Chapter 10 Lesson 1

What Are Mental Disorders

Mental Disorders

• An Illness of the mind that can affect the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of a person, preventing him or her from leading a happy, healthful and productive life

• Identified by their inability to cope in healthful ways with life’s changes, demands, problems, or traumas

Mental Disorders

• In the past mental disorders were misunderstood and people with such disorders were feared or shunned

• Mental disorders understood not only as disturbances in the emotions but also as imbalances in the chemistry of the brain

Types of Mental Disorders

• Organic disorders

• Functional disorder– Anxiety– Somatoform– Affective – personality

Organic Disorder

• Caused by a physical illness or an injury that affects the brain

• Brain tumors, alcoholism, infections such as syphilis and meningitis, lupus and stroke

• Some are inherited chemical imbalances

Functional Disorder

• Result of psychological causes in which no clear brain damage is involved

• Usually result from stress, emotional conflict, fear or poor coping skills

• May be tied to inborn causes, traumatic events in childhood, or current causes

• Main functional disorders – anxiety, somatoform, affective and personality

Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety Disorder

• Illness in which real, imagined or persistent fears prevent a person from enjoying life

• Continuous, chronic anxiety

• People will often arrange their lives so as to avoid the object or situation that makes the anxious or nervous

Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety Disorder

• Four types of anxiety disorders

• Phobias

• Obsessive-compulsive

• Panic Disorders

• Post traumatic stress disorder

Anxiety Disorders/Phobias

• Specific fear that is so strong that person goes to extreme measures to avoid the fear producing object of activity– Acrophobia – fear of heights– Claustrophobia – Fear of enclosed spaces

Person with phobia may be unable to carry out daily activities

Some believe that phobias are related to some past experience that was upsetting

Anxiety Disorder/Obsessive compulsive

• Trapped in a pattern of repeated behaviors or thoughts

• Obsession – consistent, recurrent, unwanted thoughts or ideas that keep people from thinking about other things

• Compulsion – urgent, repeated, irresistible behaviors

Anxiety Disorder/Obsessive compulsive

Anxiety Disorder/Obsessive compulsive

• Person with OCD might feel the urge to wash hands 20-30 times a day

• When these activities interfere with other daily functions an commitments, they are considered a problem

Anxiety Disorder/Panic

• Fear or anxiety get in the way of functioning and enjoying life

• The individual may feel anxious, fearful, and upset most of the time, or the feelings may arise for no apparent reason

• Panic attacks are accompanied by severe symptoms such as trembling, a racing heart, shortness of breath, dizziness or even dying

Anxiety Disorder/Panic

Anxiety Disorder/Post Traumatic stress Syndrome

• Person who experiences or witnesses a traumatic event feels sever and long lasting aftereffects

• Common among veterans of military combat rape survivors, survivors of natural disatsers

• Symptoms: flashbacks, nightmares, emotional numbness, reaction to an image, sleeplessness,

Anxiety Disorder/Post Traumatic stress Syndrome

• Symptoms: flashbacks, nightmares, emotional numbness, reaction to an image, sleeplessness, feelings of guilt, or an extreme reaction to an image or sound that reminds the person of the event

Somatoform Disorders

• Describe an illness in which a person complains of disease symptoms, but no physical cause can be found

• Hypochondria – a preoccupation with the body and fear of presumed diseases that are not present

• Constantly feel aches and pains and worries about developing cancer, hear disease, or some other serious problem

Somatoform Disorders

Affective Disorder

• A mood disorder often with an organic cause that relates to emotions and may involve mood swings or mood extremes that interfere with everyday living

• Mood swings are severe and may last long periods of time

• Clinical depression

• Bipolar Disorder

Affective Disorder/Clinical Depression

• Feeling of sadness, hopelessness, or despair last for more than a few weeks and interfere with daily activities and interests

• It can be a serious health problem that affects one’s ability to concentrate, sleep, perform at school or work or handle everyday decisions

Affective Disorder/Clinical Depression

• It can be a symptom of substance abuse

• It can run in families and be biologically based

• Can be caused by life events and accumulated traumas or stressors

Affective Disorder/Bipolar Disorder

• Illness characterized by extreme mood swings between depression and extreme happiness, or mania

• During manic periods people may feel extremely happy or energetic

• Often this “high” period ends abruptly and a period of deep depression sets in

• Between periods they behave normally

Affective Disorder/Bipolar Disorder

Personality Disorder

• Variety of psychological conditions that affect a person’s ability to get along with others

• May often be at odds with others and never see their part in the problem

• Personality disorders have no apparent distinct signs or symptoms

Personality Disorder

Antisocial Personality Disorder

• Person’s constant conflict with society

• May display behavior that is cruel, uncaring, irresponsible and impulsive

• They can distinguish right from wrong, they often don’t care about others’ needs or society’s rules and are often in trouble with the law

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Personality Disorder/Schizophrenia

• Means Split mind

• 1 to 2 % of the population and appears most frequently among people between the ages of 15 and 35

• Untreated they may act inappropriately, exhibit abnormal emotional responses, or in some cases, show no emotional responses at all

Personality Disorder/Schizophrenia

• Some schizophrenics withdraw often losing all sense of time and space

• Some hallucinate or hear voices, talk to themselves, act odd, or neglect to care for themselves

• Paranoid Schizophrenics – mistrust and are suspicious of others

• They may believe they are being followed, listened to or targeted for harm

Personality Disorder/Schizophrenia

• Professional help and chemical intervention are always recommended