Psychopathology Paper Essay Example for Free

Psychopathology Paper EssayOver theyears,scientists and mental health professionals throw made great strides in the treatment of psychological disquiets. For example, advances in psychopharmacology have led to the disciplinement of drugs that relieve severe symptoms of mental illness. Clinical psychologyis dedicated to the study, diagnosing, and treatment of mental illnesses and different emotional or behavioral disorders. to a greater extent psychologists work in this field than in any other branch of psychology. In hospitals, community clinics, schools, and in private practice, they use interviews and tests to diagnose depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and other mental illnesses. mountain with these psychological disorders often suffer terribly. They experience disturbing symptoms that make it difficult for them to work, relate to others, and cope with the demands of everyday life. Clinical psychologists usually do-nothing non ordain drugs, but they often wo rk in collaboration with a patients physician. Drug treatment is often combined with psychotherapy, a form of preventative that relies primarily on verbal communication to treat emotional or behavioral problems. Over the years, psychologists have demonstr sufficient many different forms of psychotherapy. Some forms, such as psychoanalysis, focus on resolving internal, unconscious conflicts stemming from childhood and past experiences. Other forms, such as cognitive and behavioral therapies, focus more on the persons current level of functioning and try to help the individual change distressing thoughts, feelings, or behaviors. The fieldofcounseling psychology is near related to clinical psychology. Counseling psychologists may treat mental disorders, but they more viridityly treat stack with less-severe adjustment problems related to marriage, family, school, or c beer. some other casefuls of professionals care for and treat people with psychological disorders, including ps ychiatrists, psychiatric social workers, and psychiatric moderates. As a psychiatric health nurse we works most with other disciplines to arrive at the most appropriate plan of care for the knob and the family. The physicians responsibility is to make a medical diagnosing when there is sufficient support to determine that a psychiatric problem is invest. The taxonomy used to make the medical diagnosis is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, commonly called the DSM-III-R of the American Psychiatric Association.The DSM-III-R uses a biopsychosocial perspective but is considered atheoretical, so that it can be readily accepted and used by all who diagnose the psychiatric client. The nurse assists the process by sharing grand information about the client from the nursing history, mental status assessment, and daily observations. A working knowledge of the DSM-III-R is important in maximizing the team drift to help the client. Knowledge of the criteria will help the nurse for deci ding on a particular medical diagnosis found in the DSM III-R may help the nurse in making a clinical condition about a nursing diagnosis. The DSM-III-R is a multiaxial system. The symptomatic criteria are inclusive for each diagnosis and allow room for individual differences within a pattern of behavior by including phrases such as at least one of the following or for at least 6 months. Five axes constitute the format for a complete psychiatric diagnosis. A v digit coding system is used for the first three axes. Axis I comprises the major mental disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar illness, and substance treat disorders. A disorder of this nature is usually the main reason the client is seeking help. On the other hand, Axis II comprises the personality disorders and developmental disorders such as paranoid personality disorder, schizoid personality disorder, schizotypal personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, and antisocial personality disorder.This axis separa tes the patterns of lifestyle and coping that have developed from childhood from the more acute manifestation of behavior in the major mental disorders. Axis III indicates the related physical disorders and conditions that may be influencing the clients response to the psychiatric problems such fro example, asthma, gastric ulcer, or diabetes. Axis IV indicates the severity of the psychosocial stressors all over the past year such as evaluate retirement, natural disaster and change in residence with loss of contact with friends. The Axis V represents the global assessment functioning (GAF) both currently and over the preceding year. So how does Axis I differ from Axis II? Now lets try to compare and contrast their similarities as surface as their differences. Under Class A Axis II are the personality disorders paranoid personality disorder, schizoid personality disorder, and schizotypal personality disorder.Personality is life-sustaining to defining who we are as individuals. It involves a unique blend of traitsincluding attitudes, thoughts, behaviors, and moodsas well as how we express these traits in our contacts with other people and the world around us. Some characteristics of an individuals personality are inherited, and some are shaped by life events and experiences. A personality disorder can develop if certain personality traits become too rigid and inflexible.People with personality disorders have long-standing patterns of thinking and acting that differ from what society considers usual or normal. The rigidness of their personality can cause great distress, and can interfere with many areas of life, including social and work functioning. People with personality disorders generally also have piteous coping skills and difficulty forming healthy relationships.Unlike people with anxiety disorders, who know they have a problem but are unable to control it, people with personality disorders generally are not aware that they have a problem and do not call up they have anything to control. Because they do not believe they have a disorder, people with personality disorders often do not seek treatment. A paranoid personality disorder applies to a person who displays pervasive and long-standing peculiarness. This suspicious pattern affects perceptual, cognitive, affective and behavioral functions in specific ways. In persons with paranoid personalities, perception is extremely acute, knifelike and narrowly pore in search of clues or the real meaning behind others behavior or life events in general.In a cognitive side, the great perceptual distortion is present in paranoid personality. Cognitive disturbances may range from transient ideas of reference, in which a person believe others are giving them special attention or gossiping about them unlike Manic disorder the client is easy going and friendly. The paranoid persons affective domain reflects a lack of basic trust, extreme suspiciousness, vigilant mistrust, guardedness and hostility.Typically, paranoid person assume a callous, unsympathetic approach to others in an effort to purge themselves of any tendencies to experience humor or affectionate and tender feelings. For the most part, they remain coldly reserved and on the periphery of events, seldom variety smoothly with people in social situation, remaining withdrawn, distant and secretive instead. Rarely do they seem relaxed and unguarded.Unlike with Axis I manic bipolar disorder, Manic clients are self-satisfied, confident and aggressive and feel on top of the world and in control of their destinies, paranoid patient are reserved type while manic is transparent, the manic clients remarks are very similar to free associations, disorganized and incoherent. Manic client is full of ambitious schemes and exaggerations while a paranoid person often engages in verbal interchanges designed to test others honesty. The content of their verbalization usually reflects themes of blame, deceit, control, persecu tion and self-aggrandizement. Similarities of manic and paranoid personality disorder are that they emerge hypervigilant, mobilized and prepared for attack. Socially detached, shy and introverted persons may be described as having schizoid personality disorder while schizophrenic disorder is psychotic disorder characterized by disturbances in thought, perception, affect, behavior and communication lasting longer than 6 months. Schizoid refers to persons exhibiting perceptual, cognitive, affective and behavioral patterns that fall within the healthier end of the insane spectrum. This personality disorder differs from schizotypal personality disorder in that the latters symptomatology more closely resembles schizophrenia.In contrast to both schizotypals and schizophrenics, schizoid personalities do not demonstrate unexpended or eccentric perceptual, cognitive and behavioral patterns. Persons with schizoid personalities exhibit a distorted pattern of perception, characterized by a r educed faculty to attend, select, differentiate and discriminate adequately between and among interpersonal and social sensory inputs while the perception of Depressive disorder clients may be distorted too because of their intense affective states. They perceive the world as strange and unnatural.For instance, a client with deep guilt feelings may interpret the sound of wind in the trees as reproaching voices (illusion) the severely depressed client may less frequently experience hallucinations. Auditory hallucination may be present such as a client may hear voices blaming her or telling her that she is worthless. Illusion and hallucination do not occur in Schizoid personality disorder. They are able to recognize reality despite their faulty interpersonal or social perception.Schizotypal personality disorder is one of a group of conditions called eccentric personality disorders. People with these disorders often appear odd or peculiar. They might display unusual thinking patterns, behaviors, or appearances. People with schizotypal personality disorder might have odd beliefs or superstitions. These individuals are unable to form close relationships and tend to distort reality. In this respect, schizotypal personality disorder can seem like a low form of schizophreniaa serious brain disorder that distorts the way a person thinks, acts, expresses emotions, perceives reality, and relates to others. In rare cases, people with schizotypal personality disorder can eventually develop schizophrenia.Additional traits of people with this disorder include the following dressing, speaking, or acting in an odd or peculiar way, being suspicious and paranoid, being uncomfortable or anxious in social situations because of their distrust of others, having few friends and being extremely uncomfortable with intimacy, tending to misinterpret reality or to have distorted perceptions (for example, mistaking noises for voices), having odd beliefs or magical thinking (for example, being overly superstitious or thinking of themselves as psychic), Being abstracted with fantasy and daydreaming, tending to be stiff and awkward when relating to others, coming across as emotionally distant, aloof, or cold.Hallucination, and illusion may not be present in schizotypal personality disorder but it is always present in Schizophrenia. There is lack deterioration of functioning in schizopherenia while their no capacious deterioration is schizotypal personality, they are also in touch with reality and they are aware of their eccentricities and their deterioration is occurring within a time frame while Schizophrenia is usually diagnosed in peopleaged 17-35 years, delusions, false personal beliefs held with conviction in spite of reason or evidence to the contrary, not explained bythat persons heathenish contextis present.Their is hallucinations,perceptions (can besound, sight, touch, smell, or taste) that occur in the absence of an actual external stimulus(Auditory halluc inations, those of voice or other sounds,are the most common type of hallucinationsin schizophrenia, disorganized, thoughts and behaviors, disorganized speech, catatonic behavior are also manifested.Literature CitedMillion, Theodore Davis Roger. (1996). Disorders of Personality DSM IV and Beyond.Published by Wiley.Kaplan, Harold, M.D Saddock, Benjamin, M.D. (1990). Modern Synopsis of Psychiatry. mendelevium USA. The Williams and Wilkins CompanyIntroduction to Personality Disorder. Capella University. Retrieved March 11, 2008 from http//www.mentalhelp.net/poc/center_index.php?id=8Personality Disorder. MayoClinic.com. Retrieved March 11, 2008 from http//www.mayoclinic.com/health/personality-disorders/DS00562/DSECTION=2Schizophrenia. PSY web. Retrieved March 11, 2008 from http//psyweb.com/Mdisord/jsp/schid.jspAbout Clinical Psychology. American mental Association. Retrieved March 13,2008 from http//www.apa.org/divisions/div12/aboutcp.html