Mental Disorders

Question: mental disorders? I am doing a speech on mental disorders and I need to come up with 3 to 5 main poijnts, Can anyone think of any? in general all types of mental disorders, the effect it has on people, how to treat it, etc

Answer: Well, I would say that they are diagnosed using the DSM-IV-R (the diagnostic and statistic manual 4th edition revised) - that's the most current - it's published by, I think, the american psychiatric association. AND that the diagnoses are relatively artificial because they are based on a checklist. So, if you have 8 symptoms but the disorder requires 9...too bad - you don't have the disorder. Also, some people may have a disorder (according to the DSM) but it may not affect their daily life ... so do they really have a problem? That should be a major consideration - does the disorder disrupt their life. Anorexia Nervosa is the deadliest psychological disorder - I think it's 19 or 20% lethal. I would also talk about the stigma associated with psychological disorders (our society's idea that it's OK to be sick and go to the hospital, but if you have depression you must be a bad person.) To that end you may want to mention that in some cultures, very important people in the community (often shaman or spiritual leaders) would have diagnosable disorders - but they held a high position in society....does that mean they had a disorder or not?

Question: What do you think causes mental disorders? Etiology is the study of the causes of disease or disorder. So what do you think causes mental disorders? Use one example of abnormal psychology--either a well-established severe disorder, or another psychological problem that meets the criteria for psychopathology--and explain what you think causes this disorder. Finally, how do you think society views individuals with the disorder you describe? Any help?

Answer: Wait, there's only one cause now? Since when? You could explore the diathesis stress model, in which a traumatic even *triggers* the mental disorder to which the person has an underlying predisposition to, because that is common in the etiology of many disorders. Schizophrenia is a good example of this, but also depression, PTSD (obviously) and other anxiety disorders. You will have to review the other causes in your answer, to say how much whatever you chose to right on is the cause and how much other factors contribute.

Question: What mental disorders are strictly genetic? I have to do a research paper for school and i wanted to know what mental disorders are strictly genetic. I was going to do something like schizophrenia or bipolar. However as some of you may know, these disorders are highly debated whether they are genetic or acquired.

Answer: none that are 100% proven to be genetic, although there can be some genetic factors. Honestly, it's a mix of lots of things. Think about it: if evolution and natural selection did happen what would be the benefit in a genetic mental disorder? here are some that are thought to have some genetic factors: Depression Postpartum depression Schizophrenia Dysthymia Delusional disorder

Question: What are some interesting and unusual mental disorders? What are some interesting and unusual mental disorders? I'm really interested in rare interesting mental disorders such as Trichotillomania (the urge to pull out your own hair) and Body Integrity Identity Disorder (The desire to amputate your own limbs). Can anyone give me a list of other really interesting and crazy mental/psychological disorders?

Answer: In east Asia there is one called (IIRC) koro, which is the belief of a man that his penis is shrinking. Previous commenter mentioned pica - if they mean the compulsion to eat normally inedible things such as dirt and chalk, this is actually more biological, it is the body telling you you're lacking nutrients and craving things that might give them. Similar to food cravings in pregnancy. http://www.cas.appstate.edu/~kms/classes… is an article about regional-specific mental illnesses.

Question: What percentage of Americans have mild forms of mental disorders? Okay. So I know that 26.2 percent of Americans suffer from mental disorders, and that 6 percent of Americans have serious mental disorders (as according to NAMI). However, I need to know what percentage of Americans -- or, at least, what percentage of those who have mental disorders -- suffer from less severe mental disorders such as mild depression? Thanks!

Answer: My professors are always telling me that everyone has some sort of mental disorder, but the part that disqualifies most people from being DX is that they are able to cope and don't see that it disturbs their life.

Question: Why are mental disorders misunderstood in society? It seems if you know someone with cancer, you immediately feel sorry for them, but if someone has serious depression they are just considered crazy by lots of people, or people say they just need to get over themselves. In reality, mental disorders are typically not self-caused, but by problems in your brain or hormones. Am I the only one who thinks that people are undereducated about mental illness?

Answer: This is difficult and please don't let my answer offend you, it's not my intention. If someone has cancer or some other such illness there is typically nothing they can do about, medically there's only so much available and the person has to show a certain amount of courage to live with their illness. Now mental disorders...*some* mental disorders are more treatable than others. Those who have a genuine chemical imbalance in their mind do often require medical help and a little more understanding and/or sympathy because mostly it's not something that can be cured and without constant treatment it can have terrible consequences. However there are some conditions where the person can control their input and output to treat their condition by themselves. In certain places around the world, mental disorders tend to be be over-exposed, over-categorised and often used as a means to justify an action or lifestyle. The problem with any illness is that you can become too exposed and if you reinforce something enough the mind will often start to believe it. It someone is having a bad patch in their lives and everyone starts muttering about them being depressed and maybe looking for help then the person starts accepting that they're depressed and can dig themselves into their own pit of despair rather than trying to over-come the problems that are making them depressed. You can also get the ones who are genuinely faking their illness to excuse their actions or to gain sympathy from those around them. The difficulty comes in trying to filter out the true sufferers from the fakes who may use it to avoid work or other such commitments. Now where I work there is someone who often claims to have depression and she uses it as an excuse, she does it to avoid work, to get out of certain tasks and to earn the "aww you poor thing" response. I'm not meaning to be horrible here because I know that some people have real problems coping from day to day, but this girl has a loving and supportive family, she isn't pressured and she has never tried to understand or improve her "problem" she just goes from day to day with the idea of "either I am going to do something today or I'm just not going to bother at all" and it's at this point that I lose almost all sympathy for her. I went through horrible depression, I had so many family deaths and pressures put on me at exactly the same time, coupled with entering puberty and I just snapped. Complete mental break-down. It took me three years of pretty much being a shut-in and re-training myself before I could even walk about my town again and see my friends. I wanted to kill myself many times and my Counselors made it worse by suggesting that I go to a mental hospital away from my family (I had a very loving and supportive family who really helped me through, this wasn't a wise suggestion) Throughout all this I never once went on medication though it was suggested numerous times. I made the effort to pull myself out of my pit and take my G.C.S.E's normally. I made the effort to find regular work. By this point I was in the "zombie mode" that comes with Depersonalization and Derealization. It is so difficult to wear a smile for people and interact with the world around you when you're in that state, but I did and I never said anything about it. I then went on to college like this and had to re-teach myself to interact with peers my age, to smile and laugh and joke normally, to come back from the detached state because I was just sick of feeling nothing all the time, going from day to day like a programmed robot. It took me another year before I could really feel things again and first of all was the tail end of my depression with a very weepy and over-whelming feeling. Once I accepted that I started to feel some happiness and excitement about life again. I went through the worst of the worst and it lasted from the time I was 12 until I was 18 and I never complained or said a word about it even though I would be crying for hours on end almost every day and literally just curling up in a dark room wishing for it to all end, I didn't think it was fair to impose my problems on others lives, only my immediate family knew about my problems. I never went on medication and for years I wasn't comfortable to admit any of this but I later learnt to offer my opinion on the matter and be open with people if they asked. A lot of the common mental disorders *are* self-treatable, even if people don't realize it, but it takes time and effort and a lot of people aren't willing to make the effort, they would sooner take the easy way and cover it up with medication and excuses. When this happens I can't sympathize with them. I just think of everything I went through and how I just dealt with it and how people, like this girl I work with, will use it as an excuse. I never think anyone is crazy when they say they have a mental disorder, be it a genuine one or not but in some cases I

Question: What mental disorders can someone have that might cause them to be considered legally insane? Recently in a forum I saw someone say that being Bi-Polar made you legally insane. I am curious if this is true and what other mental disorders would cause someone to be considered legally insane?

Answer: there is no specific list of mental disorders that would constitute someone legally insane. Normally the defence applies to people that at the time of the criminal act or generally are considered unable to distinguish between right and wrong or unable to control theor actions and comprehend the consequences of those. Normally schizophrenia and psychopathy are two mental illnesses that almost always qualify under what you could call the insanity defence. Bi-polar disorder can become a defence normally only when it is proven that is accompanied by some sort of psychotic episode at the time when the crime was committed.

Question: Why are people with mental disorders allowed to purchase guns? Shouldn't society ban individuals with a history of mental disorders from purchasing or even using fire arms? Why on earth are we selling people who are mentally ill machines that kill? I NEVER said I believed in banning guns from society. Don't put words in my mouth (you know who you are). I think there should be a data base that runs your mental health history along with your criminal history (if there be one) prior to purchasing a gun.

Answer: because of idiot groups like the ACLU who fight for criminals rights, and do much less for the victims. Welive in a country with toomuch ways to take advantage of the freedoms not everyone deserves. The ACLU fought against New Yorks subway random searches. Every year a great number of people in New York just up and disappear. Authorities want to conduct random searches which is only a good thing. The ACLU is the first to argue against it - like they always do. Then every Sharpton Jesse Jackson wannbe gets on the bandwagon and it becomes a political game that no politician wants to play. Everyone, thank the ACLU for all their wonderful efforts to blemish our soceity more than it already is

Question: Why are women more prone to being diagnosed with mental disorders than men? Why are women more prone to being diagnosed with mental disorders than men? I heard that this is a true statement. If it is, why? Is it because women have more troubles to go through in life than men?

Answer: women go through alot more than men do in many ways in life. We are more sensitive, and more needy but that's cause were more sensitive. Most men don't think to much about anything. Women analize everything and as a result we end up stressed out big time.

Question: Is loneliness at the core of many mental disorders? If your ideal mate walked into your life tomorrow and the two of you fell madly in love and stayed that way for the rest of your days, do you think this would completely or partially alleviate the symptoms of the majority of mental disorders? If this happened to everyone in the world do you think the occurrence of mental disorders would drastically decrease?

Answer: This question requires an opinion. So here is mine. I think that if your soul mate walked into your life, it is possible to alleviate all your diseases, only if you want that to happen. She or he can give you the push to achieve ultimate health, but you are the one who must make the initiative to reach that goal. I think someone could do this without a girlfriend or boyfriend. Anything is possible, and I believe that all power that we need to be happy, healthy, wealthy or whatever is inside of us all. We all have god potential, but few come to realize this simple fact of life. YOU can take control of your life right now. All it takes is a simple shift of mind and thoughts, and your life is yours to craft and create.... EVERY aspect of it.