Beh 225 Psychological Disorders

There are a plethora of Psychological disorders that individuals are diagnosed with on a daily basis which is why psychologists are necessary to specify the symptoms and behavior appropriate to specify the disorder the patient possesses. There are mood disorders such as the Bi-polar disorder where a patient displays mania (violent unpredictable behavior) as well as depression (dreary helplessness, at times very dark and completely immobile physically). A Bi- polar patient may appear depressed at one moment and then quickly contrast to their mania moving from one extreme to another. This disorder is caused by one's own biological makeup or life changing events in ones environment that may have left them with cognitive distortions. Cognitive distortions are "An illogical and maladaptive response to early negative life events that leads to feelings of incompetence and unworthiness that are reactivated whenever a new situation arises that resembles the original events." Pg.495 If one's mood disorder is severe enough where they are considering suicide they should seek counseling immediately and if one has not reached that point they should contact a psychologist for preventative measures, this disorder can be controlled.

An extremely well known disorder is the anxiety disorder which is partially relatable since everyone has anxiety about something sometimes. The difference between common anxiety and a patient suffering from an anxiety disorder is that the individual's fear is extreme and they may get so scared about everyday things that they love themselves in their homes, refusing to leave choosing to live in fear as prisoners of their own home. These fears are excessive and very unreasonable and can be detrimental to an individual's social life; many individuals suffer from panic disorders, where they feel doomed or helpless and begin experiencing panic attacks. A woman panicking behind the wheel because she's scared to death of getting in an accident can be detrimental to a traffic situation. These disorders come to be when individuals are traumatized by an experience that is (in their eyes) impossible to shake. Counseling and recognizing the unrealisticness of the fear is a great way to overcome these fears.

Psychosomatic disorders occur when an individual completely convinces themselves that they are ill and experiences all of the symptoms (psychologically). Tension headaches are a great example of how individuals with overwhelming stress and pressure may increase the level of pain. Individuals in situations such as this would be trained to practice relaxation techniques and stress relieving practices.

Dissociative disorders are mysterious and incredible to research, this occurs when a patient's personality is separated into particular identities. Dissociative identity disorder is when an individual has multiple personalities with different names and identities are like people inside of one person.