Types of Mental and Emotional Disorders Lesson 3 November 2nd, 2010

Types of Mental and Emotional Disorders When problems arise they may exceed a person’s capacity to cope and function in day to day life. The inability to function for an extended period of time may be indicative of a mental or emotional disorder.

Side note It is important to note that seeking help for emotional problems is no different than seeking help for physical problems.

Types of Disorders

Organic Disorders Mental and Emotional disorders resulting from physical cause Can be genetic Can be caused by physical illness, injury or chemical imbalance Usually more serious than other types of mental or emotional problems

Organic Disorders Example A Brain Tumour can affect speech, mood, and comprehension A Chemical imbalance –drinking or drugs destroy brain cells.

Eating Disorders Eating disorders are the result of deep emotional problems related to self image and self esteem. Requires psychiatric treatment that looks for the underlying cause of the body image obsession.

Eating Disorders Examples: Anorexia– Excessive dieting resulting in a state of self-starvation Bulimia – Binging on food then purging to avoid weight gain

Anxiety Disorders A condition in which fear or anxiety prevents one from enjoying life and completing everyday tasks. Anxiety disorders are the most common emotional and mental disorders Affects more women than men Can cause or contribute to many medical conditions

Examples: General Anxiety disorder – Constant feeling of anxiety and fear with physical symptoms like increased heart rate, shortness of breath, perspiration, shaking and diarrhoea. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – persistent recurring thoughts accompanied with the need to repeatedly perform some action, such as washing hands.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Examples: Panic Disorder – Intense feelings of terror that occur suddenly without cause. Phobia – Persistent fear of something; Claustrophobia – fear of small spaces.

Dissociative Disorders A condition in which someone’s personality changes to the point that the person believes that sometimes he or she is someone else. These disorders usually are the result of a traumatic experience

Examples: Amnesia – Loss of Memory Ended here

Multiple personality disorder – Having two or more distinct personalities which can show different physical conditions and are often the exact opposite of each other.

Mood Disorders A condition in which one mood is experienced almost exclusive of other feelings. Interrupts the person’s ability to complete daily activities

Examples: Depression - is the most common Bipolar Disorder (manic-depression) – Experiencing exaggerated feelings of sadness, loneliness, and hopelessness for an extended period of time

Bipolar Disorder

Personality Disorders An emotional condition in which a person’s patterns of behaviour negatively affect that person’s ability to get along with others. Very difficult to treat because it is hard to change a person’s personality

Examples: Antisocial Personality disorder – showing a preference to remain distant from others Paranoia – Constant mistrust of others for no reason Aggression – Behaviour that displays inner conflict between being dependent and being assertive which results in erratic behaviour.

Somatoform Disorders An emotional condition in which there are physical symptoms but no identifiable disease or injury. The physical symptoms are caused by psychological disorders. Example: Hypochondriacs believe they are ill even though their symptoms are caused by psychological factors.

Schizophrenia Impaired perceptions, thinking processes, emotional health, and physical ability

Questions: How do eating disorders differ from personality disorders? I (1) What disorders are related primarily to fears? K (1) Panic attacks and phobias are examples of what kind of disorder? K (1) Why is behaviour modification used in treating mental health disorders? I (1) Behaviour modification is a treatment approach, based on the principles of operant conditioning, which replaces undesirable behaviours with more desirable ones through positive or negative reinforcement