When we first started the packet of abnormal behavior in class, we defined what we believed abnormal behavior meant. As a class, we decided that it meant that it didn't fit what was societal norms - psychologically and socially, It doesn't fit what most people's usual behaviors were, it was out of the ordinary, and it was harmful, disruptive, and unpredictable.
After we defined abnormal behavior, we went through a list of stories and people's behaviors and we had to decide if that was a psychological disorder or not. We went through and said if we believed it was a psychological disorder or not and then justified our answers. Some of the things we saw were psychological disorders and the others were just strange behaviors but not actually seen as a psychological disorder.
I think that what we did was have a prototype person with a psychological disorder and we pictured them in out head and it skewed what we thought a person with psychological disorder acted as. Looking back after learning in depth what psychological disorders were and how they were defined, the stories we read were all psychological disorders. At that point, we were only able to see the prototype and what thoughts were available in our mind at that time.
The actual potential elements of abnormal behavior are:
Atypical-Statistical deviation: Since many human characteristics are normally distributed, according to this idea the defining characteristic of abnormal behavior is an "uncommon behavior" that is a significant deviation from the average/majority.
Disturbing-Social norm violation: Most of our behavior is shaped by the norms - cultural expectations about the right and wrong way to do things. This therefore defines abnormal behavior as breaking unwritten social "rules."
Maladaptive Behavior: 1) Maladaptive to one's self - inability to reach goals, to adapt to the demands of life 2) Maladaptive to society - interferes, disrupts social group functioning
Personal Distress: Put simply, if the person is content with his/her life, then s/he is of no concern to the mental health field. If, on the other hand, the person is distressed (depressed, anxious, etc.) then those behaviors and thoughts that the person is unhappy about are abnormal behaviors and thoughts.
Unjustifiable: The elements of abnormal behavior cannot be justified by health factors, recent life events, or other medical explanations.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Personality Disorders
A personality disorder is defined as a disruptive, inflexible, and enduring patterns of behavior that impair one's social functioning. Personality disorders are split into three different clusters:
1. Anxiety 2. Eccentric behaviors and 3. Dramatic or impulsive behaviors
There are 6 different types of personality disorders:
1. Avoidant Personality Disorder: Fearful sensitivity to rejection - the person is constantly being afraid of being rejected and it's not just in certain situations, it's in every situation that they are in. After a while of avoiding people and being to afraid to talk to them, people will stop interacting with you as well.
2. Narcissistic personality disorder: Self-focused and self-inflating - The person is so focused on themselves that they will push themselves up without caring if they are pushing anyone down. They are full of themselves and everything is about "me." They have no empathy for others. Also, they are very manipulative.
3. Histrionic Personality disorder: Dramatic, impulsive, and attention-seeking behaviors - They always need to be the center of attention and they crave inappropriate behaviors. They want to have an intense relationship with someone. They are very superficial and are more likely to have risk taking behaviors. They want to have these behaviors and they have them all the time.
4. Antisocial Personality Disorder: (psychopath) lack of conscience that cause the person to lie, steal, fight, or display unrestrained sexual behaviors - They don't feel guilty for their actions. A rapist is more likely to be a psychopath. They are very charming. It's not just their personality, there is also a different brain activity that a psychopath will have: There is reduced activity in the murderers’ frontal lobes, which is an area of the cortex that helps control impulses. Violent repeat offenders had 11% less frontal lobe tissue than normal.
5. Schizoid Personality disorder: Eccentric behaviors focusing on emotionless disengagement - They are really emotionally disengaged. They are more dark, gothic people who don't conform to society. It is considered Schizoid Personality disorder when it is extreme to the point where it impedes their functioning.
6. Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder: Obsession with cleanliness, orderliness, and neatness - It is a rigid way of thinking. They are very neat and organized. It impact their functioning and other peoples' lives. They are obsessed with everything being cleaned. They are not aware that they are doing these things.
I think that the worst at of all of these are Antisocial Personality Disorder. Where the other Personality Disorders are effecting other peoples' lives also, this one is truly harmful to other peoples' lives. It isn't just different behaviors that they perform that are not seen as "normal" in society. It is that they don't realize that they are doing something wrong and they are truly harming someone's life without even noticing it and I think that's what makes it the scariest.
1. Anxiety 2. Eccentric behaviors and 3. Dramatic or impulsive behaviors
There are 6 different types of personality disorders:
1. Avoidant Personality Disorder: Fearful sensitivity to rejection - the person is constantly being afraid of being rejected and it's not just in certain situations, it's in every situation that they are in. After a while of avoiding people and being to afraid to talk to them, people will stop interacting with you as well.
2. Narcissistic personality disorder: Self-focused and self-inflating - The person is so focused on themselves that they will push themselves up without caring if they are pushing anyone down. They are full of themselves and everything is about "me." They have no empathy for others. Also, they are very manipulative.
3. Histrionic Personality disorder: Dramatic, impulsive, and attention-seeking behaviors - They always need to be the center of attention and they crave inappropriate behaviors. They want to have an intense relationship with someone. They are very superficial and are more likely to have risk taking behaviors. They want to have these behaviors and they have them all the time.
4. Antisocial Personality Disorder: (psychopath) lack of conscience that cause the person to lie, steal, fight, or display unrestrained sexual behaviors - They don't feel guilty for their actions. A rapist is more likely to be a psychopath. They are very charming. It's not just their personality, there is also a different brain activity that a psychopath will have: There is reduced activity in the murderers’ frontal lobes, which is an area of the cortex that helps control impulses. Violent repeat offenders had 11% less frontal lobe tissue than normal.
5. Schizoid Personality disorder: Eccentric behaviors focusing on emotionless disengagement - They are really emotionally disengaged. They are more dark, gothic people who don't conform to society. It is considered Schizoid Personality disorder when it is extreme to the point where it impedes their functioning.
6. Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder: Obsession with cleanliness, orderliness, and neatness - It is a rigid way of thinking. They are very neat and organized. It impact their functioning and other peoples' lives. They are obsessed with everything being cleaned. They are not aware that they are doing these things.
I think that the worst at of all of these are Antisocial Personality Disorder. Where the other Personality Disorders are effecting other peoples' lives also, this one is truly harmful to other peoples' lives. It isn't just different behaviors that they perform that are not seen as "normal" in society. It is that they don't realize that they are doing something wrong and they are truly harming someone's life without even noticing it and I think that's what makes it the scariest.
Labeling
An Abnormal behavior is defined as a behavior that is a harmful dysfunction that is atypical, disturbing, maladaptive, and unjustifiable.
An abnormal behavior becomes a psychological disorder if it persists over time and it becomes deviant, distressful, dysfunctional pattern of thoughts, feelings, or behaviors.
There are a few problems that come when you label a person with an abnormal behavior. When you label them, you imply that that person has a deficiency and you see them as having a problem. Also, it gives them a label or a stigma and you interact with that person differently.
David Rosenhan did research and found that when you hear someone has a psychological disorder, you see everything they do as being because of the disorder.
What David Rosenhan did was that him and a few of his colleagues checked themselves into a mental hospital by faking a symptom. They said they heard voices. When they were admitted to the hospital, they stopped their behaviors and behaved "normally" again. They wanted to see if anyone would detect that they were sane. No one did. They were diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and they were discharged with paranoid schizophrenia in remission. He described that experience as dehumanizing. No body cared for them or contacted them or came to visit them.
David Rosenhan describes a mental hospital as a place of storage for people that others do not understand or want to be around and for people others have lost sympathy for. The staff only recognized the people as people with symptoms of psychological disorders. David Rosenhan decribes this people with what others would see as "normal" not someone just with the psychological disorder.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's important for a person to be diagnosed with the psychological disorder that they have so that they can be treated. I'm not entirely sure how that could be changed. I just think that it's wrong that once a person is "labeled" with a disorder, they become that disorder and that is all that people see about them.
An abnormal behavior becomes a psychological disorder if it persists over time and it becomes deviant, distressful, dysfunctional pattern of thoughts, feelings, or behaviors.
There are a few problems that come when you label a person with an abnormal behavior. When you label them, you imply that that person has a deficiency and you see them as having a problem. Also, it gives them a label or a stigma and you interact with that person differently.
David Rosenhan did research and found that when you hear someone has a psychological disorder, you see everything they do as being because of the disorder.
What David Rosenhan did was that him and a few of his colleagues checked themselves into a mental hospital by faking a symptom. They said they heard voices. When they were admitted to the hospital, they stopped their behaviors and behaved "normally" again. They wanted to see if anyone would detect that they were sane. No one did. They were diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and they were discharged with paranoid schizophrenia in remission. He described that experience as dehumanizing. No body cared for them or contacted them or came to visit them.
David Rosenhan describes a mental hospital as a place of storage for people that others do not understand or want to be around and for people others have lost sympathy for. The staff only recognized the people as people with symptoms of psychological disorders. David Rosenhan decribes this people with what others would see as "normal" not someone just with the psychological disorder.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's important for a person to be diagnosed with the psychological disorder that they have so that they can be treated. I'm not entirely sure how that could be changed. I just think that it's wrong that once a person is "labeled" with a disorder, they become that disorder and that is all that people see about them.
"I'm a boy climber"
Gender Roles: What is expected for men and what is expected for women? This is what society expects how men and women to behave.
Gender Identity: Our sense of being male or female. What do we think is a typical male or female?
Gender typed: The acquisition of the traditional male or female role. How do you acquire the role?
Social Learning Theory: The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and being rewarded or punished.
Gender Schema theory: Form a lens through which to view experiences of information into schemas. (he/she, long/short hair, dresses/pants.)
I work in the Young Israel groups and this week my kids were playing on the playground. They were all playing around, and one of the girls was climbing on the playground. She was climbing and I asked if she was okay and if she knew what she was doing. She said she's done it before and that she is okay. When she finished climbing over things she was proud of herself and she exclaimed "I'm a boy climber, I can climb like a boy." When I heard this I immediately thought of psychology class.
Also, later that day, the same girl was playing around where the boys were and she took one of the things that they were playing with. Later, she came up to me and told me that the boys were scared of her and how funny it is that boys are scared of a girl and that's not how it's supposed to be.
These events made me think a lot about what society has become. How there are separate strengths or fears that only girls are suppose to have. It made me wonder if it's just the way the gender roles have evolved over time or is it the way people raise their kids what to believe?
Gender Identity: Our sense of being male or female. What do we think is a typical male or female?
Gender typed: The acquisition of the traditional male or female role. How do you acquire the role?
Social Learning Theory: The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and being rewarded or punished.
Gender Schema theory: Form a lens through which to view experiences of information into schemas. (he/she, long/short hair, dresses/pants.)
I work in the Young Israel groups and this week my kids were playing on the playground. They were all playing around, and one of the girls was climbing on the playground. She was climbing and I asked if she was okay and if she knew what she was doing. She said she's done it before and that she is okay. When she finished climbing over things she was proud of herself and she exclaimed "I'm a boy climber, I can climb like a boy." When I heard this I immediately thought of psychology class.
Also, later that day, the same girl was playing around where the boys were and she took one of the things that they were playing with. Later, she came up to me and told me that the boys were scared of her and how funny it is that boys are scared of a girl and that's not how it's supposed to be.
These events made me think a lot about what society has become. How there are separate strengths or fears that only girls are suppose to have. It made me wonder if it's just the way the gender roles have evolved over time or is it the way people raise their kids what to believe?
Panic Disorder: An Endless Loop
In Unit 12, we discussed the many psychological disorders that exist, what categorizes them, and in Unit 13, how to treat them. One of the categories of psychological disorders we learned about were the anxiety disorders. Panic disorder, an anxiety disorder, is characterized by four "stages," which are on a continuous loop. The first is body sensations, in which an unusual bodily sensation (e.g. pounding heart), makes you react with fear that something bad is going to happen. The second is a panic attack, where your continued over-reaction to the bodily sensations triggers more fear and eventually leads to a full-fledged panic attack. The third is high anxiety: Once the panic attack subsides, you are left feeling anxious and in a very sensitive state. And the fourth is fear of fear. You fear of having another panic attack keeps your anxiety levels high and this leads to further unusual bodily sensations. The panic loop is now established.
Panic disorder is like "anxiety on steroids," and can occur at any time. The person will feel as if they are going to die. Sometimes it is caused by something specific, other times not. However, the fear and dread of having another attack is completely frightening. Panic attacks are characterized by this intense terror of disaster or of losing control even when there is no real, imminent danger. A person can also have a physical reaction during a panic attack, and may feel as if they are having a heart attack. Panic disorder sometimes runs in families, but there is no concrete evidence for why some have it and others do not. Researchers have found several parts in the brain associated with fear and anxiety (the amygdala, for example), and are also further investigating the relative contributions of stress and environment.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, people with panic disorder may have the following: "sudden and repeated attacks of fear, a feeling of being out of control during a panic attack, an intense worry about when the next attack will happen, a fear or avoidance of places where panic attacks have occurred in the past, and physical symptoms during an attack, such as a pounding or racing heart, sweating, breathing problems, weakness or dizziness, feeling hot or a cold chill, tingly or numb hands, chest pain, or stomach pain."
As aforementioned, these attacks occur spontaneously, even during sleep. An attack typically peaks at 10 minutes, but the symptoms may endure for a longer period. The panic disorder can be so encompassing that if it materializes in say, an elevator, some with panic disorder may begin to fear elevators in general. It's a crippling condition. Some people become so disabled by the disorder that they cannot participate in daily activities or lead normal lives. About one-third become housebound and it spirals into agoraphobia, and they are only able to confront a feared situation when in the company of a spouse or other trusted individual. Panic disorder is often accompanied by other problems, such as depression, drug abuse, or alcoholism.
Panic disorder affects approximately 6 million American adults and is twice as prevalent in women as men. Panic attacks usually begin in late adolescence or early adulthood, but not everyone who experiences panic attacks will develop panic disorder. Many people have just one attack and never have another. Although it appears to be inherited, panic disorder is highly treatable, usually by using psychotherapy, specifically cognitive therapy, or medicine, and sometimes both.
Catatonia, because it's so fascinating.
Of all of the disorders that we've studied in class, by far the most fascinating to me is catatonic schizophrenia, or Catatonia. Although we reviewed the symptoms in class, I was still confused as to the actual extent of the disorder.
Here's a quick review of what we learned in class: Schizophrenia is a a disorder characterized by a split from reality that shows itself in disorganized thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and actions. Catatonic Schizophrenia is characterized by negative symptoms, or the absence of symptoms. Patients with this disorder have a flat affect and are physically stuck. If you move their arm into one position, it will stay there until you move it somewhere else. They literally cannot and will not move unless you move them.
I did a little research about this disorder and it turns out that there's much more to it than what we learned in class. Let's start with the diagnosis: According to the DSM-IV, a person with Catatonic must have at least two of the following: motor immobility, excessive motor activity (what?), extreme negativism, oddities in voluntary movement including grimacing, and echolalia and echopraxia, or involuntary repetition of another's words or actions.
Let's go back to the part where catatonic schizophrenia can be characterized by excessive movement. There are actually three subtypes within the broad heading of Catatonia. The first type is stupor, which is the type we learned about in class. It is also known as Kahlbaum Syndrome. There is no movement and no response to external stimuli. These patients generally don't make eye contact and are mute. The second type is catatonic excitement, or a constant state of purposeless agitation and excitation. These people are extremely hyperactive, but the activity lacks purpose. To quote Wikipedia, "It is commonly cited as one of the most dangerous mental states in psychiatry." The third type is malignant catatonia, which is characterized by the acute onset of excitement, fever, autonomic instability, and delirium. This type of catatonia may be fatal. Most frighteningly, symptoms of Catatonia, especially catatonic excitement, have been recognized in people with autism spectrum disorders.
Here's a quick review of what we learned in class: Schizophrenia is a a disorder characterized by a split from reality that shows itself in disorganized thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and actions. Catatonic Schizophrenia is characterized by negative symptoms, or the absence of symptoms. Patients with this disorder have a flat affect and are physically stuck. If you move their arm into one position, it will stay there until you move it somewhere else. They literally cannot and will not move unless you move them.
I did a little research about this disorder and it turns out that there's much more to it than what we learned in class. Let's start with the diagnosis: According to the DSM-IV, a person with Catatonic must have at least two of the following: motor immobility, excessive motor activity (what?), extreme negativism, oddities in voluntary movement including grimacing, and echolalia and echopraxia, or involuntary repetition of another's words or actions.
Let's go back to the part where catatonic schizophrenia can be characterized by excessive movement. There are actually three subtypes within the broad heading of Catatonia. The first type is stupor, which is the type we learned about in class. It is also known as Kahlbaum Syndrome. There is no movement and no response to external stimuli. These patients generally don't make eye contact and are mute. The second type is catatonic excitement, or a constant state of purposeless agitation and excitation. These people are extremely hyperactive, but the activity lacks purpose. To quote Wikipedia, "It is commonly cited as one of the most dangerous mental states in psychiatry." The third type is malignant catatonia, which is characterized by the acute onset of excitement, fever, autonomic instability, and delirium. This type of catatonia may be fatal. Most frighteningly, symptoms of Catatonia, especially catatonic excitement, have been recognized in people with autism spectrum disorders.
Here's a video about this disorder. BE WARNED: the hallucination part of the video is pretty frightening. Also, forgive the colloquialisms. I'm pretty sure this was a school project.
I stand by my answer to Mrs. Perl's question. What is the worst disorder to have?
Catatonic Schizophrenia.
Do you agree of disagree? Does the fact that some of these symptoms may appear in those with autism make this disorder even more frightening? Why or why not?
Treating Ornithophobia
So, I have this fear (see previous blogpost), and now we need to know how to treat it. There are many types of therapy that I could undergo, but only one or two would really be the most effective.
First, cognitive-behavioral therapy. This will change my thoughts from negative ones about birds, to more positive ones about birds. It will also reverse my classically conditioned thoughts about birds. The therapist will help me overcome milestones in interacting with bird. Like first he will make me look at a picture of a bird, and by the end of it, I will be able to have a bird stand on my head. This is the best approach to animal phobias because it really reverses the phobia cognitively and behaviorally.
If the phobia was severe there could be some anti-anxiety drugs I could take, and take the psychopharmacology route. This is when you use medical treatment and medicine to treat a psychological disorder. The drugs will only reduce your fear so you can stand going through therapy.
If anyone has any type of animal phobia, I would suggest this very much!
First, cognitive-behavioral therapy. This will change my thoughts from negative ones about birds, to more positive ones about birds. It will also reverse my classically conditioned thoughts about birds. The therapist will help me overcome milestones in interacting with bird. Like first he will make me look at a picture of a bird, and by the end of it, I will be able to have a bird stand on my head. This is the best approach to animal phobias because it really reverses the phobia cognitively and behaviorally.
If the phobia was severe there could be some anti-anxiety drugs I could take, and take the psychopharmacology route. This is when you use medical treatment and medicine to treat a psychological disorder. The drugs will only reduce your fear so you can stand going through therapy.
If anyone has any type of animal phobia, I would suggest this very much!
Ornithophobia
Ornithophobia, otherwise known as bird phobia is something that haunts me every day of my life. I am still trying to figure out if it's an actual phobia though. Why am I questioning it, because when I go to the zoo and have to walk past any bird cage I scream and freak out, but when I am just outside walking around and there is a little bird, I don't flip out.
Let's explore the causes of Ornithophobia in general. Any animal phobia is usually caused by a negative encounter with that type of animal. My dad tells me that my fear started when Rocky the Red Bird crept up behind me and scared me. After which I wouldn't stop crying for 2 hours straight. (NOT A GOOD TIME) I find this really funny that it could have been a mascot of a bird that conditioned and generalized me to be afraid of all birds. Though there are other sources of Ornithophobia that originate in popculture, I think mine stems from the negative encounter.
How can you tell if someone has Ornithophobia? It's quite simple, they will start to shake, scream and run at the sight of a bird, but it can depend on severity of your phobia.
Believe it or not, people with severe Ornithophobia can easily become Agorophobic because there are birds everywhere which would make the person scared and anxious everywhere they go. This could eventually cause them to stay indoors for the rest of their life.
Though I don't have quite the most severe form of Ornithophobia, I do have it to some extent. DO YOU HAVE ANY PHOBIAS?
Let's explore the causes of Ornithophobia in general. Any animal phobia is usually caused by a negative encounter with that type of animal. My dad tells me that my fear started when Rocky the Red Bird crept up behind me and scared me. After which I wouldn't stop crying for 2 hours straight. (NOT A GOOD TIME) I find this really funny that it could have been a mascot of a bird that conditioned and generalized me to be afraid of all birds. Though there are other sources of Ornithophobia that originate in popculture, I think mine stems from the negative encounter.
How can you tell if someone has Ornithophobia? It's quite simple, they will start to shake, scream and run at the sight of a bird, but it can depend on severity of your phobia.
Believe it or not, people with severe Ornithophobia can easily become Agorophobic because there are birds everywhere which would make the person scared and anxious everywhere they go. This could eventually cause them to stay indoors for the rest of their life.
Though I don't have quite the most severe form of Ornithophobia, I do have it to some extent. DO YOU HAVE ANY PHOBIAS?
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Psycho-Pharmacology: My One and Only?
This week in AP Psychology, we began to discuss the many methods of dealing with psychological disorders. Now that we've actually learned what each disorder is all about, it's important to see how they're treated. While listing and explaining each type of therapy would be riveting for everyone, I decided to focus more on psycho-pharmacology. Like everything else, the therapy world contains a bio-psycho-social approach. To deal with the biological aspect, you would probably need some sort of medicine to counteract whatever has gone wrong physically. That is where psycho-pharmacology, using medicine or drugs to treat psychological disorders, comes in.
There are four classes of drugs that one uses to treat different psychological disorders. For psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, there are anti-psychotic drugs. These drugs dampen your response to irrelevant stimuli by blocking or stimulating neurotransmitter receptor sites. For paranoid schizophrenia, you might take chloropromazine or thorazine, which block dopamine receptor sites so excess dopamine cannot be used and prevent positive stimuli, such as hallucinations. Along with every drug comes side effects, and anti-psychotic drugs are no exception. Side effects include: tremors, sluggishness, twitches, and tardive dyskinesia (involuntary movement of limbs).
To act against anxiety, one would use anti-anxiety drugs, which depress central nervous system activity. These drugs include xanax, ativan, valium, and benzodiazapine. This drug can produce physical dependence, as you become dependent on the drug to stop the symptoms of constant nervous system arousal. Another class of drugs, antidepressants, can also counteract anxiety symptoms. They increase the availability of serotonin and norepinephrine. One such drug would be SSRI, the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor, which acts as an agonist for serotonin. Others would be prozac, zoloft, and paxil. These drugs help with anxiety as well because they stop the arousal neurotransmitters from manifesting.
The last class of drugs, mood stabilizers, do just that: they stabilize the mood. These drugs would be used for bipolar disorder to stop the up and down swinging of bipolar disorder. One such drug would be lithium.
With using one method comes the argument that another should be used instead. For the therapies that don't focus on the biological aspects of disorders, psycho-pharmacology would not be used. But is it better to use drugs and medicine for medically-based disorders, or should a mixture be used? On huffingtonpost.com, Michael Tansey, a psychologist from Chicago advocates first for psychotherapy, then for both psychotherapy and psycho-pharmacology, then only psycho-pharmacology, then neither.
When advocating for only psycho-pharmacology, Tansey describes a scenario with someone who has a biologically based disorder. He says that for someone like this, it is better to see a psycho-pharmacologist, who would regularly check up on how the medication is working, see how the side effects are impacting life, and then adjust if necessary. Were they to only receive a quick prescription from an internist without a follow-up, a disdain for psychotherapy and medication may grow.
Link to article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-j-tansey/psychotherapy-medication-_b_4981790.html
There are four classes of drugs that one uses to treat different psychological disorders. For psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, there are anti-psychotic drugs. These drugs dampen your response to irrelevant stimuli by blocking or stimulating neurotransmitter receptor sites. For paranoid schizophrenia, you might take chloropromazine or thorazine, which block dopamine receptor sites so excess dopamine cannot be used and prevent positive stimuli, such as hallucinations. Along with every drug comes side effects, and anti-psychotic drugs are no exception. Side effects include: tremors, sluggishness, twitches, and tardive dyskinesia (involuntary movement of limbs).
To act against anxiety, one would use anti-anxiety drugs, which depress central nervous system activity. These drugs include xanax, ativan, valium, and benzodiazapine. This drug can produce physical dependence, as you become dependent on the drug to stop the symptoms of constant nervous system arousal. Another class of drugs, antidepressants, can also counteract anxiety symptoms. They increase the availability of serotonin and norepinephrine. One such drug would be SSRI, the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor, which acts as an agonist for serotonin. Others would be prozac, zoloft, and paxil. These drugs help with anxiety as well because they stop the arousal neurotransmitters from manifesting.
The last class of drugs, mood stabilizers, do just that: they stabilize the mood. These drugs would be used for bipolar disorder to stop the up and down swinging of bipolar disorder. One such drug would be lithium.
With using one method comes the argument that another should be used instead. For the therapies that don't focus on the biological aspects of disorders, psycho-pharmacology would not be used. But is it better to use drugs and medicine for medically-based disorders, or should a mixture be used? On huffingtonpost.com, Michael Tansey, a psychologist from Chicago advocates first for psychotherapy, then for both psychotherapy and psycho-pharmacology, then only psycho-pharmacology, then neither.
When advocating for only psycho-pharmacology, Tansey describes a scenario with someone who has a biologically based disorder. He says that for someone like this, it is better to see a psycho-pharmacologist, who would regularly check up on how the medication is working, see how the side effects are impacting life, and then adjust if necessary. Were they to only receive a quick prescription from an internist without a follow-up, a disdain for psychotherapy and medication may grow.
Link to article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-j-tansey/psychotherapy-medication-_b_4981790.html
Friday, March 21, 2014
Therapy
This week we talked a lot about therapy. The different types of therapy include:
Psychoanalysis: It's based on the Freudian belief that our behaviors are driven by unconscious drive and forces. They believe that anxiety is a conflict between the id and the supergo. The goal of this form of therapy is to try and bring repressed memories to the surface. The therapy is very costly and involves the therapist staying out of sight and using the practice of free association (saying whatever comes to mind continuously). The therapist uses the resistance (pausing between words) to find the things that bring shame. What often happens is transference (they transfer feelings about something to the therapist). They also perform dream analysis - the idea is that their dreams give access to the patient's unconscious.
Psychodynamic approach: This form of therapy is face-to-face and is what we are thinking of when we classically think of therapy. They don't think that it's all about uncovering repressed memories. They focus on uncovering the things that affected the past, they want to talk about it. They realize that the past impacts the present and the goal is to solve the present problems by looking at the past. They focus on interpersonal psychotherapy - they're not going to delve into the patient's childhood, they're going to look at the current relationships.
Humanistic approach: Humanism focuses on the ideas of self-actualization, being positive, being growth-oriented, the fact that people are good, and the merging of the perceived self and the ideal self. The humanistic approach thinks that by the therapist disclosing something about themselves, they can help the patient. They practice insight therapy - trying to give advise; and client-centered therapy - the focus is on the client and the present, they want to elicit ideas from the client. They use active listening, where they mirror back what the client is saying and always have unconditional positive regard - they always find the good in people.
Behavioral therapy: Behaviorists define behavior as an observable behavior. The goal is to change behavior - not looking into the past. They use classical and operant conditioning to achieve this. Through classical conditioning, they use things like exposure therapy (continuous exposure to the problem), to systematically desensitize the patient to the problem. The goal is to repeatedly pair the neutral stimulus with progressive relaxation and it will eventually extinguish the response. Aversive conditioning replaces the behavior by pairing it with something negative. Operant conditioning reinforces or punishes to change the behavior. By using a token economy (using a prize to act as money) therapists can reinforce behavior.
Cognitive therapy: Cognitive therapy will only work if depression comes from a cognitive approach. Cognitive therapy aims to look at a person's thought pattern, and wants to change that pattern.
Cognitive-behavior therapy: This approach combines behavioral and cognitive therapy. Their goal is to address thoughts, emotions, and behaviors -- because they all influence your life.
Group and family therapy: this type of therapy is of the opinion that an individual might gain more insight by seeing what others say. They think that sometimes there are issues that affect an entire group or a family, and can be helped if discussed together.
Ecclectic approach: This approach takes the opinion 'one approach isn't good.' The more you use the better! The best way to solve a problem is to pull from a variety of sources.
I don't know which I think is best. I think that it really depends on the situation.. Maybe that would mean I like the ecclectic approach best?? Which approach do you think is most effective?
Psychoanalysis: It's based on the Freudian belief that our behaviors are driven by unconscious drive and forces. They believe that anxiety is a conflict between the id and the supergo. The goal of this form of therapy is to try and bring repressed memories to the surface. The therapy is very costly and involves the therapist staying out of sight and using the practice of free association (saying whatever comes to mind continuously). The therapist uses the resistance (pausing between words) to find the things that bring shame. What often happens is transference (they transfer feelings about something to the therapist). They also perform dream analysis - the idea is that their dreams give access to the patient's unconscious.
Psychodynamic approach: This form of therapy is face-to-face and is what we are thinking of when we classically think of therapy. They don't think that it's all about uncovering repressed memories. They focus on uncovering the things that affected the past, they want to talk about it. They realize that the past impacts the present and the goal is to solve the present problems by looking at the past. They focus on interpersonal psychotherapy - they're not going to delve into the patient's childhood, they're going to look at the current relationships.
Humanistic approach: Humanism focuses on the ideas of self-actualization, being positive, being growth-oriented, the fact that people are good, and the merging of the perceived self and the ideal self. The humanistic approach thinks that by the therapist disclosing something about themselves, they can help the patient. They practice insight therapy - trying to give advise; and client-centered therapy - the focus is on the client and the present, they want to elicit ideas from the client. They use active listening, where they mirror back what the client is saying and always have unconditional positive regard - they always find the good in people.
Behavioral therapy: Behaviorists define behavior as an observable behavior. The goal is to change behavior - not looking into the past. They use classical and operant conditioning to achieve this. Through classical conditioning, they use things like exposure therapy (continuous exposure to the problem), to systematically desensitize the patient to the problem. The goal is to repeatedly pair the neutral stimulus with progressive relaxation and it will eventually extinguish the response. Aversive conditioning replaces the behavior by pairing it with something negative. Operant conditioning reinforces or punishes to change the behavior. By using a token economy (using a prize to act as money) therapists can reinforce behavior.
Cognitive therapy: Cognitive therapy will only work if depression comes from a cognitive approach. Cognitive therapy aims to look at a person's thought pattern, and wants to change that pattern.
Cognitive-behavior therapy: This approach combines behavioral and cognitive therapy. Their goal is to address thoughts, emotions, and behaviors -- because they all influence your life.
Group and family therapy: this type of therapy is of the opinion that an individual might gain more insight by seeing what others say. They think that sometimes there are issues that affect an entire group or a family, and can be helped if discussed together.
Ecclectic approach: This approach takes the opinion 'one approach isn't good.' The more you use the better! The best way to solve a problem is to pull from a variety of sources.
I don't know which I think is best. I think that it really depends on the situation.. Maybe that would mean I like the ecclectic approach best?? Which approach do you think is most effective?
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