to feelings of inadequacy, hopelessness and sadness 

Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder that causes shifts in your mood, for example you can be completely enraged one minute and then wanting to max out your credit card and go shopping all afternoon the next minute

Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that generally appears in late adolescence or early adulthood however, it can emerge at any time in life. It is one of many brain diseases that may include delusions, loss of personality (flat affect), confusion, agitation, social withdrawal, psychosis, and bizarre behavior

Individuals with schizophrenia may hear voices that are not there. Some may be convinced that others are reading their minds, controlling how they think, or plotting against them. This can distress patients severely and persistently, making them withdrawn and frantic.

Personality Disorder

Substance Abuse Disorder


The DSM-IV-TR lists disorders in the following categories:



alcohol-related disorders



amphetamine-related disorders



caffeine-related disorders



cannabis-related disorders



cocaine-related