Mental Disorders

What is Mental Disorders

CATEGORIES OF MENTAL DISORDERS 

Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders are characterized by a fear that leads to over arousal of heartbeat, muscle tension, and shakiness.

• Phobic disorder. Excessive irrational fears. Examples are agoraphobia (fear of open places), claustrophobia (fear of enclosed places), and acrophobia (fear of heights).

• Panic disorder. Overwhelming fear of losing control or going crazy. Panic attacks can last from a minute to an hour or more. No clear reason exists as to why panic attacks occur.

• Generalized anxiety disorder. Continued, free-floating anxiety that lasts for at least 1 month.

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder. Obsessive behavior is characterized by recurring irrational thoughts that remain out of control. Compulsive behavior reflects an irresistible urge to act repeatedly.

Dissociate Disorders 

Dissociate disorders are those in which there is a sudden, temporary change in consciousness or self-identity.

Psychogenic amnesia. Inability to recall a stressful event.

Psychogenic fugue. Disorder in which a person loses memory of his or her past, moves to another locale, and takes on a new identity.

Multiple personality. Disorder characterized by several distinct personalities occupying the same person. 

Somatoform Disorders 

People with somatoform disorders complain of a physical ailment, yet no physical abnormality can be found.

 • Conversion disorder. Severe, unexplained loss of some physical ability (such as eyesight or use of the legs).

• Hypochondriasis. The belief that one is sick, although no medical evidence can be found.

Affective Disorders

In affective disorders a disturbance exists in a per-son's ability to express emotions.

• Dysthymic disorder. Persistent feelings (lasting for at least 2 years) characterized by lack of energy, loss of self-esteem, pessimistic outlook, inability to enjoy other people or pleasurable activities, and thoughts about suicide. The dis-order is likely the most common psychological problem in humans.

 • Major depressive disorder. Depression more severe than dysthymic disorder. Evidenced by poor appetite and significant weight loss, psycho-motor symptoms, impaired reality testing, and recurrent thoughts of suicide. 

Schizophrenic Disorders 

Schizophrenic disorders are largely recognized by a person's verbal behavior. These disorders are characterized by disturbances in thought, perception, and attention. Schizophrenic patients may speak in a meaningless fashion, switch from topic to topic, and convey little important information. They may have delusions of grandeur or persecution, hallucinations, or excited or slowed motor activity. Usually schizophrenic patients do not think that their thoughts and actions are abnormal.

• Disorganized type. Characterized by disorganized delusions and frequent hallucinations that may be sexual or religious in nature. Exaggerated social impairment is common.

• Catatonic type. Characterized by a marked impairment in motor activity. May hold one body position for hours and not respond to the speech of others.

• Paranoid type. Characterized by delusions of persecution, often ones that are complex and systematized. Paranoid schizophrenic patients may experience vivid hallucinations that sup-port their delusions. 

THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES TO MENTAL DISORDERS 

A variety of approaches can be used to help people who have mental disorders. These approaches involve psychotherapy or the use of biological therapies. A brief outline of the more widely known strategies follows, since a comprehensive presentation on this topic is beyond the scope of this appendix. 

Insight-Oriented Therapies 

Underlying this category of therapeutic approaches is the belief that the client must gain insight into the experiences that led up to his or her problem or adaptive behavior. By being able to recognize the underlying motives for one's behavior, a client will be better able to objectively view his or her beliefs, feelings, and thinking patterns. These underlying motives often are beneath the person's level of consciousness. Insight-oriented forms of psychotherapy include cognitive therapy, psychoanalysis, person-centered therapy, transaction analysis, and gestalt therapy. 

Behavior Therapy 

behavior therapy (also called behavior modification) attempts to produce behavior change in a client by using scientifically tested principles of classical and operand conditioning and observational learning. Techniques of behavior therapy include operand conditioning (behavior reinforcement), aversion conditioning, systematic desensitization, assertiveness training, and self-control techniques. 

Group Therapy 

This form of therapy involves a therapist and several clients who have similar problems. Examples might be group therapy for people with eating disorders, smoking concerns, sexual problems, family problems, or relationship concerns. By meeting together and working to resolve their similar concerns, clients often receive support from other group members. With multiple members, a larger volume of pertinent information exists for clients to share. In a practical sense, group therapy is usually less expensive than individual therapy and the therapist can reach more clients at once.