Chapter 11 Psychological Disorders Essay

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Chapter 11: Psychological Disorders Abnormal behaviours are those that are: 1. Significantly and negatively deviant from the "norm" (general population) 2. Maladaptive, making individual incapable of functioning in everyday life 3. Distressful to the person and/or to others Anxiety disorders: (affects between 15 and 30% of the population) Diagnosis: symptoms must be on-going for at least two months, and in some cases (e.g. major depression), six months 1. GAD -- general anxiety disorder: characterized by "free-floating" anxiety; no apparent reasons for discomfort; common in "worrier" types; more frequent in women than in men -- estimated to afflict about 4% of general population 2. Specific Phobic Disorders -- phobias are irrational fears that cause strong fearful, and anxiety-creating reactions; there are dozens of well-known phobias; some are unique to very, very few people, and could be previously unheard of in some cases. Treatment involves on-going therapeutic interventions (e.g. Wolpe's desensitization therapy) See: table 11.2 (p.270) for some examples 3.…show more content…
Panic disorders -- overwhelming anxiety produces profound symptoms that are sometimes mistaken for critical illness such as heart attack, or severe organ distress perhaps caused by an imbalance in neuro-transmitters; treatment may involve antidepressant drugs and/or tranquillizers. Difficult to cure with a 50% recurrence rate 4. PTSD: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder occurs after exposure to a traumatic event (e.g. battlefield, severe accident causing loss of life...); a syndrome develops wherein the sufferer displays many cyclic symptoms that often mimic other illnesses (depression, neuralgia, deafness ...) Can affects as many as 8% of the population (US) and seems to be more prevalent in men than
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