Disorders
In this unit we have examined stress and its effects on individuals.
We have also discovered that at times it is very difficult to differentiate between normal and abnormal behavior. To that end, the American Psychiatric Association agreed upon a system for classifying abnormal symptoms in a book called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
This manual has five different diagnostic categories or axes. This lesson will further explore some of those disorders and their effects on individuals.
Anxiety Disorders
The first group of disorders you will learn about is the anxiety disorders.
These disorders are characterized by overwhelming feelings of nervousness and concern that disrupt social or occupational functioning or produce significant distress. The anxiety experienced will have a three part response: cognitive, behavioral and somatic.
The cognitive element would be thoughts of worry to overwhelming fear with the possibilities of doom.
Behavioral manifestations of anxiety would be avoiding anxiety provoking situations. Somatic responses would be shakiness, stomach problems, headaches, etc. We will look at five different anxiety disorders.
A panic attack is a short period of intense fear and physiological discomfort involving a pounding heart and difficulty breathing.
Some people mistake panic attacks for heart attacks and end up in emergency rooms.
People with panic attacks fear these attacks because they do not seem to have any specific reason for occurring and this only increase the anxiety.
Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by excessive and persistent high levels of anxiety over life's situations. These symptoms have to be felt for at least six months for it to be considered a disorder.
Phobic disorders are excessive and irrational fears toward an object or situation.
For example, hydrophobia is an excessive fear of water, acrophobia is a fear of high places, agoraphobia is a fear of open spaces and people will fear leaving their homes.
Any situation or object can become the object of a phobia. One phobia that has been of interest lately is social phobia or an excessive fear of social situations where the person fears being observed, talked about and made fun of by others. The result might be that the person will avoid some or all social situations.
Obsessive-compulsive disorders are the most acute of the anxiety disorders. People suffering from obsessions cannot rid of reoccurring thoughts.
Compulsions are the reoccurring behaviors that the person engages in to relieve the anxiety of a situation.
For example, a person may feel that there are germs everywhere and that they will pick up the germs and give them to others so they wash their hands repeatedly (100's of times a day) to relieve the anxiety that they have acquired germs. The person knows that the obsessions and compulsions are unjustified but they cannot let go of them.
An anxiety disorder that has been added since the Vietnam War is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
This disorder is characterized by flashbacks, nightmares and increased tension concerning the trauma that was faced. These symptoms may occur six months after the experience.
The horrific outbreak of tornadoes in April, 2011 caused caused many residents of Alabama to suffer from PTSD. Likewise, 9-11 caused many people incidences of PTSD.
Somatoform Disorders
A second group of disorders are the somatoform disorders. These disorders are characterized by complaints of physical symptoms that have no organic cause. The symptoms are psychological and not under conscious control.
One example is conversion disorders where the person experiences physical complaints or loss of functioning of a major part of their body (eyes, legs etc.) without any organic reason.
A second one is hypochondria which is a person's over- preoccupation with their health and physical condition despite symptoms of any disorder. People who have this disorder have an unhealthy fear of having a serious disease and will not believe that they do not have it.
Dissociative Disorders
The dissociative disorders are characterized by changes in memory, consciousness or identity due to psychological factors.
Dissociative amnesia is a sudden loss of memory usually following a stressful event. It can last for hours or years and just as quickly as it came on it disappears. This type of amnesia cannot be explained biologically as in experiencing a head injury.
Dissociative fugue is characterized by forgetting personal information, also accompanied by relocation with the possibility of assuming of a new identity. When the fugue is over, the person does not have memories from the fugue state. Some missing persons are victims of fugue.
Depersonalization disorder is an experience of separating from the self. People who suffer from this disorder talk about being outside of their bodies and then having the experience of watching themselves.
Dissociative identify disorder formally called multiple personality disorder, and is an extremely rare and very controversial disorder characterized by the existence of two or more distinct personalities within one person.
Hollywood and soap operas would make us think that this disorder is common and has a quick onset and departure; however, this is not the case. A person diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder will have years of therapy ahead of them. The original personality is unaware of the other personalities and the person will experience blackouts and lapses of memory.
Mood Disorders
We all experience moods.
We feel happy or up when things go well for us, such as finding out that we did well on a test. We feel sad or down when things do not go well for us as when we find out that we did not do so well on a test.
This is normal mood or affect.
Some people, though, experience mood changes that seem inappropriate or inconsistent to the situation that they are in. These people may be experiencing mood disorders.
Mood disorders are among the most common of all psychological disorders. In fact, major depression has been referred to as the common cold of mental illness.
Major depression will affect 8 to 18 percent of the general population in their lifetime (Boyd& Weismann, 1982).
According to the DSM-4TR, major depression is diagnosed when an individual experiences at least five of the following symptoms for at least two weeks:
1. persistent depressed mood for most of the day
2. loss of interest or pleasure in all or most activities
3. significant weight fluctuations
4. normal sleep pattern disruptions
5. change in normal emotional reactions
6. increased fatigue and loss of energy
7. feelings of worthlessness and guilt
8. reduced ability to concentrate and make decisions
9. recurrent thoughts of death and suicide
People who suffer from major depression need immediate treatment since they might consider suicide.
Bipolar disorder used to be called manic depression because it describes the behavior swings that occur in the disorder.
The person with bipolar disorder will experience mania or periods of extreme hyperactivity and excitement and then swing into depression for no apparent reason.
In the mania stage, the person may have delusions or exaggerated beliefs of their powers and may engage in irrational and potentially dangerous behaviors.
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