My Study On Mental Disorders

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Symptoms & Treatments of Mental Disorders

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Mental disorders are characterized by problems that people experience with their mind and their mood. They are not well understood in terms of their causes, but the symptoms of mental illness are scientifically valid and well known. Treatment — usually involving both psychotherapy and medication — for most mental illness and mental health concerns is readily available and, eventually, effective for most people.

 

Please keep in mind that only an experienced mental health professional can make an actual diagnosis.

 

I'm going to be firstly focusing on personality disorders;

 

These disorders typically aren’t diagnosed until an individual is a young adult, often not until their 20’s or even 30’s. Most individuals with personality disorders lead pretty normal lives and often only seek psychotherapeutic treatment during times of increased stress or social demands. Most people can relate to some or all of the personality traits listed; the difference is that it does not affect most people’s daily functioning to the same degree it might someone diagnosed with one of these disorders. Personality disorders tend to be an intergral part of a person, and therefore, are difficult to treat or “cure.”

 

• Antisocial Personality Disorder
  
• Avoidant Personality Disorder
  
• Borderline Personality Disorder
  
• Dependent Personality Disorder
  
• Histrionic Personality Disorder
  
• Multiple Personality Disorder, // Dissociative Identity Disorder
  
• Narcissistic Personality Disorder
  
• Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder
  
• Paranoid Personality Disorder
  
• Schizoid Personality Disorder
  
• Schizotypal Personality Disorder
  

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-Antisocial Personality Disorder

 

Antisocial personality disorder is best understood within the context of the broader category of personality disorders.

 

A personality disorder is an enduring pattern of personal experience and behavior that deviates noticeably from the expectations of the individual's culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and leads to personal distress or impairment.

 

Antisocial personality disorder is characterized by a pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others. The diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder is not given to individuals under the age of 18 but is given only if there is a history of some symptoms of conduct disorder before age 15.

 

The symptoms of antisocial personality disorder can vary in severity. The more egregious, harmful, or dangerous behavior patterns are referred to as sociopathic or psychopathic. There has been much debate as to the distinction between these descriptions. Sociopathy is chiefly characterized as something severely wrong with one's conscience; psychopathy is characterized as a complete lack of conscience regarding others. Some professionals describe people with this constellation of symptoms as "stone cold" to the rights of others. Complications of this disorder include imprisonment, drug abuse, and alcoholism.

 

People with this illness may seem charming on the surface, but they are likely to be irritable and aggressive as well as irresponsible. They may have numerous somatic complaints and perhaps attempt suicide. Due to their manipulative tendencies, it is difficult to tell whether they are lying or telling the truth.

 

Symptoms

 

Disregard for society's laws

Violation of the physical or emotional rights of others

Lack of stability in job and home life

Irritability and aggressiveness

Lack of remorse

Consistent irresponsibility

Recklessness, impulsivity

Deceitfulness

A childhood diagnosis (or symptoms consistent with) conduct disorder

 

Antisocial personality is confirmed by a psychological evaluation. Other disorders should be ruled out first, as this is a serious diagnosis.

 

The alcohol and drug abuse common among people with antisocial personality disorder can exacerbate symptoms of the disorder. When substance abuse and antisocial personality disorder coexist, treatment is more complicated for both.

 

Causes

 

While the exact causes of this disorder are unknown, both environmental and genetic factors have been implicated. Genetic factors are suspected since the incidence of antisocial behavior is higher in people with an antisocial biological parent. Environmental factors may also be blamed, however, as a person whose role model had antisocial tendencies is more likely to develop them.

 

About three percent of men and about one percent of women have antisocial personality disorder. Much higher percentages exist among the prison population.

 

Treatments

 

Antisocial personality disorder is one of the most difficult personality disorders to treat. Individuals rarely seek treatment on their own and may initiate therapy only when mandated to do so by a court.

 

There is no clearly indicated treatment for antisocial personality disorder. Recently, an antipsychotic medication called clozapine has shown promising results in improving symptoms among men with antisocial personality disorder.

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-Avoidant Personality Disorder

 

People with avoidant personality disorder experience long-standing feelings of inadequacy and are extremely sensitive to what others think about them. These feelings of inadequacy leads the person to be socially inhibited and feel socially inept. Because of these feelings of inadequacy and inhibition, the person with avoidant personality disorder will seek to avoid work, school, and any activities that involve socializing or interacting with others.

 

Individuals with avoidant personality disorder often vigilantly appraise the movements and expressions of those with whom they come into contact. Their fearful and tense demeanor may elicit ridicule from others, which in turn confirms their self-doubts. They are very anxious about the possibility that they will react to criticism with blushing or crying. They are described by others as being “shy,” “timid,” “lonely,” and “isolated.”

 

The major problems associated with this disorder occur in social and occupational functioning. The low self-esteem and hypersensitivity to rejection are associated with restricted interpersonal contacts. These individuals may become relatively isolated and usually do not have a large social support network that can help them weather crises. They desire affection and acceptance and may fantasize about idealized relationships with others. The avoidant behaviors can also adversely affect occupational functioning because these individuals try to avoid the types of social situations that may be important for meeting the basic demands of the job or for advancement.

 

A personality disorder is an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates from the norm of the individual’s culture. The pattern is seen in two or more of the following areas: cognition; affect; interpersonal functioning; or impulse control. The enduring pattern is inflexible and pervasive across a broad range of personal and social situations. It typically leads to significant distress or impairment in social, work, or other areas of functioning. The pattern is stable and of long duration, and its onset can be traced back to early adulthood or adolescence.

 

Symptoms

 

Avoidant personality disorder typically manifests itself by early adulthood and includes a majority of the following symptoms:

 

Avoids occupational activities that involve significant interpersonal contact, because of fears of criticism, disapproval, or rejection

Is unwilling to get involved with people unless certain of being liked

Shows restraint within intimate relationships because of the fear of being shamed or ridiculed

Is preoccupied with being criticized or rejected in social situations

Is inhibited in new interpersonal situations because of feelings of inadequacy

Regards themself as socially inept, personally unappealing, or inferior to others

Is unusually reluctant to take personal risks or to engage in any new activities because they may prove embarrassing

 

Because personality disorders describe long-standing and enduring patterns of behavior, they are most often diagnosed in adulthood. It is uncommon for them to be diagnosed in childhood or adolescence, because a child or teen is under constant development, personality changes, and maturation. However, if it is diagnosed in a child or teen, the features must have been present for at least 1 year.

 

Avoidant personality disorder appears to occur in 2.4 percent in the general population, according to 2002 NESARC research.

 

Like most personality disorders, avoidant personality disorder typically will decrease in intensity with age, with many people experiencing few of the most extreme symptoms by the time they are in their 40s or 50s.

 

Causes

 

Researchers today don’t know what causes avoidant personality disorder, though there are many theories, however, about possible causes. Most professionals subscribe to a biopsychosocial model of causation — that is, the causes are likely due to biological and genetic factors, social factors (such as how a person interacts in their early development with their family and friends and other children), and psychological factors (the individual’s personality and temperament, shaped by their environment and learned coping skills to deal with stress). This suggests that no single factor is responsible — rather, it is the complex and likely intertwined nature of all three factors that are important. If a person has this personality disorder, research suggests that there is a slightly increased risk for this disorder to be “passed down” to their children.

 

How is it Diagnosed?

 

Personality disorders such as avoidant personality disorder are typically diagnosed by a trained mental health professional, such as a psychologist or psychiatrist. Family physicians and general practitioners are generally not trained or well-equipped to make this type of psychological diagnosis. So while you can initially consult a family physician about this problem, they should refer you to a mental health professional for diagnosis and treatment. There are no laboratory, blood, or genetic tests that are used to diagnose avoidant personality disorder.

 

Many people with avoidant personality disorder don’t seek out treatment. People with personality disorders, in general, do not often seek out treatment until the disorder starts to significantly interfere or otherwise impact a person’s life. This most often happens when a person’s coping resources are stretched too thin to deal with stress or other life events.

 

A diagnosis for avoidant personality disorder is made by a mental health professional comparing your symptoms and life history with those listed here. They will make a determination whether your symptoms meet the criteria necessary for a personality disorder diagnosis.

 

Treatments

 

Treatment of avoidant personality disorder typically involves psychotherapy with a therapist that has experience in treating this disorder. While some people with a personality disorder may be able to tolerate long-term therapy, most people with such concerns typically go into therapy only when they feel overwhelmed by stress, which usually exacerbates the symptoms of the personality disorder. Such shorter-term therapy will typically focus on the immediate problems in the person’s life, giving them some additional coping skills and tools to help. Once the problem that brought the person into therapy is resolved, a person will typically leave treatment.