Robert B. Oxnam's A Fractured Mind

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Abnormal psychology is a portion of Psychology that involves the study of behaviors that “seem” unusual or inappropriate by society's standards. However, in some cases, these unusual and inappropriate behaviors may be certain disorders or dysfunctions. People with these disorders may not necessarily be able to control their “emotions, drives, or desires.” Dissociative disorders, Sexual disorders, and Schizophrenia delusions lie heavily among the long list of abnormal disorders in the study of psychology. In the next few paragraphs, a thorough explanation of the disorders mentioned above will be discussed. When a person has a dissociative disorders, it usually means that their memory has failed. A person may have this certain disorder if…show more content…
Also known as MPD, this this order is when a person plays host to two or more personalities, which are also referred to as “alters.” The book A Fractured Mind, by Robert B. Oxnam is a book about a man living with MPD. This book allows an average person who has never experienced MPD to understand what a person with MPD goes through. In Oxnam's case, his different alters feud over who would be the dominant personality. Each alter has it's own unique style of viewing and understanding the world, and even have their own name. Now, aside from the book, other MPD cases may not exactly have different names. In addition, alters periodically control the persons behavior as if several people were sharing one body. Mos sufferers from MPD are known to be physically or severely abused as children. It is said that abuse causes an MPD sufferer to detach from reality. As for medicines and cures for MPD, doctors will say that there definitely are options out there, however, most commonly the MPD will stay with a person throughout their life, but an alter may be tamed. And when an alter is “tamed”, a dominant personality may control the…show more content…
The word “schizo,” means “split,” and the word “phrenia,” means “mind.” Both words are Latin-based roots. A person with “schizophrenia” most likely experiences different types of delusions which are classified as “schizophrenic delusions.” These delusions show that their belief's cannot be refuted when facing strong contradictory evidence. The three delusions are described as “delusions of grandeur,” “delusions of control,” and “delusions of persecution.” In “delusions of grandeur,” the person may believe that he or she is extremely important, that they are basically better than everybody and anybody. In “delusions of control,” the person may believe that their behavior is controlled from without the body. Finally, in “delusions of persecution,” the person will believe that others are plotting their downfall and are “out to get them.” This delusion can be characterized as a “paranoid delusion.” The cause of actual schizophrenia may be biological, however scientists believe that people who have the disorder may have a chemical imbalance effecting their nervous
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