Freedictionary.com defines crazy as “affected with madness” or “insane”. These returning service members certainly displayed this tendency. Many of them talked to themselves or saw things that were not there. What was certain was that something happened to cause this “madness” but many service members could not even speak about what had happened to them. Some former service members suffer from different forms of mental illnesses.
Outline and evaluate failure to function adequately as a definition of abnormality People with psychological disorders often experience considerable suffering and distress and a general inability to cope with everyday activities. This failure to function is very common among people with psychological disorders. As a result doctors are required to diagnose an individual’s psychological problems based up the life led by the individual and the things that may affect them. When diagnosing a patient doctors often use and refer to various manuals to help identify psychological disorders. One of the most widely used is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (1994).
Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID, is a severe mental disorder that cause the patient to experience severe dissociation from the environment and others around them. Dissociation is kind of like daydreaming, which most of us have experienced. People with DID experience a “lack of connection in a person’s thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of identity”, according to WebMD, a reputable site that provides health information (Costello). Many doctors and psychiatrists believe that DID starts because of a traumatic experience and victims of this disorder dissociate themselves from certain situations to alleviate pain and anxiety that the situation may cause. Although many doctors believe this, there is no proven cause of Dissociative
These questions include recalling of events throughout their life or any out of body experiences. Symptoms of dissociative identity disorder include de-realization, dissociation, feeling lost or lonely, identity crisis, difficulties expressing themselves, and many more. De-realization can cause continuous conflict in the mind about who they are. Often refusing to recognize themselves in mirrors , or feeling as if two or more different people are trapped in one body. Dissociation is the most common symptom of this disorder.
Hypochondriasis is so overwhelming that it causes problems with work or relationships in one’s life and if it is severe it can be completely disabling. It is similarly common in women, men and even in children as well but is usually seen in people aged between 20 and 30 years old. Emotionally the symptoms are measured by anger or an expression of guilt as a result anxiety and distress coexist with hypochondriasis. On the behavioural aspect symptoms are to play sick which helps to escape from obligations and postpone unwelcome challenges. Signs of health anxiety have little inclination to an impulsive solution and will continue for months or years if treatment is not offered.
According to www.justgreatadvice.com, a mixed episode is being both happy and sad, up and down, all at the same time. Generally, this translates into the patient being very depressed emotionally, but displaying symptoms of mania such as inability to concentrate and lack of sleep. The other main type of bipolar disorder is bipolar type II. Bipolar type II is depressive episodes shifting back and forth with hypomanic episodes, but no full-blown manic or mixed episodes. I like to think that a person that has bipolar type II is always “in between” highs and lows or back and forth.
Gregory (2010) describes Schizophrenia as the perfect example of a severe mental illness. The world is an incomprehensible jumble for Schizophrenics and the line between delusion and reality is blurred, if not obliterated. The American Psychiatric Association (2013) categorises Schizophrenia as a psychotic disorder, with abnormalities in one or more of 5 domains. These are delusions, hallucinations, disorganised thinking and speech, and grossly disorganised or abnormal motor behaviour such as catatonia. If these delusions and beliefs are not understandable to cultural peers and not related to ordinary life experiences, they are deemed to be bizarre (The American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
‘Back in 1971 …… Mental health referred only to mental illnesses and mental illnesses were shrouded in such shame and stigma that many people neglected the issue.’ Though much has changed today, the serious stigma and discrimination attached to mental illnesses are still among the most tragic realities facing people with mental illness all over the world. They result in stereotyping, fear, embarrassment, anger and avoidance behaviors. They force people to remain quiet about their mental illnesses, often causing them to delay treatment because of concerns about what their families, friends, children, co-workers and employers will think. In view of the prejudice and discrimination, there is a need to change in order to help them to have a complete and satisfying life. Stigma is the product of superstition, old belief systems, lack of knowledge and empathy, and the sustained distortion by the media.
People with this illness might develop delusions or experience hallucinations. Examples of this type of illness include schizophrenia and some types of depression. Non-psychotic illnesses are group of mental illnesses where people’s feelings can become so disturbing and overwhelming that they have difficulty coping with day-to-day activities. This type of mental illness is a common experience for many people. Examples include: phobias, anxiety, some forms of depression, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and etc.
He becomes extremely anxious in any situation that is other from the norm. He feels offended easily and becomes