Psychological Problems

6 Key excerpts on "Psychological Problems"

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  eBook - ePub

  Clinical Psychology

  A Modern Health Profession

  • Wolfgang Linden, Paul L. Hewitt, Don Saklofske(Authors)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Psycho-dynamic Diagnostic Manual (to be discussed later) is the only formal diagnostic manual that attempts to describe normal behavior. It details seven characteristics or capacities that healthy personalities have and that individuals with abnormal behavior lack or have difficulties with. These include the capacities to: (1) See both the self and others in complex, stable, and accurate ways; (2) Maintain intimate and satisfying relationships; (3) Experience the full range of emotions; (4) Regulate emotions and impulses adaptively and flexibly; (5) Function in a fashion consistent with morals; (6) Appreciate conventional notions of what is realistic; and (7) Respond to stress resourcefully. Each of these capabilities can provide benchmarks for contrasting a person’s behavior in order to help determine whether behavior is abnormal.

  Although these approaches represent ways in which individuals are defined as exhibiting abnormal behavior, the astute reader may note that what is defined as abnormal may or may not represent formal psychological disorders (see Box 5.1 ). In fact, many problems that come to the attention of clinical psychologists might be better labeled as problems in living (Szasz, 1961) rather than diagnoses. For example, it is often assumed that clinical psychologists research, assess, and treat only formal psychological disorders. Although likely the majority of problems that clinical psychologists study, assess, and treat will meet diagnostic criteria for some disorder (i.e., disorders listed in one of the current diagnostic manuals in use), there are many problems that clinical psychologists deal with that do not necessarily constitute formal diagnostic entities yet can be extremely painful to the individual or to loved ones of that individual. For example, people will seek assessment and/or treatment of (and clinical psychologists will conduct research on) issues such as:

  Relationship problems (e.g., intimate relationship difficulties, relationship breakdown, problematic work-related relationships, family problems);

  Personal difficulties (e.g., self-esteem problems, identity-related problems, or lack of general satisfaction in life);

  Achievement problems (e.g., feelings of stagnation and dissatisfaction with work, test anxiety, job or life transition);

  Physical problems (e.g., weight control, reduction of blood pressure, sleep problems);

  Problems that reflect normal but distressing processes (e.g., grieving losses arising from death, divorce).

  These problems in living can produce significant distress and disruptions for individuals, couples, or families suffering from these issues. Moreover, it can often be the case that when treating individuals with psychological disorders, problems in living often accompany many formal disorders and can become the focus of treatment (Bergin & Lambert, 1978).

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  eBook - PDF

  Psychology 2e

  • Rose M. Spielman, William J. Jenkins, Marilyn D. Lovett(Authors)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • Openstax

    (Publisher)

  Diagnosis, treatment, and support are all necessary, and all must be considered with respect and sensitivity to the extremely challenging nature of mental illness. While not everyone experiencing difficulty has a psychological disorder, mental health is critical to our ability to function in our relationships, education, and work. It is important that people talk with qualified professionals if they are having persistent feelings or experiences in line with the descriptions below; the discussion may or may not lead to a diagnosis, but as with physical illnesses, one has a better chance at success if they raise the issues with doctors or other experts. Definition of a Psychological Disorder Perhaps the simplest approach to conceptualizing psychological disorders is to label behaviors, thoughts, and inner experiences that are atypical, distressful, dysfunctional, and sometimes even dangerous, as signs of a disorder. For example, if you ask a classmate for a date and you are rejected, you probably would feel a little dejected. Such feelings would be normal. If you felt extremely depressed—so much so that you lost interest in activities, had difficulty eating or sleeping, felt utterly worthless, and contemplated suicide—your feelings would be atypical, would deviate from the norm, and could signify the presence of a psychological disorder. Just because something is atypical, however, does not necessarily mean it is disordered. For example, only about 4% of people in the United States have red hair, so red hair is considered an atypical characteristic ( Figure 15.2), but it is not considered disordered, it’s just unusual. And it is less unusual in Scotland, where approximately 13% of the population has red hair (“DNA Project Aims,” 2012). As you will learn, some disorders, although not exactly typical, are far from atypical, and the rates in which they appear in the population are surprisingly high. 538 15 • Psychological Disorders Access for free at openstax.org

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  eBook - ePub

  Problem Solving Therapy in the Clinical Practice

  • Mehmet Eskin(Author)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • Elsevier

    (Publisher)

  5

  Problem-Solving and Psychological Problems

  Introduction

  Mental health problems are common worldwide and cause tremendous suffering for the afflicted individual, their loved ones, and society. In addition, these problems also constitute economic loss and burden. Therefore, understanding the causal mechanisms involved in the development and maintenance of Psychological Problems is important and has implications for treatment. As a psychological construct, problem-solving offers an important conceptual framework for the understanding of the etiology of Psychological Problems. The framework offered by problem solving is helpful for an understanding of Psychological Problems and allows us to draw causal inference. In addition to the etiological conceptual framework, the concept of problem solving presents itself as an instrumental method that can be used in the resolution of Psychological Problems.

  This chapter reviews and discusses the relationship between problem solving and various forms of Psychological Problems. Scientific studies show that people who have been hospitalized for psychiatric disorders display deficiencies in problem solving (Coche & Flick, 1975 ; Platt, Siegel, & Spivack, 1975 ; Platt & Spivack, 1972 ). Studies also show that people who are able to solve or feel that they are be able to solve their problems experience fewer difficulties in life than people who do not think or feel that way. For instance, in one study, Nezu (1985) compared effective problem solvers with ineffective problem solvers and found that effective problem solvers experience fewer Psychological Problems than ineffective problem solvers.

  The relationship between problem solving and psychological disorders will be examined as follows. In this chapter, the relationship between problem solving and depression, suicide, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, aggression, and Psychological Problems secondary to medical conditions are examined. Here, the role of the problem-solving skills in the development and the maintenance of Psychological Problems is dealt with in the light of the results from empirical scientific investigations.

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  Psychology

  • Douglas Bernstein, , , (Authors)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Cengage Learning EMEA

    (Publisher)

  Explaining Psychological Disorders What causes abnormality? At various times and places, abnormal behavior has been attrib-uted to the action of gods or the devil. Mental health profes-sionals in Western cultures rely on a biopsychosocial approach , which attributes mental disorders to the interaction of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors . Biological factors, such as brain chemistry, are highlighted by the medical or neurobiolog-ical model of disorder. The psychological model focuses on pro-cesses such as inner conflicts, maladaptive learning experiences, or blocked personal growth. The sociocultural perspective helps explain disorder by focusing on the social relations, social sup-port, and cultural and subcultural factors that form the context of abnormality. The diathesis-stress model suggests that biological, psychological, and sociocultural characteristics create predispo-sitions for disorder that are translated into symptoms in the face of sufficient amounts of stress. Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Mental Illness and the Law 535 Classifying Psychological Disorders How many psychological disorders have been identified? The dominant system for classifying abnormal behavior in North America is the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Man-ual of Mental Disorders ( DSM-5 ) of the American Psychiatric As-sociation. It includes more than 300 specific categories of mental disorder. Diagnosis helps identify the features, causes, and most effective methods of treating various psychological disorders.

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  Psychology and Social Work

  Applied Perspectives

  • Gabriela Misca, Peter Unwin(Authors)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Polity

    (Publisher)

  Classification systems such as the ICD and DSM allow professionals to differentiate types of mental illness and their specific contributory factors in order to provide appropriate treatment. For example, anxiety-related disorders, depression and psychotic disorders have very different aetiologies, and those suffering from them have different needs. However, such classification systems are not free from controversy. These systems have been developed from the medical model and tend to focus on symptoms and define disorders as separate entities, despite the evidence suggesting mental health may be better understood as being a continuum (Larsson et al., 2012). Moreover, by giving diagnostic labels to disorders, there is a risk of inappropriate labelling of a client’s difficulties, and many people are diagnosed with multiple problems, a phenomenon known as comorbidity. The medical model that underpins both the ICD and the DSM places the problem within the individual, a focus on disease and the desire to return the patient to a previous ‘healthy’ state. As mentioned above, the issue of homosexuality has been a subject of great controversy in terms of DSM categorization: it was listed as a disorder until DSM-II, then in DSM-III this ‘diagnosis’ was changed to ‘ego dystonic homosexuality’ (i.e., in conflict with the ego or one’s selfimage). It was only with the publication of the DSM-III-R in 1987 that this was dropped, following a long process of political debate about what constitutes ‘normality’. A social model, as found in counselling psychology and practice, emphasizes health, choice and self-help and would view homosexuality as a matter of choice, not a ‘problem’ that needed solving.

  Common mental health problems

  There now follows a brief overview of the most common mental health problems and their characteristics to facilitate familiarization with the terminology, its abbreviations and the general area of mental health concerned. MIND (2015b) provides clear evidence of the prevalence of mental health problems in the UK across age and social class.

  Anxiety-based problems

  Anxiety is an excessive negative state of mind characterized by bodily symptoms of physical tension and by feelings of apprehension, uncertainty and fear. Anxiety is a normal human emotion felt by most people at some point in their life; it is therefore important that social workers are able to recognize differing levels of anxiety in individuals. Some anxiety disorders, however, cause such distress that it interferes with a person’s ability to function normally.

  Anxiety-based problems are common, with around 4.7 in 100 people in England affected by such a problem yearly (estimates from MIND, 2015b, based on 2009 survey data). The five most common anxiety disorders are as follows.

  1. Specific phobia is defined as an excessive and persistent fear triggered by a specific object or situation. Phobic individuals develop irrational beliefs that the phobic object or situation is certain to cause harm (phobic beliefs).
  2. Panic disorder is characterized by repeated panic or anxiety attacks associated with a variety of physical symptoms, including heart palpitations, perspiration, dizziness, hyperventilation, nausea and tremor. In addition, the individual may experience real feelings of terror or severe apprehension and depersonalization.

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  eBook - ePub

  Understanding Psychology for Medicine and Nursing

  Insights and Applications

  • Mohamed Ahmed Abd El-Hay(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  b. The cognitive model suggests that some mental problems stem from maladaptive cognitive processes and can be alleviated by changing these biased cognitions. The way we think about ourselves, the way we appraise stressful situations, and our strategies for coping with them are all interrelated. It is not the negative events that cause Psychological Problems, but it is our thoughts about those events.

  c. The behavioral perspective proposes that maladaptive behaviors are learned. This investigates how fears become conditioned to specific situations and the role of reinforcement in the origin and maintenance of inappropriate behavior.

  d. Sociocultural perspectives take the view that mental health problems can be caused by social contexts of the individual, such as gender, age, and marital status; the physical, social, and economic situations in which people live; and the cultural values, traditions, and expectations in which they are immersed (Appignanesi, 2009; Lim, 2006; Sue & Sue, 2008). Sociocultural context influences not only what is and is not labeled “abnormal” but also who displays what kind of disorder and how likely people are to receive treatment for it. Proponents of this perspective look to physical and social environment stressors, such as discrimination and poverty, which can interfere with people’s functioning.

  The sociocultural factors create differing stressors, social roles, opportunities, experiences, and ways of expression for different groups of people. They shape the disorders and symptoms to which certain categories of people are prone, e.g., symptoms of depression differ, depending on cultural background (Falicov, 2003; Hopper & Wanderling, 2000; Whaley & Hall, 2009). In Western cultures, emotional and physical components of disorders are generally viewed separately, so symptoms of depression tend to revolve around despair and other signs of emotional distress. But in China, Japan, and certain other Asian cultures, emotional and physical experiences tend to be viewed as one, so a depressed person is as likely to report stomach or back pain as to complain of sadness (Nakao & Yano, 2006; Weiss, Tram, Weisz, Rescorla, & Achenbach, 2009). Sociocultural factors can also influence the overall prevalence of disorders, e.g., the higher rates of alcohol abuse among men compared to women in some cultures may be explained by the cultural factor that excessive alcohol consumption is less appropriate for women than for men (Timko, Finney, & Moos, 2005). Also, many kinds of psychological disorders increase in frequency among people living in countries suffering from wars or other stressful conditions (Alhasnawi et al., 2009).

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