Abnormal psychology and therapy paper final assignment

It has four different types: statistical infrequency, violation of social norms, failure to function adequately, and deviation from ideal mental health (McLeod, 2014). Statistical infrequency defines one’s traits, thinking, 0 behavior as abnormal if it is deemed rare or unusual due to statistics (McLeod, 2014). Rarity and infrequent trait are based on the norm, which should be known first. The violation of social norms is defined abnormal if it violates the unwritten rules that are accepted in that social environment (McLeod, 2014).

Failure to function adequately entails those that cannot with the everyday stresses in life (McLeod, 2014). Lastly, deviation from ideal mental health is anything that deviates from that of what is viewed as normal or ideal behavior (McLeod, 2014). Dissociation disorder is defined that the individual experiences disruptions in consciousness, memory, sense of identity, or perception; the person may experience periods of amnesia; dissociation is a response to overwhelming psychic pain, as a result from severe physical abuse or rape (Kiwis & Western, 2011).

Dissociation Identity Disorder also known as multiple personality disorder, when two or more separate personalities are in one person; individuals that have dissociation disorders typically come from chaotic home environments and have suffered physical and sexual abuse in childhood; females are a vast majority of individuals with dissociation disorders (Kiwis & Western, 2011). Panic disorder is characterized by attacks of intense fear and feelings of doom or terror not justified by the situation (Comer, 2011).

The attacks typically include physiological symptoms such as shortness of breath, dizziness, heart palpitations, trembling, and chest pains (Barlow, 2002). Psychological symptoms include fear of dying or going crazy (Comer, 201 1). Lifetime prevalence for panic disorder is in the range of 1. 4 to 2. 9 percent cross- culturally in countries as diverse as Canada, New Zealand, and Lebanon Washman et al. , 1997).

Schizophrenia is an umbrella term for a number of psychotic disorders that involve disturbances in nearly every dimension of human psychology, including thought, perception, behavior, language, communication, and emotion; most forms of schizophrenia begin in the late teens and early twenties (Kiwis & Western, 2011 Schizophrenic symptoms can be categorized into positive and negative symptoms (Crow, 1980; Strauss et al. , 1974).

Positive symptoms, such as delusions, hallucinations, and loose associations, are most apparent in acute phases of the illness and are often retable with antispasmodic medications; negative symptoms signal that something is missing, such as normal emotions; they are relatively chronic symptoms of schizophrenia such as flat affect, lack of motivation, socially inappropriate behavior and withdrawal from relationships, and intellectual impairments such as lack of complex thought in response to environmental events (Franklin, 1999 -?? 2006).

There are various methods of treating schizophrenia: medication treatment; psychosocial treatments; rehabilitation individual psychotherapy; cognitive behavioral psychotherapy; family education; self-help groups; community and social support (Franklin, 1 999 2006).

Depressive disorder the sadness may emerge without a clear trigger, or precipitant; continue longer than one would reasonably expect; or be far more intense than normal sadness, including intense feelings of worthlessness or even delusions; occasional blue periods are a common response to life events such as the loss of a job, end of a relationship, or death of a loved one, events that can temporarily lower self-esteem (Retort al. , 2009).

Psychopathology characterized by depressed mood; loss of internВ?? n pleasurable activities (Oneida); and disturbances in appetite, sleep, energy level, and concentration; dyslectic disorder (dysphasia) chronic low- level depression of more than two years’ duration, with intervals of normal moods that never last more than a few weeks or months; bipolar disorder a psychological disorder marked by extreme mood swings, also called manic depression (Kiwis & Western, 2011). Cognitive behavioral therapies include different tech unique such as systematic desensitizing, exposure technique: and operant techniques.

Participatory modeling and skills training are also e art of cognitive therapy. Systematic desensitizing is based on the principle of classical conditioning. ‘ ‘ This therapy aims to remove the fear response of phobia, and substitute a relaxation response to the conditional stimulus gradually using counter conditioning” (McLeod, 2008). This type of therapy i! Tricky because it relies on the patient being able to place the fear repeatedly or confront it constantly until the anxiety is no longer present.

Exposure therapy is specific to cognitive behavioral therapy; it is used in an attempt to not only expose the patient to their fear but also gain control over it. This type of technique must be done with extreme caution to eliminate the possibility of causing a more severe trauma. Operant conditioning is Skinner’s three-term contingency, also known as instrumental conditioning. This method of treatment is directly related to behavior, and it uses an operant response and a reinforcement to change the probability of a behavior or response occurring to a specific event.

Participatory modeling is more collaborative and a resource for the community and partnerships. It is a process where identifying individual factors relevant to mental health are modeled. Interventions are services provided on an individual placement plan. Skills’ training is specific to cognitive behavioral therapy and is utilized to teach socially acceptable skills. This type of therapy utilizes the specifics o skills desirable and acceptable to the community or home. Skills’ training allows patients to learn life skills and become successful in social realms.

Cognitive therapy is based on the premise that what we think affects our emotions, what we choose to do or avoid and our physiological reactions. Most situations remain neutral until we assign meaning based on how we interpret the situation. Psychoanalysis is based on the idea that failure to deal with the unconscious and repressed feelings, impulses and thoughts from childhood will lead to disturbed psychological functioning (Wallace & Goldstein, 1997). Thus, the goal of psychoanalysis is to bring those to consciousness.

One of Fraud’s important ideas is free association, where the patient relates the streams Of thought without hesitation or censorship (Wallace & Goldstein, 1997). Another technique is dream Interpretation. Freud believed that dreams are “ symbolic representation of unconscious conflicts stimulated by the previous events” (Wallace & Goldstein, 1997, p. 27). Psychotherapy or “ talking cure” is a derivative of the psychoanalysis of Freud (Cabana’s, Cherry, Douglas & Schwartz, 2012). He acknowledged that the mind has a changing system, so he conceptualized a psychodrama treatment.

It claims that the unconscious mental activity (dynamics) affects conscious thoughts, behaviors and feelings (Cabana’s, Cherry, Douglas & Schwartz, 2012). The goal of this therapy is to change the habits of thinking and behaving by helping to learn more about the minds work and to support how it functions (Cabana’s, Cherry, Douglas & Schwartz, 2012). The key incepts of this theory are “ making the unconscious conscious, supporting weakened ego function and reactivating development (Cabana’s, Cherry, Douglas & Schwartz, 2012).

Humanistic therapy focuses on the conscious experience of oneself, relationships and the world around her/him (Wallace & Goldstein, 1997). Person-centered therapy believes that people can solve their problems if they confront their fears and self-deception in a non- threatening setting (Wallace & Goldstein, 1997). It is based on three core requirements related to Rorer’s theory Of personality: Congruence, empathy, and unconditional positive regard. Humanist therapists use skillful frustration technique by refusing to meet their client’s demands or expectations.

Group therapy has the premise that being in a group is more beneficial than treating one patient. Family is considered the fundamental unit and roles within the unit are interconnected (Wallace & Goldstein, 1997). This therapy makes the “ family work together to expose and treat destructive attitudes and patterns of interaction” (Wallace & Goldstein, 1 997, p. 436). Family therapy allows the family and therapist to observe and deal with the maladaptive behavior. Marital therapy is a variant of family therapy and souses on a couple or an individual of the couple. Most therapists use the family system to look for the communication problem.

Therapist may also use the psychodrama perspective, and its goal is to “ recognize and alter patterns that reflect patterns from the past” (Kowalski and Western, 2011). Biological therapy aims to “ modify behavior by temporarily or permanently altering brain functions” (Wallace & Goldstein, 1997, p. 438). There are four types of drugs used for treating mental disorders. Anti-psychotic medication is used to treat patients with severely disturbed behavior. Anti-depressants re used to treat the feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness of individuals with severe depression.