- History of Psychology
- The Brain
- Consciousness
- Development
- Anxiety Disorders
- Dissociative Disorders
- Personality Disorders
- Substance Related Disorders
- Mood Disorders
- Schizophrenia
- Other Disorders
Therapy
by: Tracie Huffman
Therapy is used to help or try to help treat Health problems followed by diagnosis.
In the medical field it is called Treatment. Also can be called Psychotherapy.
The history of efforts to treat Psychological disorders is combined with Harsh and gentle methods. In the past they would cut peoples heads open and bled them this was called beating the devil out of them. They have used drugs and electric shock. Since the 1950’s they started introducing more effective drug therapies and treatment programs. Today there are two main categories for therapy. Both the disorder and the therapist influence the different choices of treatment. Psychological Therapies are built on one or more of the Psychology’s major theories. Psychoanalysis was the first of the Psychological therapies was created by Sigmund Freud. Few clinics today practice therapy like Freud. Psychoanalysis is to unearth the past in hope in uncovering the present. Psychodynamic Therapy is to understand a patients current symptoms and focusing on there themes across important relationships. This includes childhood experiences and the therapist relationship. It also draws out attention and thought and feelings the person seems to be avoiding. Humanistic therapies aim to boost the patience self-stem and fulfillment by helping people grow in self awareness and self acceptance. This therapy lowers the conflict with natural development and growth. Behavior Therapies -behavioral therapist take maladaptive symptoms in false value . This therapies is best with people who have specific fears and problems. One type of treatment a behavioral therapist will do today is to changed peoples reaction by repeatedly exposing them to the object which they are affriend of or anxious about. Cognitive and behavior therapies helps approach depression and other disorders. Group and Family therapies are people who are have family issues or distressed by one of the family members. The therapist will try and improve the families relationship by being more positive and improve communication. Electrocovo therapies is to shock the brain the treatment was found effective in the older days they would strap the person to the table and do the shock treatment while wide awake today on the other hand the patients receive anesthetic and muscle relaxants.
There are drugs to help therapies as well such as Antianxitey drugs which is like alcohol it will calm anxiety as the patient learns to cope with frightening things. Theirs is Antidepressant drugs it will lift the persons depression. Mood-stabilizing drugs which helps the effect of the persons emotions. If things don’t work out the therapist might want to do Psychosurgery this surgery is to remove or destroy brain tissue which will change the thought and behavior of the patient Research and studies prove today that there is no type of therapies better than another one Most people today need help and don’t get it because the do not want to admit they have a problem and need therapy. Therapy is no something to be ashamed about there are many types of therapy that can help or treat whatever or where ever the person needs help.
Cited
Psychology in everyday life David G Myers
Music and the Mind
Music- It is all around us, all the time whether we realize it or not. Beating hearts, water falling, trees rustling, all can constitute their own form of music. But what is music? According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, music is defined as sounds having rhythm, harmony, or melody. In a sense, it is unexplainable, yet we incorporate music everyday into our lives. Why does music have such a profound impact on humans? More specifically, what does music do to the mind?
While there are a variety of types of music such as blues, reggae, jazz, hip-hop, etc., in this article, I want to focus on the differences between classical and rock music, and the effects each type can have on the brain.
Effects of Classical Music:
Numerous studies have been conducted over the years to attempt to discern the differences between classical and rock music, and discover what really occurs in the brain while music is being played. A renowned psychologist from Bulgaria, Dr. Georgi Lozanov experimented with music that employed a beat pattern of approximately 60 beats per minute. He demonstrated that students listening to baroque music with this beat were able to learn more information and retain that knowledge for an extended period of time.
http://www.classicalarchives.com/work/5689.html
After years of research, The Center for New Discoveries in Learning found that students using Mozart and other baroque pieces felt calmer, were able to study longer, had a higher rate of retention, and earned better grades. The question was raised: Why does classical music affect the brain in this manner? According to Don Campbell, author of The Mozart Effect, “these music pieces activate the left and right brain for maximum learning and retention effect. The music activates the right brain and the words being read or spoken aloud activates the left brain.” In addition, the frequency beat of 60 beats per minute has been found to be beneficial to brain synchronization. By listening to classical music with 60 beats per minute, the learning potential has increases by at least five times. Studies have also shown that when we hear the even music of the baroque period, our heart rate and pulse relax to the beat, enabling us to concentrate more easily. During intense mental work, our blood pressure will rise and it is usually harder to concentrate, but when the correct beat patterns are listened to, our blood pressure and pulse rate drops while our ability to learn increases.
On Mice
In one experiment, several researchers studied three groups of mice. One group listened to disharmonic sounds played by incessant drumbeats. The second group listened to Strauss waltzes, while the third group was raised in silence. All the mice then underwent standard maze training; with the results indicating that the first group of mice not only had difficulty learning and memorizing the course, but that the structure of their brain cells changed as well. One of the researchers stated, “What we are experiencing here are the effects of disharmonious music on mammalian brains. [Since] human beings have mammalian brains, we cannot preclude the possibility that disharmony may affect human brains as well.”
On Plants
Another series of experiments was conducted by a musician in Denver, CO. She demonstrated that three hours of acid rock music a day, will cause plants to shrivel, crumple, and eventually die off within less than a month. She wonders if the discordant sounds we hear are the reason humanity is growing neurotic. At the other extreme, plants that were exposed to soothing sounds grew lusher and had stronger root systems than the plants that were raised in silence. Are the plants trying to tell us something about music?
http://www.4shared.com/audio/2THu1IhL/Rhythm_Device_-_Acid_Rock.html
On Criminals
Lastly, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, local businesses began playing classical music on their store fronts. The results were felt immediately as drug dealers and other criminals were driven away by the soothing sounds of the music. Gerry Gerling, a local store owner, said that “classical music creates an aura of ‘prestige and grandeur,’ and because most drug dealers are uncultured and unfamiliar with the classics, ‘they can’t stand it.’”
I think these experiments show the power music can have in a person’s life. And that we should be cautious about the type of music we listen to. As students, the style of music could affect our grades, and ultimately control who we are and how we act as a human being.
Sources
Music and the Mind, Michael Ballam
Classical Achieves. http://www.classicalarchives.com/work/5689.html
4Shared. http://www.4shared.com/audio/2THu1IhL/Rhythm_Device_-_Acid_Rock.html
Image Source
Len Wertz, Local Musician and Music Teacher
Will Clark
Ashley Stickley
When a person uses a stimulant or ’upper,’ the drug stimulates the user's central nervous system, by doing so the drug works on the brain's dopamine and norepinephrine neurotransmitter systems, increasing the heart rate, as well as redirecting blood flow to the muscular system and away from the digestive system. The use of amphetamines causes the brain to produce a higher level of dopamine, which is what produces the sense of euphoria and well-being that is commonly known as the "high." Mentally, the person may start to feel confident and euphoric, along with an increased desire to communicate, as the whole Central Nervous System (CNS) becomes stimulated, their alertness and vitality increases. Users are often restless and talkative, and also will have increased respiratory rate, elevated blood pressure, dry mouth, dilated pupils, and loss of appetite. Other physical symptoms may include, heart palpitations, headaches, dizziness, blurred vision and loss of coordination.
Over a period of time, a person who is using amphetamines will develop a tolerance to the drug. Not only will they need to take higher doses to get the same effect they were achieving previously, but once their brain becomes accustomed to having a certain level of dopamine, the user will start to experience intense cravings for the drug. A severe effect of long-term drug use is amphetamine psychosis. This is a type of mental illness that can appear very similar to paranoid schizophrenia. Vivid auditory hallucinations and paranoid delusions are among the alarming side effects and, unlike hallucinogens, the "trip" cannot be turned around. This is a very real mental state caused by the over-excitement of the brain's fright centers. Its effects often start with curiosity, deep thought, and paranoia. Its slow buildup makes it all the more dangerous, as it can be hard to recognize the symptoms. Some users become obsessed with activities like, ironing or scrubbing floors through the night, or dismantling and reassembling electrical equipment. In many cases, this side effect is caused by the person using a high dose of the drug over a short time, and as the individual comes down they gradually become grounded in reality again. Although this process may take as many as a couple of days to a few weeks. Using amphetamines on a regular basis can lead to significant health problems, including: the risk of damage to brain cells, malnutrition, reduced immunity, due to malnutrition and lack of sleep, mood swings, depression and panic attacks, aggression, and increased susceptibility to violent rages.
Although not all amphetamine drugs are illegal, for instance pharmaceutical companies manufacture drugs like Ritalin, dexamphetamine and methylphenidate. Usually these drugs are only prescribed for particular disorders such as narcolepsy or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In 1920, a drug called "ephedrine" was used to treat asthma in patients. The ma huang plant (Ephedra vulgaris) contains ephedrine, and had been used for centuries before its medical discovery. In 1932, synthetic ephedrine was sold "over-the-counter" and was available without a prescription until 1954., and during World War II, amphetamines were given to soldiers and pilots to keep them alert and to fight off fatigue.
http://www.thegooddrugsguide.com/amphetamines/effects.htm
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Amphetamines
Insomnia
Tyler Rall
Insomnia is caused by everyday situations involving emotional extremes of happiness or anxiety. Although the term insomnia literally translates into “no sleep”, it is used by most people to describe trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. The consequence of this is being unable to function as well as usual the following day. About one in three American adults says he or she is a poor sleeper and one in six says the problem is quite serious. Insomnia can affect the young and old male or female. Sleep specialists distinguish among three types of insomnia: transient, short term and chronic. Transient insomnia is the experience of a night or two of poor sleep. Probably everyone suffers from it now and then. Often people who experience transient insomnia complain of difficulty in concentrating, weariness and irritability the following day. Sleeping in a strange bed may even bring on transient insomnia. Most people do not sleep quite as well as usual their first night away from home, whether it is a pleasant visit to a friends house or a vacation or under the stressful conditions of a hospital stay. Short-term insomnia involves sleep disturbances that last for two to three weeks. Here, ongoing stress at school, work or home is often the reason: worrying about grades, learning of your parents impending divorce or having a serious illness or death in the family are all events that trigger short-term insomnia. Chronic insomnia is poor sleep that last longer than three weeks. This form of insomnia is a complex disorder with many possible causes and afflicts more than 35 million Americans. It is relatively easy to pinpoint the reasons for transient and short-term insomnia. That is not the case for chronic insomnia, which may last for years disrupting sleep most or every night. Rapid travel across many time zones upset the inner clocks that regulate the timing of sleeping and waking. As a result, trouble in sleeping at night as well as staying awake throughout the day is commonly called jet lag but is actually a form of insomnia. Stress undoubtedly plays a key role in insomnia, particularly for teenagers and people in their 20’s and 30’s. As mentioned before stimulants are also responsible for cases of insomnia. Even though caffeine near bedtime may not interfere with falling asleep, it may trigger awakenings later. Caffeine related ingredients are found in soft drinks, chocolate, coffee, and strong tea. Nicotine is also a stimulant and it has been shown that smokers take longer to fall asleep and sleep more lightly than non-smokers. Nicotine may be found in many commonly used drugs, including non-prescription drugs for weight loss, asthma, and colds. Alcohol, which is sometimes used as a nightcap to induce sleep, may also act to make sleep more fragile throughout the night. Noise is also a cause for insomnia, passing traffic outside your window, jets flying by overhead, or your TV left on during your sleep may disturb your sleep even though you don’t awaken completely. Even when your eyes are closed, light still comes through and this again may not awaken you but will cause for a less stable state of sleep. Pain is also a reason for insomnia, disorders such as arthritis, back injury, headache and many other forms of discomfort may also upset sleep. Insomnia can take major tolls on a family with a member who suffers from insomnia the person can be irritable, anxious and have impaired concentration and memory. This can make for a uncomfortable setting to live in and a unpleasant environment Sleeping pills, are thought to be a cure for insomnia but they unfortunately are not. When sleeping pills are used every night, they cease to benefit sleep after a few weeks, due to the fact that the body becomes used to the pills and they have no effect. Abruptly discontinuing their use, however may lead to a worsening form of insomnia called “rebound wakefulness” this problem can be fixed by a gradual reduction of the amount of medication taken nightly until no forms of medications are consumed. Some forms of sleeping pills that do not have these negative are such prescription drugs as Benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines are part of a class of drugs called hyponotics that are commonly prescribed to extreme sufferers of insomnia. Some types of these drugs are lorazepam (Ativan), alprazolam (Xanax), triazolam (Halcion), flurazepem (Dalmane), tempazempam (Restoril), oxazepam (Serax), and prazepam (Centrax). There are types of unconventional therapies that are used to assist in the depression of insomnia, some of these therapies are so-called natural substances such as, hops, kava, chamomile, and lemon balm. Recently there has been a new approach to curing insomnia which is called (LEET) low energy emission therapy, this method uses radio waves transmitted through a spoon-like device that a person with insomnia places into the mouth before sleep. The early studies on this device show that it could have some very promising results. Since there is no cure for insomnia millions of people suffer from it and are affected by it everyday in their professional careers and family life. Out of 150 people, 18 male suffered from transient insomnia, 22 form short-term, 4 from Chronic, and 28 said that they did not believe to have suffered from it at all on a regular basis. Female respondents said that 14 had experienced Transient insomnia, 38 had Short-term, 8 suffered from Chronic insomnia while 18 did not experience it at all. From these statistic women are more susceptible to insomnia of any kind than that of the male species.
Roxana Soriano
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Jean Piaget was born in Switzerland in 1896. After receiving his doctoral degree at age 22, Piaget formally began a career that would have a profound impact on both psychology and education. After working with Alfred Binet, Piaget developed an interest in the intellectual development of children. Based upon his observations, he concluded that children were not less intelligent than adults, they simply think differently. Albert Einstein called Piaget's discovery "so simple only a genius could have thought of it." Piaget's stage theory describes the cognitive development of children. Cognitive development involves changes in cognitive process and abilities. In Piaget's view, early cognitive development involves processes based upon actions and later progresses into changes in mental operations.
Sensorimotor Stage:
Birth to nearly 2 years
· Object permanence is the awareness that objects continue to exist when out of sight. Object permanence blossom at 8 months.
In this video you can see how my son Sebastian who is fifteen month old has object permanence. He has a crayon in his hand when I take it away and put the sweeter on top he reaches to take the sweeter of the crayon to get his crayon back.
· Stranger anxiety is the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age.
Scale of errors children 18 to 30 months may fail t take size of an object in to account when trying to perform impossible actions with it.
In this video you can se how my son Sebastian now tries to get on his school bus toy.
Self-awareness if an infant is shown their reflection in a mirror they may reach out to touch their reflection but do not seem to realize that they are seeing themselves.
In this video you will see my son Sebastian who is fifteen months old and my niece Janelly who is twenty-six months old. In this video you can see how Janelly has developed self-awareness, but Sebastian still does not develops self-awareness
Preoperational Stage:
2 to about 6 to 7 years
· Children who can perform mental operations can think in symbols and there for begins to enjoy pretend play.
· Egocentric children have difficulty imagining things from another’s point of view.
Concrete Operational Stage:
About 7 to 11 years
· Conservation this preoperational child does not yet understands the principle of conservation of volume.
· Mathematical transformation children can reverse simple math question.
By age seven children are more able to think in words. For example you can ask what is two plus three, then aks what is three minus two.
sources:Psychology in Everyday Life by David G. Myers
You-tube vidoes by Roxana Soriano
Child Abuse and Neglect
Courtney Balthazor and Paige Wilson
Have you ever seen a child that has too many bruises and they look suspicious? Well never look the other way about things like this. There has been many children die from child abuse because of the simple fact that people didn’t know what was going on. In the year 2005 1,760 children died from child abuse and neglect. Here are some ways to prevent it and know what is going on.
Child neglect is the most prevalent form of child maltreatment in the United States. According to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), of the approximately 899,000 children in the United States who were victims of abuse and neglect in 2005, 62.8 percent (564,765 children) suffered from neglect alone, including medical neglect. According to NCANDS, 42.2 percent of child maltreatment fatalities in the United States in 2005 occurred as a result of neglect only, 24.1 percent as a result of physical abuse and neglect, and 27.3 percent as a result of multiple maltreatment types (USDHHS, 2007). In an independent study, Prevent Child Abuse America estimated that 1,291 children in the United States died in 2000 as a result of maltreatment, and that 45 percent of these child maltreatment fatalities were attributable to neglect (Peddle et al., 2002). NCANDS reported an increase of approximately 20,000 victims between 2004 and 2005. This is largely due to the inclusion of data from Alaska and Puerto Rico in the 2005 dataset (USDHHS, 2007). NCANDS defines neglect as “a type of maltreatment that refers to the failure by the caregiver to provide needed, age-appropriate care although financially able to do so or offered financial or other means to do so”
There are four types of Child Neglect that professionals have proved and in the following paragraphs I will describe them. They are Physical, Educational, Emotional and Medical.
Physical neglect is the majority of cases of maltreatment. Physical neglect generally involves the parent or caregiver not providing the child with basic necessities. Like they need the right amount of food, they need clean clothes and proper shelter. Failure to give the children the things they need or if you refuse to provide these thi9ngs endangers the child’s physical health, well-being, psychological growth and development. Physical neglect also includes child abandonment, inadequate supervision, rejection of a child leading to expulsion from the home and failure to provide for the child’s safety and physical and emotional needs. Physical neglect can severely impact a child’s development by causing failure to thrive, malnutrition, serious illness. Physical abuse is also obviously cuts, bruises, burns or other injuries due to the lack of supervision. They might also have a lifetime of low self-esteem.
Educational neglect involves the failure of a parent or whoever is taking care of the child to enroll a child in mandatory school age in school or provide appropriate home schooling or any needed special educational needs. Allowing a child to engage in chronic absence. Education neglect can lead to the child failing to have basic life skills, dropping out of school or continually displaying bad or disruptive behavior. It also can pose a serious threat to the child’s emotional self, physical health or normal psychological growth and development. It happens mainly when the child has special educational needs that one ignores.
Emotional and Psychological neglect go together and include actions such as doing chronic or extreme abuse towards each other in front of the child allowing the child to use drugs or drink alcohol, refusing or failing to provide needed psychological care. Constantly making fun of the child and not showing affection is one of the main causes of emotional neglect. Parents behaviors are considered to be emotional child maltreatment such as.1.) Ignoring- not responding to the child’s needs for stimulation, nurturance, encouragement and protection or failure to show the child you know he or she is there. 2.) Rejection-actively not responding to the child’s needs such as not showing affection. 3.) Verbally assaulting-calling the child names or threatening. 4.) Isolation- not letting the child has normal social contact like playing with other children or adults. 5.) Terrorizing- threatening the child with intense punishment or messing with the child’s fears to scare them. And last. 6.) Corrupting or exploiting- encouraging the child to do destructive, illegal or antisocial things by letting them know it is okay to do such things. All of these things used frequently will result to the child’s poor self-image, alcohol or drug abuse, destructive behavior or possible even suicide.
Severe neglect of an infant’s need for stimulation and nurturance can result in the infant failing to thrive and even infant death. Emotional neglect is often the most difficult situation to deal with in a legal context and is most of the time reported secondary to other abuse or neglect concerns.
Medical neglect is not providing appropriate health care for a child. It is mostly when the caregiver has enough money to do so but still doesn’t. This places the child at risk of being seriously disabled or disfigured or dying. According to NCANDS (National Child Abuse and Neglect Data) in 2005, 2 % of children (which is 17,637 children) in the united states alone were victims of Medical Neglect. Not only is it when a parent refuses medical care for a child in an emergency or the illness but also if the parent refuses medical recommendations for a child with a treatable disease or disability that makes them be put in the hospital a lot or if their body deteriorates quickly. Even if the situation isn’t an emergency the neglect can result in poor overall health and lots of medical problems. There are lots of reasons why parents wouldn’t take their kids to see medical help such as religious beliefs, fear or anxiety of a medical condition or treatment or money issues. Child Protective Services agencies will normally intervene when medical treatment is needed in a severe emergency like the child needs a blood transfusion, or if a child with a life-threatening disease is not receiving needed medical treatment like diabetes. And if the child has a chronic disease that can cause disability or disfigurement if left untreated like cataracts which need surgery. In these cases it is most likely that child Protective Services agencies may seek a court order for medical treatment in order to save a child’s life or to prevent life-threatening injury or disability.
Although medical neglect is highly correlated with poverty, there is a difference between the person taking care of the child and them not being able to base on cultural norms or the lack of financial resources and a caregiver knowing reluctance or refusal to provide care. Children and their families may be in need of services. The parent may not intentionally be neglectful. When poverty limits a parent’s resources to adequately provide necessities for the child, services may be offered to help families provide for their children.
There are lots of different ways that children have emotional stress due to child neglect and abuse. Such as structural brain changes, depression, and bad social skills.
There has been way too many children die from all these reasons when none of them are real reasons for this to happen to innocent children have to pass away. If everybody is aware of what is going on in the world maybe we can help all the children stay alive and also help the ones that lived and have side effects from it.
Work Cited
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100225122705.htm
http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/fatality.cfm#children
http://www.americanhumane.org/about-us/newsroom/fact-sheets/child-neglect.html
Gabrielle McIntosh
Cognitive Development
Jean Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
The word cognition means all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating. The Webster’s Pocket Dictionary and Thesaurus states that the word Cognizance means the perception of fact, awareness, recognition and observation and the word Development means to bring out or expand the potentialities.
Jean Piaget was born in 1896; He was educated at the University of Neuchâtel, and studied briefly at the University of Zürich. During this time, he published two philosophical papers that showed the direction of his thinking at the time, he then grew up to be a Swiss Development Psychologist and philosopher known for his epistemological studies with children In 1923, he married Valentine Châtenay; together, the couple had three children, whom Piaget studied from infancy. In 1929, Jean Piaget accepted the post of Director of the International Bureau of Education and remained the head of this international organization until 1968. He started out in in 1920 while developing questions for the children’s intelligence test in Paris. He noticed at certain ages children made strikingly similar mistakes. Seeing this intelligence at work he developed The Stages of Cognitive Development. Spending over half a century studying how a child’s mind develops.
Jean Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Birth to 2 years | Sensorimotor | Object permanence |
2 to 7 years | Preoperational | Pretend play, Egocentrism |
7 to 11 years | Concrete Operational | Conservation |
12 through adulthood | Formal Operational | Abstract logic |
Sensorimotor Stage- Babies take in the world and through their senses and actions through looking, hearing, touching, mouthing and grasping. Young babies live in the present for example “out of sight, out of mind”. Which shows that child does not have object permanence yet. Object permanence is if an object cannot be seen it no longer exists to the child.
Preoperational Stage- Children are too young to preform mental operations younger than the age of 6. This is because they lack the concept of conservation. The concept of conservation is the idea that quantity remains the same even if it changes shape.
Concrete Operational Stage- Given concrete materials they begin to grasp conservation therefore a change in form doesn’t mean change in quantity. Children fully gain the mental ability to understand simple math and conservation.
Formal Operational Stage- Reasoning expands to include abstract thinking approaching adolescence, many become capable of then “thinking”. They can solve hypothetical propositions and deduce consequences.
Time magazines recognized Jean Piaget’s to be one of the last twentieth century’s 20 most influential scientist and thinkers. He also was rated by a survey done by British psychologists as the greatest twentieth century psychologist. His works is still being used today’s modern time to study and analyze the development of children all around the world. Many people use the stages in their personally use with their children such as object permanence. For example they would complete the object permanence at one age and the repeat it at another age or months to see the development in their children. His insight helps parents in raising and understanding their children.
Works Cited
• Psychology in Everday Life by David G. Myers
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget
• The Webster’s Pocket Dictionary and Thesaurus
Child Abuse
Ana Calito and Gabrielly Cardoso
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of children. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child. Most child abuse occurs in a child's home, with a smaller amount occurring in the organizations, schools or communities the child interacts with.[citation needed] There are four major categories of child abuse: neglect, physical abuse, psychological/emotional abuse, and child sexual abuse.
Child abuse can take several forms: The four main types are physical, sexual, psychological, and neglect.
Neglect
Child neglect is where the responsible adult fails to provide adequately for various needs, including physical (failure to provide adequate food, clothing, or hygiene), emotional (failure to provide nurturing or affection), educational (failure to enroll a child in school), or medical (failure to medicate the child or take him or her to the doctor).
Physical
Physical abuse is physical aggression directed at a child by an adult. It can involve punching, striking, kicking, shoving, slapping, burning, bruising, pulling ears or hair, stabbing, choking or shaking a child. Shaking a child can cause shaken baby syndrome, which can lead to intracranial pressure, swelling of the brain, diffuse axonal injury, and oxygen deprivation; which leads to patterns such as failure to thrive, vomiting, lethargy, seizures, bulging or tense fontanels, altered breathing, and dilated pupils. The transmission of toxins to a child through its mother (such as with fetal alcohol syndrome) can also be considered physical abuse in some jurisdictions.
Most nations with child-abuse laws consider the infliction of physical injuries or actions that place the child in obvious risk of serious injury or death to be illegal. Beyond this, there is considerable variation. The distinction between child discipline and abuse is often poorly defined. Cultural norms about what constitutes abuse vary widely: among professionals as well as the wider public, people do not agree on what behaviors constitute abuse.
Some human-service professionals claim that cultural norms that sanction physical punishment are one of the causes of child abuse, and have undertaken campaigns to redefine such norms.
The use of any kind of force against children as a disciplinary measure is illegal in 24 countries around the world,[9] but prevalent and socially accepted in many others. See corporal punishment in the home for more information.
Child sexual abuse
Sexually abused child, (February 1, 1910 publication)Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent abuses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of CSA include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities (regardless of the outcome), indecent exposure of the genitals to a child, displaying pornography to a child, actual sexual contact against a child, physical contact with the child's genitals, viewing of the child's genitalia without physical contact, or using a child to produce child pornography.
Effects of child sexual abuse include guilt and self-blame, flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, fear of things associated with the abuse (including objects, smells, places, doctor's visits, etc.), self-esteem issues, sexual dysfunction, chronic pain, addiction, self-injury, suicidal ideation, somatic complaints, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, other mental illnesses (including borderline personality disorder and dissociative identity disorder, propensity to re-victimization in adulthood, bulimia nervosa, physical injury to the child, among other problems.[20] Approximately 15% to 25% of women and 5% to 15% of men were sexually abused when they were children. Most sexual abuse offenders are acquainted with their victims; approximately 30% are relatives of the child, most often brothers, fathers, mothers, uncles or cousins; around 60% are other acquaintances such as friends of the family, babysitters, or neighbours; strangers are the offenders in approximately 10% of child sexual abuse cases.
Emotional abuse
Out of all the possible forms of abuse, emotional abuse is the hardest to define. It could include name-calling, ridicule, degradation, destruction of personal belongings, torture or destruction of a pet, excessive criticism, inappropriate or excessive demands, withholding communication, and routine labeling or humiliation.
Victims of emotional abuse may react by distancing themselves from the abuser, internalizing the abusive words, or fighting back by insulting the abuser. Emotional abuse can result in abnormal or disrupted attachment disorder, a tendency for victims to blame themselves (self-blame) for the abuse, learned helplessness, and overly passive behavior.
Effects
There are strong associations between exposure to ch
ild abuse in all its forms and higher rates of many chronic conditions. The strongest evidence comes from the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE's) series of studies which show correlations between exposure to abuse or neglect and higher rates in adulthood of chronic conditions, high-risk health behaviors and shortened lifespan. A recent publication, Hidden Costs in Health Care: The Economic Impact of Violence and Abuse, makes the case that such exposure represents a serious and costly public-health issue that should be addressed by the healthcare system.
Treatment
A number of treatments are available to victims of child abuse. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, first developed to treat sexually abused children, is now used for victims of any kind of trauma. It targets trauma-related symptoms in children including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), clinical depression and anxiety. It also includes a component for non-offending parents. Several studies have found that sexually abused children undergoing TF-CBT improved more than children undergoing certain other therapies. Data on the effects of TF-CBT for children who experienced only non-sexual abuse was not available as of 2006.
Abuse-focused cognitive behavioral therapy was designed for children who have experienced physical abuse. It targets externalizing behaviors and strengthens prosocial behaviors. Offending parents are included in the treatment, to improve parenting skills/practices. It is supported by one randomized study.
Child-parent psychotherapy was designed to improve the child-parent relationship following the experience of domestic violence. It targets trauma-related symptoms in infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, including PTSD, aggression, defiance, and anxiety. It is supported by two studies of one sample.
Other forms of treatment include group therapy, play therapy, and art therapy. Each of these types of treatment can be used to better assist the client, depending on the form of abuse they have experienced. Play therapy and art therapy are ways to get children more comfortable with therapy by working on something that they enjoy (coloring, drawing, painting, etc.). The design of a child's artwork can be a symbolic representation of what they are feeling, relationships with friends or family, and more. Being able to discuss and analyze a child's artwork can allow a professional to get a better insight of the child.
Morality
Earren Sporing
Moral constitution has been a part of being human long before man decided to create rules and laws to keep us in line. Morals are that little voice in your head that makes you feel guilt or compassion when you have wrong another. Most people’s moral compass levels out to about the same degree depending mental health of the person. Morals such as its wrong to harm or kill each other. Also it’s wrong to pick on individuals who are weak and helpless.
In the world of psychology where do morals come in? when and how are they developed? Well in this field there are two main psychologist in history who studied exactly how when morals become developed. These men were Lawrence Kohlberg and Jean William Fritz Piaget. (http://faculty.plts.edu/gpence/html/kohlberg.htm)
Piaget was a Swiss born developmental psychologist. He was known as a philosopher and epistemologist. He is most revered for his theory of cognitive developmental stages. Before any child can have a secure moral compass the must first have built themselves some schemas which are like mental molds they pour their experiences to build a greater understanding of the world around them. As these schemas are being built, children go through stages of cognitive development. The first of which from birth to about 2 years old. These children are in the sensorimotor stage where they experience the world through their senses and actions. After the sensorimotor stage they enter the second stage from 2 years to 6 or 7 years of age. The Preoperational stage, represent things with words and images using intuitive thought rather than logical reasoning. After age 7 to about 11 adolescents enter the Concrete Operational stage. In this stage children start thinking logically about concrete events; grasping concrete analogies and preforming arithmetical operations. Finally from age 12 on through adult hood humans gain formal operational reasoning abstractly. (http://faculty.plts.edu/gpence/html/kohlberg.htm)
Lawrence Kohlberg was an exceptional bright young student from New York. In the forties after high school he did not go straight in to college instead he went to help Israeli cause. He served as a second engineer on an old freighter helping Hebrews escape the persecution of the Nazis. He then attended the university of Chicago where he score so high on his admissions test that he only need a few classes to get his bachelor’s degree which he did in one year. From 1962-1968 he taught at the university of Chicago and since 1968 he has been teaching at Harvard university. In 1981 to 1984 Kohlberg sought out to describe the development of moral reasoning. Which is the thinking that occurs when we are considering right and wrong action? One of the examples of his work was asking different ages of children about moral dilemmas the most famous of which being the story about a man named Heinz. In Europe there was a woman who had a special kind of cancer that could be treat and almost cure with a new drug that is derived from radium and her husband Heinz look everywhere for it and found a druggist who had such a drug. He was charging 2000 dollars for one dose which was far more than Heinz made. Heinz tried to raise the money by barrowing it from friend and family but he could scrounge up 1000 dollars or so. He begged and pleaded with man to let he have it cheaper or let him pay the rest latter but the druggist would give in. so facing the death of the woman he loved he broke into the man store in the dead of night and stole the medicine to save his wife. (http://www.xenodochy.org/ex/lists/moraldev.html)
Children who were below the age of 9 focused on obeying the rules to avoid punishment so the saw what Heinz did as wrong because if you steal or break the law you will be punished this is known as Pre-conventional morality
By early adolescent a human’s morality focuses more on the wellbeing of others and following laws simple because they are laws. Young adults at this point do thing for the approval of their peers and to keep a social equilibrium with those around themselves. Basically they would think along the lines of if I had stolen that drug I would have looked like a criminal.
Finally when a person matures into an adult they may also reveal a third level of morality. It is a level with two crucial prerequisites. An individual must have master abstract thinking and formal operational thinking. Action are judged as right because it mutual ideals of human beings, to give people the respect of co -existing with each other. Post conventional morals are beliefs like “People have the right to live.” “If you steal the drug you will not have to live up to your ideals.” (Psychology in Everyday Life pgs. 85-86)
http://faculty.plts.edu/gpence/html/kohlberg.htm
http://www.xenodochy.org/ex/lists/moraldev.html
http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi
Psychology in Everyday Life pgs. 85-86
Living with and Treating Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
By Cliffton Girffin & Taylor Tomsic
Imagine if you will that you wake up one morning and before you ever do anything you have to roll out of the bed 25 times until it just feels right. Once you have gotten out of said bed you want to make yourself a light and healthy breakfast, but in the process you have to pour, dump out and repour a cup of coffee for fear that if it’s not the exactly perfect amount you or someone you love will die in a fiery car crash on their way to work. Now let us just entertain the idea that you make it through the rest of the work day without doing anything “abnormal” and you have come home to relax and take a quick shower. Once in the shower you begin to wash…oh lets say your arms but as the shower goes on that’s all you wash just the same place over and over again until its raw and near bleeding with the skin throbbing and almost wanting to scream out on its own to stop. “Why would you do this?“ you would ask “well the fear of germs.” your brain would answer.
The ideas above are not simply a hypothetical question for some people in the world, but a very real and very scary nightmare (that just so happens goes on throughout the day). These scenes are what is commonly known as OCD or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The disorder impairs the daily life of about 2.2million American adults each year and goes widely undiagnosed and untreated by the said number for a number of years. Now you may say that OCD is not a real disease and can cause almost no real harm or problem to people and that they are just “quirky”. Well I hate to tell you this but you are wrong and can cause major problems in a person’s life such as their education level and employability and in a world were just being “normal” can’t guarantee you a job its quite a problem. The point is this isn’t just a disease that can be written off as a farce or a cheap ploy for attention of others.
As the above statistic said OCD effects 2.2 million adults, you might argue that since that is the case it’s simply a stressed out adult disease not one of a carefree child that hasn’t had their dreams crushed by the world. If you said that you would once again be wrong and I would have to tell you that, but you are wrong for one reason. Unlike the drinking age, the right to vote, playing the lotto, driving a car, owning a hand gun, or watching R rated movies OCD does not have a certain age that it waits for you to reach before it strike. It’s not sitting at the terminal in your brain waiting for its delayed flight to come in 18 years late, it can hit anyone at any age. That’s the fact that I wanted to get to the age factor and how it brings us to Michelle LeClair a 13 year old girl diagnosed with OCD.
Michelle’s story was broadcast on ABC’s Primetime: Family Secretes airing on August 4 2009.Young Michelle’s OCD started out like many other rational thought, the world is rather filthy so a pack of sanitary wipes will make things a bit more clean. Not a horrible idea when you really thing about it (and if you ever went to a babysitter or have an over protective mother you are aware that everything must be cleaned cause you may or may not put it in your mouth). However, like many people with OCD the disorder began to consume her life she couldn’t have friends over because they were covered in germs, she had to wash clothes numerous times because “they touched the outside of the washer or I thought they were not clean enough. Each article of clothing had to be washed separately.” This however still was not the end of it for poor Michelle because then the anxiety hit. It was the anxiety that someone may have seen her pull her hand away from the pencil in fear of a germ attack. With anxiety attacks looming and OCD taking control it really looked like Michelle, poor, young, whole life ahead of her Michelle, was going to be doomed to a hypoallergenic bubble the rest of her years. That is unless she somehow beat the disease.
Here is a Spoiler alert for you, Michelle (you know the girl we just talked about) she got better. Well as better as someone with OCD can get. She still have the urges and the want to do rituals and such but she can control it all. How you ask? Well that leads us perfectly into the next part of this fun romp of a paper.
The treatment of OCD is rather mixed you can be put on a drug regiment or simply attend counseling or have a combination of both. Well young Michelle did a combination of both. She was put on an unnamed prescription drug and has behavioral counseling. She in a sense had to “…remind the OCD that she was in control not it.” Now Michelle is in no way rid of the OCD I want to be clear on that but she can manage it better than ever before.
Michelle’s treatment the whole “medication and therapy” idea is one of the more widely used ways to treat OCD. This even after the fact that there is not one certain drug made specifically to treat the disorder. When we turn to the Mayo Clinic about the ways to treat OCD they state the two ways to go about it, a regiment of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or medication.
It’s the medication that strikes one though the first set that they recommend trying are antidepressants like Clomipramine (Anafranil) Fluvoxamine (Luvox) Fluoxetine (Prozac) Paroxetine(Paxil, Pexeva) Sertraline (Zoloft). The idea of the antidepressants is that they (scientists) believe that OCD may be due low serotonin levels in the brain. As you read all of the drugs recommended you then get to the side effects from said drugs which include but are not limited to: stomach disturbances , sleep disturbance, sweating and reduced interest in sexual activity. So it’s really the battle of wills, try the wonder drugs or don’t try the wonder drugs its really the persons choice.
The treatment idea don’t stop just at the therapy and medication, there is also this route one could take: Psychiatric hospitalization Residential treatment Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) Transcranial magnetic stimulation, and Deep brain stimulation. So you know you have a few option…some I would say are better than others but who are we to say that, I mean we don’t have a degree in phycology.
There is one thing to remember about all of this though. There is no surefire cure for OCD, everyone is different and what may work for one person may not for another. What we are trying to get at here is just because you have this disorder, no matter how bad or crazy it may seem, you always have options and shouldn’t feel like you should have to deal with anything alone or that you are a “freak” or a “weirdo”. If you wish to tell people then tell people and if you wish to go out and seek treatment then by all means seek treatment and get better and realize that you don’t have to touch the door 50 times before you leave the house.
Work Cited:
[http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=8220709&page=1]
[http://www.ocdcenter.org/about-ocd/ocd-statistics.php]
[http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obsessive-compulsive-disorder/DS00189/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs]
[http://www.aafp.org/afp/980401ap/eddy.html]
Brittany Normand
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
It’s the nightmares of a war Veteran, it’s the fear of fire after barely escaping a burning building, or the fear of water after nearly drowning. It's been called many names, from nostalgia to shell shock; it’s ptsd, a condition with a haunting nature. Post traumatic stress disorder is a side effect of a traumatic experience, placing on its sufferer’s flashbacks of whatever negative event they’ve experienced.
Research shows that in general, if ptsd occurs soon after the causing experience it will most likely dissipate after an estimated three months. However if it takes longer to set in its effects can last for years and years. The effects include flashbacks of the event in dreams or when awake, avoidance of the situation or an emotional ''numbing'', extreme emotions and arousal and even fainting or dizziness. Image living with these conditions day in and day out, wondering if you'll encounter a situation that sets you into a panic because it reminds you of one fateful moment years before.
There are events in history that have caused the masses to suffer from ptsd. Vietnam and the Civil War left millions of soldiers in such a terrible mental state that some couldnt even return to normal life, living alone in desolate places with no human contact. September 11, 2001 left hundreds of thousands with lost family members, friends and coworkers. This national tradegy left a dark shadow of fear in the hearts of many of those who witnessed it, whether they were running for their lives as the twin towers fell from the sky or watching it all in the safety of their homes. To this day, many refuse to step onto one of the nations many airlines top of the line planes, for fear it would be the next in a terrorist attack.
I personally have two cases of ptsd, after having a trailer wreck with my horses while hauling them in a bumper pull trailer, I now have a phobia of pulling a bumper pull or riding in a vehicle that is pulling one. My other, more extreme case, is from a roll over wreck in a pick up with a drunk driver. Being the one with the least severe injuries I had to pull the three other riders' in the vehicle out of it while it was crushed upside down after being airborn and landing and rolling eight times. I literally go into a panic when riding in a vehicle in which the driver has either been drinking or is playing around and not driving safely.
Treatment for this syndrome is not necessarily a prescribed medicine but more therapuetic, such as counseling and help groups. Because of ptsd sufferers' tendancies to move toward alcohol and drugs to help with their symptoms, being around others coping with the same problems, such as group therapy, can be greatly benefited from. However, not the most affective, medicinal therapies do help also. Medicines that act on the nervous system are used to help reduce anxiety, antidepressants such as prozac and even sedatives to help with sleeping disturbances. These drugs must be monitered by a doctor because of possible side effects, which include addiction and suicidal thoughts.
References:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001923/
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml
http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2011/05/11/2011-05-11_treating_post_911_traumatic_stress_disorder_ptsd_or_past_trauma_can_have_long_la.html
Andrea Yates
Kristin Mitchell
To most people Andrea Pia Yates was a normal person she was married with 5 beautiful young children and lived in a quiet community in Houston, TX. Her husband Russell Rusty Yates had got a job offer in Florida so the family moved there for awhile but soon after moved back to Houston, TX and they had their fourth son Luke and soon after Andrea started to become depressed. One day her husband Russell found Andrea shaking and chewing her fingers. Soon after she tried committing suicide by taking an overdose of pills when she went to the hospital the doctor prescribed her with antidepressants. Not too long after her release she kept begging her to let her kill herself using a knife this time. They tried multiple medications for her and her condition started to improve heavily in 1999 she had a nervous breakdown and then was diagnosed with post partum psychosis. DR. Eileen Starbranch suggested that they not have any more children. But Andrea did not listen and felt it was ok and had her fifth and final child on November 30th 2001. They say she was doing well until the death of her father in on March 12 2001 in the mid of the day she filled up her bathtub in attempt to drown her five children but didn’t go through with it. The doctor would just say she was suicidal and probably tried to kill herself. Then one day Andrea waited for her husband to leave for work and he left Andrea alone to care for the children which the doctor had told Russell to watch her round the clock 24/7. But Russell had called Andreas mother to come watch over her and the kids an hour after he left for work and within that hour Andrea proceeded to drown her five children in the bathtub. She started with the youngest boys and after drowning them in the tub then she laid them in her bed. Then she drowned Mary the youngest child and left her floating in the tub her oldest son Noah had came into the bathroom asking what’s wrong with Mary who she left floating in the bathtub. Noah then ran and tried to get away but Andrea caught up with him and started to drown him. She left him floating in the tub and put young Mary in her brother’s arms on the bed. And left Noah floating in the bathtub Andrea called the police and then called her husband saying its “time”.
——
Shirley Ardell Mason (Sybil Dorsett)
Ciara Carnes
Shirley Ardell Mason was born January 25th, 1923 in Dodge Center, Minnesota, to a schizophrenic and abusive mother. According to the book based on her life and her psychotherapy sessions with a Freudian psychiatrist named Cornelia B. Wilbur, “Sybil” written by Flora Rheta Schreiber, Mason’s mother would tie her up and beat her. There were also other instances where she gave her an enema as punishment. Mason’s mother would often do things in the name of God. In later years, Mason was diagnosed to have Multiple Personality Disorder, now known as Dissociative Identity Disorder. She allegedly had 16 different personalities that were used as a coping mechanism from the abuse she endured from her mother. Mason was a commercial artist and eventually ran an art gallery out of her own home. She passed away from breast cancer in 1978.
Sybil’s 16 Personalities:
Victoria Antoinette Scharleau (Vicky)– one of the original alter egos, first came about in 1926 when she was only three; poised, “know-it-all”, confident side of Sybil. Split into Marcia, Mary, Vanessa, and Sybil Ann.
Ruthie Dorsett- a baby
The Blonde- Represents Sybil’s sexuality, the women she wants to be.
Helen Dorsett- determined to achieve fulfillment in life; extremely scared of her mother
Marjorie Dorsett – serene and vivacious, enjoys intellectual competitions
Peggy Louisiana Baldwin- was one of the original alter egos, actively hostile, showed all the anger and hate that Sybil had towards her mother. Split into Nancy, Peggy Ann, and Peggy Lou.
Clara – Very Religious, dislikes Sybil.
Vicky’s Split Off’s:
Marcia- Has an English Accent, very artistic and creative, when she paints there are a lot colors involved. She becomes depressed because of the lack of love she received from her mother. She is pessimistic and extremely emotional. She is a very complex character.
Mary Lucinda Saunders Dorsett-Comes along during Sybil’s time of menstruation. She is a housewife personality.
Vanessa Gail Dorsett-She is artistic and enjoys playing the piano. Loves traveling and visiting big cities. She is close with Marcia and often times they appear at the same time. She is known to be overly dramatic.
Sybil Ann Dorsett- Very listless and depressed. Identifies with the catatonic phase her mother went through.
Peggy Louisiana Baldwin’s Split Off’s:
Nancy Lou Ann Baldwin- She is intensely religious, interested in politics. She hates Catholics.
Peggy Ann and Peggy Lou Baldwin- Both are “stuck” in Willow’s Corners. Both deny who their mother is. Both act the age of 3. Peggy Ann is angry and shows aggression and is fearful of the anger she experiences. Peggy Lou was also angry and breaks glass because of anger and the feeling of being trapped. She also wants to escape. Because of her want to escape and wanting to do things that boys could do, Peggy split into two male characters, Mike and Sid.
Mike and Sid: The only two male personalities. Sid was an identification with her father. Sid was a carpenter and builder like Sybil’s father. Mike was angry and hateful like Sybil’s grandpa. They both shared the hatred of all females.
References:
http://plumbot.com/sybil-dorsett.html
http://shs.westport.k12.ct.us/jwb/Psychology/Sybil/Sybil.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ8j0Fbr1Ik&feature=related
Dual Personality
Danqi Li
Dual personality belongs to Multiple personality, and is a severe mental disorder. It refers to a man having more than two relatively separated sub-personalities. It is a kind of hysteria dissociation mental disorder. The basic characteristics of multiple personalities, though the same individual with two or more completely different personality, but in a time, only one of them is obvious. Every personality is complete, have their own memories, behavior, preference, with a single disease can be opposite before personality. Multiple personality could be dual personality, triple, four heavy……and so far, only one who can reach 17 heavy personality. Among them, dual personality relative seen much, and usually one in it is dominant, but the two sides of personality could not enter the other party's memory, which can hardly aware of the existence of the other side. It is usually very sudden that changing from a kind of personality to another, which closely related with traumatic event; Thereafter, the only commonly conversions occurs when encountered in huge or stress event, or accept relax, hypnosis or vent treatment. Actually, pure multiple personality phenomenon is very rare in the world, so far, been reported, still less than 50 cases, and in China, only some double or multiple personality official reports.
Control measures to solve:
1, Alleviate or alleviate personal pressure of life and working environment, and improve the living conditions. Essentially, multiple personality is a kind of defense for environmental pressures.
2, Due to behind multiple personality, there is massive inferiority and fragile. So should notice to gradually develop their self-confident and self-empowerment. From small start, gradually get the feeling of success.
3. Patients should be given sufficient satisfaction and sense of security.
4. We should communicate more with patients and guide them to establish friendship and kindness.
5. Give your child a warm family environment, prohibit domestic violence. Family discord is likely to cause children's personality disorders, even lead to multiple personality disorder if severe.
Attention:
1. we shall not over study or overwork , especially to those students who had already very tired but still keep on learning, it can but make ourselves even tired, and will be in hot water,whether to continue to learn or have a rest , at last it will result in double personality ;
2. we shall not think too much of those cut and dried history issues , usually speaking , those person of double personality are very easy to get into the dead end , and there is no any use on the solution or result of the practical problems , only make the sufferer even pain.
3. Recognize one's own position. Dual personality is essentially different with schizophrenia. Do not confuse! After carefully psychological treatment at home, the people with dual personality can recover, but the one with schizophrenia must be treated in hospital.
Many people defined themselves with double characters because they are always paradoxical and this sense of paradox has been deeply penetrated into their minds. They wish to return to the carefree childhood but always failed even with a few steps left, however, their personality conflicts definitely are not up to the category defined in psychoanalysis, it is equally difficult.
Sources
http://baike.baidu.com/view/331.html?wtp=tt
Kristi Sheets
Sybil- Shirley Ardell Mason
The most famous case of Dissociative Identity Disorder was that of Sybil whose book, written by Flora Schreiber in collaboration with Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, started two movies and one major controversy. Sybil’s real name was Shirley Ardell Mason. She was born in 1923 to an abusive mother who physically and mentally tortured her throughout her childhood and teenage years. To protect itself from the abuse, Shirley’s mind began to form multiple personalities that would deal with the stress. Eventually the personalities broke off into more and more till in total there were sixteen personalities that inhabited Shirley’s body: Vicky, Marcia, Mary, Vanessa, Sybil Ann, Ruthie, Helen, Marjorie, Peggy Lou, Peggy Ann, Nancy, Clara, The Blonde, Peggy Louisiana. Mike, and Sid. Peggy was the personality that represented Shirley’s anger towards her mother who then split into Peggy Lou, who was all anger, and Peggy Ann, who was constantly afraid. Ruthie was a baby who “split off upon watching her parents have sex.” In many cases where DID occurs with three or more personalities, there is one in particular that can see everything that is happening no matter which personality is in control. For Shirley, that personality was Vicky who had been the first personality to come about. The original personality cannot communicate with the others so for most of Shirley’s life there were constant black outs and many of her other personalities could do things that she was not able to. A few of her personalities could play the piano, which Shirley claimed she could not do.
Shirley’s abuse was traumatic, which is why there were so many personalities to her. When she was child her mother would tie Shirley to the piano while she played and refused to let her go to the restroom until she wet herself, which she would then be punished for. Whenever Shirley cried as a child she was then beaten and kicked. The abuse ranged from tripping the young girl down the stairs or stashing her away in a cabinet or a box for days. The worse abuse Shirley’s mother performed was sexual abuse with the use of an enema bag and molesting her daughter with sharp objects. This abuse was never stopped by anyone until the death of her mother from ovarian cancer. It wasn’t until 1954 that Shirley went into psychotherapy with Dr. Cornelia Wilbur.
Many physicians at this time did not believe that Shirley’s case was real and accused Dr. Wilbur of trying to make money off of this case. There were accusations that “Sybil” was not real at all and the woman was only pretending to have Multiple Personality Disorder only help out Dr. Wilbur. This was a held belief until the death of Shirley Ardell Mason in 1998, where 103 paintings were found locked in a closet in her basement. Some of these paintings would contain the names of the other personalities and were all found to have different drawing styles then that of Shirley.
Sybil was an extreme case that opened the doors for MPD and brought in a flood of cases of abused people suffering the same way she did. There have now been cases of people with hundreds or thousands of personalities and some not even human.
The story of Sybil created a book and two movies.
http://shs.westport.k12.ct.us/jwb/Psychology/Sybil/Sybil.htm
http://www.hiddenpaintings.com/Home_Page.php
http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/a/acocella-hysteria.html
http://www.fright.com/edge/sybil.html
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Eric Holub
Dissociative identity disorder (once known as multiple personality disorder) is caused by early childhood trauma. This trauma could be caused by physical, sexual, or emotional violence. The person then dissociates themselves from the situation so that their conscious self does not have to deal with the situation.
Dissociative identity disorder is characterized by two or more split personalities. While in other personalities, the memory of the person fluctuates. In some personalities there is even an inability to recall certain events. The age, sex, and race changes with each personality then even goes to posture, gestures, and way of talking. Switching between personalities can take seconds, minutes, or even days. Depression, mood swings, suicidal tendencies, sleep disorders, anxiety, alcohol and drug abuse, compulsions, psychotic-like symptoms, and eating disorders are all other symptoms that can be seen in dissociative identity disorder. In some cases people inflict pain on themselves or other people because they felt like they had no choice. They feel as if they were the passenger and not the driver of their body.
98-99% of people with DID have histories of recurring, overpowering, and often life-threatening disturbances before the age of 9. Some patients of DID have been in a mental institute for seven years before they receive the correct diagnosis, due to the symptoms being so close to other psychiatric diagnosis. Many people diagnosed with DID also have secondary diagnoses of depression, anxiety, or panic disorders. While most of us have actually had a slight dissociation like daydreaming, the chance being diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder is less than one percent. Seven percent actually say that they have undiagnosed dissociative disorder and more than one of three people say they feel as they are watching themselves in a movie.
There is no cure for dissociative identity disorder, yet many do find success in long term therapy. These therapy treatments include talk or psychotherapy, medications, hypnotherapy, and adjunctive therapies. Adjunctive therapies may be like art or movement therapy. The medications are very similar to those prescribed to anxiety and depression patients due to the symptoms being very similar.
There are many skeptics about DID however. One reason is the short history behind it. Between 1930 and 1960, the number of diagnosed patients increased by 2 every decade. Then in the 1980s the number went all the way to 20,000 cases. The number of personalities for each patient was also increased from three personalities all the way to twelve. North America is also has the most cases. While there are a few cases in other countries the number is not as great. There are some countries that do report that people are “possessed” by alien spirits, which does not mean that it is even dissociative identity disorder. Everyone acts differently around different people and with what they are doing, which is another thing that pushes skeptics away from the disorder.
sources
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder
http://www.dissociation.com/index/Definition/
Antisocial Personality Disorder
Kisha O'Meara
People who suffer from antisocial personality disorder typically have no regard for right and wrong. Good examples of people who have this disorder are serial killers. They feel no guilt, no remorse and have an attitude of total disdain towards their victims. About 80-85% of incarcerated criminals have Antisocial Personality Disorder.
In the 19th century, psychopathology was considered to be "moral insanity". Today it is commonly known as "antisocial personality disorder, or ASPD." Peter Sutcliffe who is known as “The Yorkshire Ripper,” and is convicted of killing thirteen women and attacking several others, brashly declared that he was "cleaning up the streets" of the human trash. This is an example of a serial killer who has no remorse for the actions he has taken.
Others killers such as the notorious Ted Bundy whowas an American serial killer, rapist, and kidnapper who assaulted and murdered at least 30 young women, and possibly many more between 1974 and 1978. After more than a decade of denials he confessed to 30 homicides, but the true total remains unknown.
Another serial killer, Clown Killer John Gacy was also an American who committed the rape and murder of 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978. Gacy buried twenty-six of his victims in the crawlspace of his home, three others elsewhere on his property and four victims were discarded in a nearby river.
These kinds of people are what we call “Thrill seekers.” Punishment doesn’t work for people with antisocial personality disorder, because they have no fears of the consequences.
The Symptoms for Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) are as follows:
Failure to conform to social norms- by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest
Deceitfulness- by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure
Impulsivity- or failure to plan ahead
Irritability and aggressiveness- by repeated physical fights or assaults
Reckless disregard -for safety of self or others
Consistent irresponsibility- by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations
Lack of remorse- by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another
Several treatments are available for antisocial personality disorder. They include:
Psychotherapy- is a general term for the process of treating a condition by talking about it with a mental health provider
Medications- There are no medications specifically approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat antisocial personality disorder. However, several types of psychiatric medications may help with certain conditions sometimes associated with antisocial personality disorder:
Hospitalization- recommended only when people aren't able to care for themselves properly or are in immediate danger of harming themselves or someone else
Sources
http://www.mentalhealth.com/dis/p20-pe04.html
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/gacy/gacy_1.html
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/tick/psych_6.html
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/bundy/index_1.html
Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder
Susan Blanc
Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) is a condition in which a person is preoccupied with rules, orderliness, and control. It tends to occur in families, so genes may be involved. Researchers today don’t know what causes obsessive compulsive personality disorder, but there are many theories, the most common theory is a person's childhood and environment may play a role. It occurs in both men and women but is most commonly found in men. Symptoms include excess devotion to work, inability to throw things away, even when the objects have no value, lack of flexibility, lack of generosity, not wanting to allow other people to do things, not willing to show affection, or preoccupation with details, rules, and list. Obsessive compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) can be diagnosed by an experienced mental health professional with an evaluation. The tests that may help diagnose this condition are; The Structured Clinical Interview of DSM IV Disorders (SCID IV), and The Schedule of Non-Adaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP). The treatment for obsessive compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) is medication such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which may help reduce some of the anxiety and depression. However psychotherapy is thought to be the most effective treatment for this condition. Possible complications are anxiety, depression, difficulty moving forward in career situations, and relationship difficulties. People with this disorder usually express affection in a highly controlled or stilted fashion and may be very uncomfortable in the presence of others who are emotionally expressive. Their everyday relationships have a formal and serious quality, and they may be stiff in situations in which others would smile and be happy; such as greeting a lover at the airport. They carefully hold themselves back until they are sure that whatever they say will be perfect. They may be preoccupied with logic and intellect. The outlook for people with obsessive compulsive personality disorder tends to be better than that for other personality disorders. The rigidness and control of obsessive compulsive personality disorder may prevent many of the complications such as drug abuse, which are common in other personality disorders. However the social isolation and difficulty handling anger that is common with this illness may lead to feelings of depression and anxiety later in life. A person must be 18 years of age to be diagnosed with obsessive compulsive personality disorder (OCPD).
Sources
1. http://psychcentral.com/disorders/sx26.htm
2. http://www.mentalhealth.com/dis/p20-pe10.html
3. http://www.psyweb.com/mdisord/jsp/ocpd.jsp
Dual Personality
Danqi Li
Dual personality belongs to Multiple personality, and is a severe mental disorder. It refers to a man having more than two relatively separated sub-personalities. It is a kind of hysteria dissociation mental disorder. The basic characteristics of multiple personalities, though the same individual with two or more completely different personality, but in a time, only one of them is obvious. Every personality is complete, have their own memories, behavior, preference, with a single disease can be opposite before personality. Multiple personality could be dual personality, triple, four heavy……and so far, only one who can reach 17 heavy personality. Among them, dual personality relative seen much, and usually one in it is dominant, but the two sides of personality could not enter the other party's memory, which can hardly aware of the existence of the other side. It is usually very sudden that changing from a kind of personality to another, which closely related with traumatic event; Thereafter, the only commonly conversions occurs when encountered in huge or stress event, or accept relax, hypnosis or vent treatment. Actually, pure multiple personality phenomenon is very rare in the world, so far, been reported, still less than 50 cases, and in China, only some double or multiple personality official reports.
Control measures to solve:
1. Alleviate or alleviate personal pressure of life and working environment, and improve the living conditions. Essentially, multiple personality is a kind of defense for environmental pressures.
2. Due to behind multiple personality, there is massive inferiority and fragile. So should notice to gradually develop their self-confident and self-empowerment. From small start, gradually get the feeling of success.
3. Patients should be given sufficient satisfaction and sense of security.
4. We should communicate more with patients and guide them to establish friendship and kindness.
5. Give your child a warm family environment, prohibit domestic violence. Family discord is likely to cause children's personality disorders, even lead to multiple personality disorder if severe.
Attention:
1. we shall not over study or overwork , especially to those students who had already very tired but still keep on learning, it can but make ourselves even tired, and will be in hot water,whether to continue to learn or have a rest , at last it will result in double personality ;
2. we shall not think too much of those cut and dried history issues , usually speaking , those person of double personality are very easy to get into the dead end , and there is no any use on the solution or result of the practical problems , only make the sufferer even pain.
3. Recognize one's own position. Dual personality is essentially different with schizophrenia. Do not confuse! After carefully psychological treatment at home, the people with dual personality can recover, but the one with schizophrenia must be treated in hospital.
Many people defined themselves with double characters because they are always paradoxical and this sense of paradox has been deeply penetrated into their minds. They wish to return to the carefree childhood but always failed even with a few steps left, however, their personality conflicts definitely are not up to the category defined in psychoanalysis, it is equally difficult.
Sources
http://baike.baidu.com/view/331.html?wtp=tt
[[htm]]l<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XW3J9JMHcLM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>[[/html]]
Is Charlie Sheen Bipolar?
By Brandon Wilson
Charlie Sheen has been a fixture in the entertainment industry for many years. It all started when he began his acting career in 1974 on the TV show “The Execution of Private Slovik” (IMDB.com). He has had many roles in major box office movies such as Platoon, Major League II, Due Date, and was the star of the TV show Two and a Half Men from 2003 until earlier this year. Since slightly before his departure from Two and a Half Men, Charlie Sheen has been getting media attention for a much different reason than his acting; His crazy interviews. He has been quoted saying, “I’m not bipolar, I’m bi-winning”, “The only thing I’m addicted to right now is winning”, and “Dying is for fools, amateurs”. While some say that he is just riding the wave of media attention, some believe that he may be suffering from at least bipolar disorder, and his interviews are evidence of his manic episodes.
Bipolar is a type of mood disorder where a person will have a depressive episode, then their mood goes to the complete opposite end of the spectrum, called mania where they are happy and hyperactive. David G. Myers says, “If depression is living in slow motion, mania is fast forward.”
Symptoms: The exact causes of bipolar disorder are currently unknown. It generally begins to show up during a person’s late teens or early adulthood (NIMH). The symptoms of the manic stage are:
• Agitation or irritation
• Inflated self-esteem
• Little need for sleep
• Noticeably elevated mood.
o Hyperactivity
o Increased energy
o Lack of self control
o Racing thoughts
• Over-involvement in activities
• Poor temper control
• Reckless behavior
o Binge eating, drinking, and/or drug use
o Impaired judgement
o Sexual promiscuity
o Spending sprees
• Tendency to be easily distracted
The symptoms of the depressive state are:
• Daily low mood
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions
• Eating disturbances
o Loss of appetite and weight loss
o Overeating and weight gain
• Fatigue or listlessness
• Feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness and/or guilt
• Loss of self-esteem
• Persistent sadness
• Persistent thoughts of death
• Sleep disturbances
o Excessive sleepiness
o Inability to sleep
• Suicidal thoughts
• Withdrawal from activities that were once enjoyed
• Withdrawal from friends
Diagnosis and Treatment: Bipolar disorder is diagnosed through a series of tests and evaluations. The first step is often talking to a doctor who may perform a physical exam, interview, and lab tests. While bipolar cannot be identified through blood tests or brain scans, doctors will often perform them to rule out other contributing factors (NIMH). A mental health professional will then perform a complete diagnostic evaluation. Since a bipolar patient is more likely to seek help when they are depressed, it is important to have a complete and detailed history of the symptoms from the patients family and/or friends.
There is not a cure for bipolar disorder. All treatments and drugs are used to try and manage the symptoms of the disorder, and to control the mood-swings associated with it. Some of the drugs used in treatment are Lithium, Valproic acid, and recently Lamotrigine (NIMH). Some antipsychotic medications are sometimes used along with other medications. Also, some patients will take antidepressants along with a mood stabilizer to control the symptoms (NIMH).
While it hasn’t been made public that Charlie Sheen has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, after reading the list of symptoms, it is easy to see why many people, including some experts, believe that he does indeed have the disorder. His interviews are very entertaining and he appears to be in a manic state during them. For example, he talks about his sexual promiscuity and brags about his drug use, and it appears that the interviewer cannot hold his attention. If he does indeed suffer from the disorder, he would be unlikely to agree to interviews during is depressive state.
So, is Charlie Sheen bipolar? Watch this video and decide for yourself.
Works Cited
"Bipolar disorder - PubMed Health." National Center for Biotechnology Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2011. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001924/#adam_000926.disease.causes>.
"Charlie Sheen - IMDb." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2011. <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000221/>.
"Charlie Sheen quotes | Charlie is winning." Charlie Sheen is Winning | Charlie Sheen Quotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2011. <http://charlieswinning.com/quotes/>.
MichaelWarbux. " YouTube - Exclusive: Charlie Sheen Says He's 'Not Bipolar but 'Bi-Winning' (02.28.11) ." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. . N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5aSa4tmVNM>.
Myers, David G.. "Psychological Disorders." Psychology in everyday life . New York, NY: Worth Publishers, 2009. 335-336. Print.
"NIMH • Bipolar Disorder." NIMH • Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2011. <http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder/complete-index.shtml#pub8>.
Luke Jones
Depression
Depression is a serious medical illness that involves the brain. Its more than just felling tired, or sad. Some of the different Symptoms can include
• Sadness
• Loss of interest or pleasure in activities you used to enjoy
• Change in weight
• Difficulty sleeping or oversleeping
• Energy loss
• Feelings of worthlessness
• Thoughts of death or suicide
Depression can start in families, and usually but not all the time start around the age of 15. Experts today say that depression is most common in women, especially women that just had a baby or just before they have a baby. Depression is also one of the bipolar disorder. There are effective treatments that people do today to cure depression like talk therapy or antidepressants.
A depression disorder is a syndrome that reflects a sad or irritable exceeding normal sadness or grief. Some experts say that certain people depression, seem to have inherited this condition from a close or far family member.
http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/mental_health/depression.html
http://www.bing.com/health/article/medlineplus-1000239614/Depression?q=depression
Daniel Bolte
Schizophrenia Disorder
Schizophrenia is a disorder, it is known as the “split personality disorder”. Only 1.1% in the United States alone has it (18 years of age and older). This disorder affects men one and a half times more than women. Schizophrenia is a psychotic mental disorder characterized by symptoms of thought, behavior, and social problems. Many people say that voices can be heard, these voices the head of a person are mostly negative thoughts. Also these thoughts are nowhere near reality in most cases, some people will see things or even think bugs are crawling all over there body. In the mind of a person who is suffering from the disorder of Schizophrenia are things such as the person thinking that people are always plotting against the person, to take them down or even thinking people are going to murder the person.
There are five different types of Schizophrenia, each of the five types are based on the assessments of a doctor.
• “Paranoid schizophrenia: The individual is preoccupied with one or more delusions or many auditory hallucinations but does not have symptoms of disorganized schizophrenia.
• Disorganized schizophrenia: Prominent symptoms are disorganized speech and behavior, as well as flat or inappropriate affect. The person does not have enough symptoms to be characterized as catatonic schizophrenic.
• Catatonic schizophrenia: The person with this type of schizophrenia primarily has at least two of the following symptoms: difficulty moving, resistance to moving, excessive movement, abnormal movements, and/or repeating what others say or do.
• Undifferentiated schizophrenia: This is characterized by episodes of two or more of the following symptoms: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech or behavior, catatonic behavior or negative symptoms, but the individual does not qualify for a diagnosis of paranoid, disorganized, or catatonic type of schizophrenia.
• Residual schizophrenia: While the full-blown characteristic positive symptoms of schizophrenia (those that involve an excess of normal behavior, such as delusions, paranoia, or heightened sensitivity) are absent, the sufferer has less severe forms of the disorder or has only negative symptoms (symptoms characterized by a decrease in function, such as withdrawal, disinterest, and not speaking).”
The term Schizophrenia has only been in use since 1911, although is many ancient scriptures there has been symptoms that would fall in the disorder of Schizophrenia. In ancient times people often thought of mental psychotic disorders as demons or evil spirits taking over that persons mind. As with most mental disorders Schizophrenia cannot be passed though genetics. Another thing to keep in mind there is no one cause for the disorder Schizophrenia.
Finalizing Schizophrenia it is a very dangerous disorder, from seeing things, thinking people are always after you, and feeling things crawling over you. This disorder is very painful and people who have mental disorders are thought of different. If you know of someone who has this disorder I would advise lots of love. These people are different but that does not mean they should be discriminated against. Imagine one thing being discriminated against, and then add all the hallucinations these people can have. Today’s society is harsh and it is people who have taken psychology that will make it better for these people.
Sources:
Google Images
MedicineNet.com
An Ounce of Prevention
By Judith L. Tippets
Music has always been a huge part of my life. I grew up listening to some of the best that rock has to offer. My favorite band was Pantera. I have personal ties with the band. Some of my friends used to work for them, and when I was a DJ, I played music that they requested. I had all the T-Shirts, CD's, videos, a lunchbox, even a Dimebag Darrell signature bass guitar. It's $1300 worth of pure tonality. I love it. I love the music. That's why, when I heard what happened on December 8th, 2004, I curled up into fetal position and bawled my eyes out.
Nathan Gale was an accomplished athlete in high school. He was a football star. After high school, he went on to join the United States Marine Corps. He was discharged for undisclosed medical reasons. Nathan Gale's mother says her son suffered from acute schizophrenia.
I have something in common with Nathan Gale. He too was absolutely obsessed with Pantera. The difference is that I'm a real fan, while Gale, well, he was obviously disturbed.
That night at the Al Rosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, tragedy struck the main stage. Nathan Gale's obsession turned deadly as he charged toward the performers with a gun. He shot my hero, then playing for the band DamagePlan, a project started by Dimebag Darrell and his brother Vinnie Paul. When Dime fell, hundreds of audience members rushed the stage to try to save their guitar hero. Before officer James Niggemeyer of the Columbus police department eliminated the threat by killing the perpetrator, Nathan managed to murder three others.
An entire subculture of the country was completely devastated. Dimebag was exceptionally talented as a musician, but he was better known simply as a great guy. He was a rock star, but he didn't have the attitude that might accompany that lifestyle. He was down-to-earth and kind. His favorite activities were hanging out with friends, partying, and occasionally waking drunk people that had crashed on his floor by pointing live roman candles at them. That was Dime. He was a constant source of entertainment for his family, friends, and fans who were lucky enough to meet him. He will be missed.
This horrific tragedy could have been averted. After Dimebag was killed, “friends” of Nathan Gale began to report strange behavior and an unhealthy preoccupation with the delusion that Pantera had stolen songs from him. If these people had helped Gale instead of pretending nothing was wrong, he might have gotten the medication and therapy he needed to quiet the voices he heard and stop his strange behavior. In my opinion, they weren't really great friends.
If you know someone who seems to be struggling with a mental illness, there is help. Mental health centers have free emergency numbers that you can call at any time for information on how to get treatment for psychological disorders. Don't just point and laugh like a stupid child. Be a hero to them and everyone else by helping them get help instead.
Esterbrook, J. (2004, December 16). Mom of concert killer: he was sick. CBS News. Retrieved May 12, 2011 from: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/09/national/main659983.shtml
Kaufman, G. (2005 June, 7). Officer who felled Dimebag's killer breaks silence. CMT News. Retrieved May 12, 2011 from: http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1503615/officer-who-felled-dimebags-killer-breaks-silence.jhtml
Farra McChesney
SEXUAL ADDICTION is the behavior of a person who has an unusually intense sex drive or an obsession with sex. Sex and the thought of sex tend to dominate the sex addict's thinking, making it difficult to work or engage in healthy personal relationships. A sex addict has compulsive sexual thoughts and acts. Over time, like any addiction, the behaviors can develop into more sever behaviors and intensify.
The National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity has defined sexual addiction as “engaging in persistent and escalating patterns of sexual behavior acted out despite increasing negative consequences to self and others.”
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders, Volume Four describes sex addiction, under the category “Sexual Disorders Not Otherwise Specified,” as “distress about a pattern of repeated sexual relationships involving a succession of lovers who are experienced by the individual only as things to be used.”
Sex addicts engage in distorted thinking, often rationalizing and justifying their behavior and blaming others for problems. Sex addicts also are associated with risk-taking and they generally deny they have a problem and make excuses for their actions, even blaming others for their problems.
Some common behaviors associated with sexual addiction are unprotected sexual intercourse, multiple or anonymous sexual partners, one night stands, and obsessive dating. Some other behaviors associated with sexual addiction are consistent pornography, compulsive self-stimulation, stalking, sexual harassment, cybersex, and even molestation or rape.
Because most addicts live in denial of their addiction, treating the addiction depends on the person accepting and admitting that he/she has a problem, much like any other addiction treatment begins. Many addicts will be forced to go through a significant or traumatizing event such as loss of a job, a health crisis, break-up of a marriage, or an arrest, before they will fade their problem and admit there is a problem.
There are many different causes that doctors and psychologists believe sex addictions arise from. In today’s society and culture, music, media, and entertainment play a large role in affecting the thoughts and decisions of Americans, especially young adolescents. Sexual Provocation in society today could definitely be a variable in the cause of sex addiction. Pornography is easily accessable for anyone with a computer and internet, as well as chat sites revolved around sexual perceptions. The access to cell phones creates a mechanism for phone sex and sexting, or sexual role playing through the telephone or text messages which usually involves some form of compulsive masturbation. Magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Glamour focus many of their main articles around how to pleasure men and different sexual suggestions and information.
Sexual Addiction can also develop from physical and/or sexual abuse at some point in life. The earlier the abuse, the more likely the person is to develop things like depression and low self esteem which can often be associated with this addiction.
Treatment for sex addicts revolves around taking control of the addictive behavior and helping he/she develop a healthy sexuality. The treatment for sex addicts also involves education about a healthy sexuality, individual counseling and family therapy. Just like Alcoholics Anonymous, there is a Sex Addicts Anonymous available as well. This is a 12 step recovery program and support group. In some cases, medications, such as the medication used to treat obsessive-compulsive order, may be prescribed to help deter the compulsive nature of the addiction to sex. Common medications used for this would be Prozac and Anafranil.
Sexual Addiction is a serious addiction. The risks of unwanted pregnancy and STDS are most associated with sex but an addiction to sex can be just as deadly as alcoholism or drug overdose. Addicts may not only contract deadly diseases but they are more seseptable to rape, murder, and suicidal depression than someone with a healthy sexuality. Many people don’t realize sex is addicting. In today’s culture and society it isn’t frowned upon to have a lot of sex and with a lot of people, in fact it is almost encouraged. We need to realize that sexual addiction is just as real and just as dangerous as addiction to alcohol, gambling, drugs, and other addictions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvKzf4zoJNw
If you know someone who may be a sex addict try encouraging them to seek help. If you think you may have a sexual addiction you can call one of the numbers below. You can also go to the website below and take a self evaluation test to see if you or someone you know may be a sex addict.
1-866-569-7077
800-551-9888
http://www.sexhelp.com/sast.cfm
Ryan Boldt
Hoarding
There is a new mental disorder that is starting to gain popularity and demanding more research to understand it. This disorder is hoarding, which is defined as an excessive collection of items, along with the inability to discard them. This causes hazardous living conditions for the inhabitants. There are several different types and levels of hoarding. Hoarding is rated on a scale from one to five, having one being mild hoarding, and five as the most excessive. There are many different causes that lead people to hoarding. The most common belief is that hoarding is a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, there are many people that believe that it is a separate illness. In most cases hoarders usually don’t show other signs of OCD. Another theory is that hoarding is hardwired into our DNA and if a family has a history of hoarding the person will have a much greater chance of being a hoarder.
There are many different symptoms of hoarding. However, the most obvious is the cluttered living areas. Hoarders often accumulate many things over time that most would consider as trash or unnecessary. For example, many hoarders collect old newspapers and junk mail and stash it in a pile. There are also many hoarders that will dig through trash and find things that people throw out that they see as still useful. Even though, they never use many of the items themselves. There are also a social behaviors and emotions symptoms to hoarding. Hoarders have difficulty managing daily activities and even basic social interactions. They are considered to be very isolated individuals that have little contact with the outside world.
There is currently no way to detect hoarding, however, there has recently been much more research done to better understand the disorder. It is believed that less than one percent of population suffers from a severe degree of hoarding. There is also no way that has proven to treat hoarding. The most popular way that hoarding is treated, is through cognitive behavior therapy. The therapy tries to focus on why people hoard, and ways to help combat the problem. The therapists explore ways to help the hoarder discover things to throw away and what to keep. They also help to improve decision making skills, as well as, practice relaxation. Many families of hoarders also turn to professional organizers to help organize all the belongings. The organizers will come visit the hoarder’s house and help them combat the problem by going through their belongings, and categorizing them into items that should be kept, thrown away, or donated. This process is painstakingly slow and may take up to years to complete.
The main issue that both therapists and organizers face is that most hoarders don’t see their mess as a problem. They think that this was the way that they are supposed to live, and are blind to the risks that go along with it. Many times the houses will become so over filled with items that it becomes a fire hazard. It also prohibits people from performing basic tasks such as sleeping in a bed, bathing themselves, and eating.
There is still a lot that isn’t know about hoarding however with more interest in the disorder psychologist will be able to better understand and treat the disease.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hoarding/DS00966
http://www.anxietyandstress.com/hoarding.html
Anorexia
By Andre’ Barber & Kevin Jefferson Jr.
Anorexia is one of the most serious psychiatric diseases our society faces. It has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder. Some believe that anorexics are genuinely determined to die when they attempt to kill themselves. Patients tend to isolate themselves before their suicide attempt, likely in order to reduce the possibility they would receive life-saving help. According to a 2003 Harvard University study, anorexic women are self-destructive, leading them to have a likelier tendency toward suicide. Thomas Joiner, a psychologist from Florida State University, suggests anorexics alter to pain to make them fearless of death and more likely choose a more lethal means to end their lives.
As many as 10 million women and one million men in the United States suffer from an eating disorder, such as anorexia or bulimia. The National Eating Disorder Association reports that females between the ages of 15-24 are 12 times more likely to die from anorexia than all other causes of death. Suicide is the primary cause of death for anorexics, even greater than starvation. Anorexia is a very serious disease and the cost for treatment can range from $25,000 to $30,000 a month.
Anorexia is a very serious situation in every aspect you look at it. Almost everyone who has this disease is vulnerable to anything, including suicide. Some people feel that anorexia is a choice and that the reason that individuals become anorexic is because they are crying out for help or an act of depression. Maybe they just need more love in their lives? Every person needs to find the beauty in themselves. Is it because every woman’s inspiration is the beautiful
size zero girls in the magazine wearing your favorite outfit? Perhaps a size two model wearing your favorite jeans? The worst part of reality with anorexics is when they look at themselves in the mirror, even though they are sickly skinny, they view themselves as overweight. The saddest part is that those who have it don’t see or realize it.
According to dictionary.com, the definition of anorexia is an eating disorder primarily affecting adolescent girls and young women, characterized by pathological fear of becoming fat, distorted body image, and excessive dieting. Is our society so obsessed with how we view ourselves because of the peer pressure of being thin?
With all the affects of anorexia I don’t understand why people do that to their body. When a person is anorexic they can’t think right, possibly faint, hair falls out, have low blood sugar and can cause serious heart problems. Many things can influence individuals to become anorexic including: depression, peer pressure, culture, or even life changes.
In my opinion, it’s not about who’s the skinniest or who looks better in that swimsuit. It’s about who looks the best to themselves, and who is confident in his or her own self. No one should be able to influence you not to love who God made you. God made each of us differently for a reason, and being thin, slender or sexy won’t get any of us to heaven. Live your life according to your own viewpoints, cause if you don’t, you won’t feel satisfied when it’s over, and it’s not like you can just start all over again.
www.medicinenet.com
www.mayoclinic.com/health/anorexia/DS00606
Bulimia
Morgan Rickwartz & Liga Vente
Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by frequent episodes of binge eating, followed by frantic efforts to avoid gaining weight.
When you’re struggling with bulimia, life is a constant battle between the desire to lose weight or stay thin and the overwhelming compulsion to binge eat.
You don’t want to binge—you know you’ll feel guilty and ashamed afterwards—but time and again you give in. During an average binge, you may consume from 3,000 to 5,000 calories in one short hour.
After it ends, panic sets in and you turn to drastic measures to “undo” the binge, such as taking ex-lax, inducing vomiting, or going for a ten-mile run. And all the while, you feel increasingly out of control.
Treatment
Treatment for bulimia involves psychological counseling and sometimes medicines such as antidepressants. Treatment does not usually require staying in the hospital, although this is sometimes needed. Both professional counseling and antidepressant medicine can help reduce episodes of binging and purging and help you recover from bulimia. Both are long-term treatments that may require weeks or months before you notice significant results. You may need treatment with counseling and possibly medicines for more than a year
Symptoms
Binge eating signs and symptoms
* Lack of control over eating – Inability to stop eating. Eating until the point of physical discomfort and pain.
* Secrecy surrounding eating – Going to the kitchen after everyone else has gone to bed. Going out alone on unexpected food runs. Wanting to eat in privacy.
* Eating unusually large amounts of food with no obvious change in weight.
* Disappearance of food, numerous empty wrappers or food containers in the garbage, or hidden stashes of junk food.
* Alternating between overeating and fasting – Rarely eats normal meals. It’s all-or-nothing when it comes to food.
Purging signs and symptoms
* Going to the bathroom after meals – Frequently disappears after meals or takes a trip to the bathroom to throw up. May run the water to disguise sounds of vomiting.
* Using laxatives, diuretics, or enemas after eating. May also take diet pills to curb appetite or use the sauna to “sweat out” water weight.
* Smell of vomit – The bathroom or the person may smell like vomit. They may try to cover up the smell with mouthwash, perfume, air freshener, gum, or mints.
* Excessive exercising – Works out strenuously, especially after eating. Typical activities include high-intensity calorie burners such as running or aerobics.
Physical signs and symptoms of bulimia
* Calluses or scars on the knuckles or hands from sticking fingers down the throat to induce vomiting.
* Puffy “chipmunk” cheeks caused by repeated vomiting.
* Discolored teeth from exposure to stomach acid when throwing up. May look yellow, ragged, or clear.
* Not underweight – Men and women with bulimia are usually normal weight or slightly overweight. Being underweight while purging might indicate a purging type of anorexia
* Frequent fluctuations in weight – Weight may fluctuate by 10 pounds or more due to alternating episodes of bingeing and purging.
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/bulimia_signs_symptoms_causes_treatment.htm
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/bulimia-nervosa/bulimia-nervosa-treatment-overview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2M3WbBp4LA