The explanation suggests that the primary caregiver is responsible for helping the infant overcome its anxieties and if the care is inadequate then a child will not develop a proper sense of self. Therefore during adolescence when threats to the self occur the symptoms of schizophrenia begin to develop. However, the psychodynamic explanation to schizophrenia has many problems, for example: Freud claimed that schizophrenia is caused by over-whelming anxiety and is a defence mechanism involving regression into an early stage of development. Freud suggested that one of the positive symptoms of the disorder, hallucinations are the ego’s attempt to restore contact with reality. However there isn’t any research evidence to support Freud’s theory and psychoanalysis is not an effective treatment for schizophrenia suggesting that the psychodynamic theory does not explain the causes of schizophrenia.
Psychic conflict can occur at any time but particularly in early childhood, as the ego at this time is not fully developed. Abnormality can be caused by an Ego’s imbalance between these demands, such as an overly strong Superego could lead to anxiety and an overactive Id could lead to a sex addiction. This is an approach to abnormality as a well-adjusted person has a developed strong Ego with Ego-defence mechanisms that is able to control the other two components compared to somebody with an unbalanced personality. Ego-defence mechanisms are unconscious coping strategies that are used because the ego is constantly under
For a schizophrenic this suggests that their behaviour is a consequence of faulty learning. For example, if a child receives little or no social interaction early in life (parental disinterest), the child will attend to inappropriate and irrelevant environmental cues (e.g. the sound of word rather than its' meaning). This results in the child's behavioural responses becoming bizarre and so those that may observe the child's behaviour may avoid it or respond erratically, therefore reinforcing the child's behaviour. This cycle will eventually deteriote into a psychotic state.
Some of the symptoms, e.g. delusions of grandeur were reflective of this whilst others, such as auditory hallucinations reflected the individual’s attempts to re-establish ego control. This theory is largely based on speculation as it isn’t possible to empirically test the concepts put forth, such as the unconscious processes and regression, therefore it cannot be ascertained that this is categorically what causes the development of schizophrenia. The over-emphasis on early childhood experiences being the root cause means that current problems the individual may be experiencing is overlooked. The setting in which they are in is not accounted for; Brown and Birley (1968) have provided evidence that suggests the occurrence of stressful life events increases susceptibility to
Denial is an outright refusal to admit or recognize that something has occurred or is currently occurring. Drug addicts or alcoholics often deny that they have a problem, while victims of traumatic events may deny that the event ever occurred. • Repression. Repression is the complete memory loss of a painful event. In this case, your subconscious mind doesn’t want you to remember what happened because it may negatively affect your mood.
Psychopathy: Diagnosis, Theory, and Treatment Jama R. Young College of Saint Mary Psychopathy: Diagnosis, Theory, and Treatment What is a Psychopath? Psychopathy is a disorder, which is defined and “characterized in part by a diminished capacity for remorse and poor behavioral controls” (Blair, 2003, p. 5). Defining psychopathy gives shape to meaning behind the mental illness, but what does this mean? Those with the disorder are “ruthless social predators” (Cavadino, 1998, p .5). Persistently irresponsible, they are impulsive violators of what are considered social norms.
However a weakness of deviation form social norms is susceptical to Abuse. Szazz (1974) claimed that mental illness was a concept constructed to exclude non conformists from society, Also Cultural realism attempts to define abnormality by cultural factors so the diagnosis of the deviate may be different for the same person depending on where their behavior was executed. This suggests that there are no universal standards or rules for labeling a behavior as abnormal. Strength of failure to function adequately would be that the indicators are useful in determining whether someone has a psychological abnormality. This is because they would enable a decision about whether clinical intervention may be needed Furthermore a weakness of ideal mental health is mental illnesses cannot be defined in the same way as physical illnesses.
Psychodynamic Approach Sigmund Freud is the founder of the psychodynamic approach. This approach focuses on the unconscious mind to explain behaviour, and also to treat people suffering from mental illness. This approach also looks into our behaviour and feelings as adults, as our childhood experiences and Interpol relationships can explain this. Freud believes that what drives our behaviour is conflict that arises between three parts of our psych, the id, superego and the ego. The three personalities of the psych are usually out of sync with each other.
Though they create anxiety in the dreamer, anxiety dreams also serve as a way for a person's ego to re-set. Causes: Anxiety dreams often from childhood trauma. A factor in this is the developing ego of the child. This is especially true of children about one year in age. At this age anxiety dreams occur because the child's ego can't integrate his or her daily experiences.
1. The repressed memory concept is also known as false memory syndrome. False memory syndrome is caused by memories of a traumatic experience most often they are associated with memories of childhood sexual abuse. Many of these types of memories are objectively false, but in which the person believes the memories are true. Because sexual abuse is such a disturbing incident, false accusations of sexual abuse have huge, if not shocking, consequences for families.