Abnormal Psychology: The History of Mental Illness

IB Psychology: Abnormal Psychology


Electro-convulsive therapy (ECT): also known as the electroshock is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized patients for therapeutic effect. Nowadays it is not used, but sometimes use it for a treatment for severe depression that has not responded to other treatment. It was first introduced first by an Italian neuropsychiatrist  Ugo Cerletti  and Lucio Bini. With ECT 70 percent of the patients are womens, and mostly there is a significant risk of memory loss. ECT is safe and among the most effective treatments available for depression. With ECT, electrodes are put on the patient's scalp and a finely controlled electric current is applied. The current causes a brief seizure in the brain. ECT is one of the fastest ways to relieve symptoms in severely depressed or suicidal patients. It's also very effective for patients who suffer from mania or other mental illnesses. ECT is generally used when severe depression is unresponsive to other forms of therapy. Or it might be used when patients pose a severe threat to themselves or others and it is dangerous to wait until medications take effect. ECT has the process of doing it. First of all the patient is given a muscle relaxant and is put to sleep with a general anesthesia. Electrodes are placed on the patient's scalp and a finely controlled electric current is applied. This current causes a brief seizure in the brain. Because the muscles are relaxed, the visible effects of the seizure will usually be limited to slight movement of the hands and feet. Patients are carefully monitored during the treatment. The patient awakens minutes later, does not remember the treatment or events surrounding it, and is often confused. The confusion typically lasts for only a short period of time.When used, ECT is usually given up to three times a week for a total of two to four weeks.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, ECT can be beneficial in the following situations:

• when a need exists for rapid treatment response, such as in pregnancy
• when a patient refuses food and that leads to nutritional compromise
• when a patient's depression is resistant to antidepressant therapy
• when other medical ailments prevent the use of antidepressant medication
• when the patient is in a catatonic stupor
• when the depression is accompanied by psychotic features
• when treating bipolar disorder
• when treating mania
• when treating patients who have a severe risk of suicide
• when treating patients who have had a previous response to ECT
• when treating patients with atypical psychosis
• when treating patients with major depression
• when treating schizophrenia

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: It is an empirically supported treatment that focuses on patterns of thinking that are maladaptive and the beliefs that underlie such thinking. For Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, it has demonstrated its usefulness for a wide variety of   problems, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, eating disorders, substance abuse disorders, and psychotic disorders. The underlying concept behind  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is that our thoughts and feelings play a fundamental role in our behavior. For example, a person who spends a lot of time thinking about plane crashes, runaway accidents and other air disasters may fund themselves voiding air travel. The goal of cognitive behavior therapy is to teach patients that while the cannot control every aspect of the world around them, they can take control of how they interpret and deal with things in their environment. Cognitive behavior therapy has become increasingly popular in recent years with both mental health consumers and treatment professionals. Because CBT is usually a short-term treatment option, it is often more affordable than some other types of therapy. CBT is also empirically supported and has been shown to effectively help patients overcome a wide variety of maladjusted behaviors. Cognitive behavior therapy has been used to treat people suffering from a wide range of disorders, including anxiety, phobias, depression and addiction. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy  is one of the most researched types of therapy, in part because treatment is focused on a highly specific goal and results can be measured relatively easily. Cognitive behavior therapy is often best suited for clients who are comfortable with introspection. In order for  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy  to be effective, the individual must be ready and willing to spend time and effort analyzing his or her thoughts and feelings. Such self-analysis can be difficult, but it is a great way to learn more about how internal states impact outward behavior. Cognitive behavior therapy is also well-suited for people looking for a short-term treatment options that does not necessarily involve pharmacological medication. One of the greatest benefits of cognitive-behavior therapy is that it helps clients develop coping skills that can be useful both now and in the future.




Serotonin-Norepinephrine Re-uptake Inhibitors:  Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors s are a class of medications that are effective at easing depression symptoms. Serotonin-Nor-epinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors are also sometimes used to treat other mental health conditions such as anxiety. Serotonin and Norepinephrine re-uptake inhibitors ease depression by affecting chemical messengers used to communicate between brain cells. Most antidepressants work by changing the levels of one or more of these naturally occurring brain chemicals. Serotonin-Nor-epinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors block the absorption of the neurotransmitters. Changing the balance of these chemicals seems to help brain cells send and receive messages, which in turn boosts mood. Medications in this group of antidepressants are sometimes called dual re-uptake inhibitors. 

Abnormal Psychology: Mental Ilness

Anxiety Disorder: Specific Phobia
The term "phobia" refers to a group of symptoms brought on by certain objects or situations.
A specific phobia, formerly called a simple phobia, is a lasting and unreasonable fear caused by the presence or thought of a specific object or situation that usually poses little or no actual danger. Exposure to the object or situation brings about an immediate reaction, causing the person to endure intense anxiety (nervousness) or to avoid the object or situation entirely. The distress associated with the phobia and/or the need to avoid the object or situation can significantly interfere with the person's ability to function. Adults with a specific phobia recognize that the fear is excessive or unreasonable, yet are unable to overcome it.
Symptoms of specific phobias may include:

• Excessive or irrational fear of a specific object or situation.
• Avoiding the object or situation or enduring it with great distress.
• Physical symptoms of anxiety or a panic attack, such as a pounding heart, nausea or diarrhea, sweating, trembling or shaking, numbness or tingling, problems with breathing (shortness of breath), feeling dizzy or lightheaded, feeling like you are choking.
• Anticipatory anxiety, which involves becoming nervous ahead of time about being in certain situations or coming into contact with the object of your phobia. (For example, a person with a fear of dogs may become anxious about going for a walk because he or she may see a dog along the way.)

Children with a specific phobia may express their anxiety by crying, clinging to a parent, or throwing a tantrum.
The exact cause of specific phobia is not known, but the etiology (causes) of specific phobia is extensively studied. However, the mechanism that lies behind the development of specific phobia is extremely complex and involves a combination of several factors.


Affective Disorder: Major Depressive Disorder

A person who suffers from a major depressive disorder must either have a depressed mood or a loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities consistently for at least a 2 week period. This mood must represent a change from the person's normal mood. Social, occupational, educational or other important functioning must also be negatively impaired by the change in mood. For instance, a person who has missed work or school because of their depression, or has stopped attending classes altogether or attending usual social engagements. A depressed mood caused by substances (such as drugs, alcohol, medications) is not considered a major depressive disorder, nor is one which is caused by a general medical condition. Major depressive disorder generally cannot be diagnosed if a person has a history of manic, hypomanic, or mixed episodes (e.g., a bipolar disorder) or if the depressed mood is better accounted for by schizoaffective disorder and is not superimposed on schizophrenia, a delusion or psychotic disorder. Typically the diagnosis of major depression is also not made if the person is grieving over a significant loss in their lives (see note on bereavement below).
Clinical depression is characterized by the presence of the majority of these symptoms:

• Depressed mood most of the day,   nearly every day, as indicated by either subjective report (e.g., feeling sad or empty) or observation made by others (e.g., appears tearful). (In children and adolescents, this may be characterized as an irritable mood.)
• Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day
• Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain (e.g., a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month), or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day.
• Insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day
• Psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day
• Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day
• Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day
• Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day
• Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide

In addition, for a diagnosis of major depression to be made, the symptoms must not be better accounted for by Bereavement, i.e., after the loss of a loved one, the symptoms persist for longer than 2 months or are characterized by marked functional impairment, morbid preoccupation with worthlessness, suicidal ideation, psychotic symptoms, or psychomotor retardation.

symptoms
reqiurements for diagnosis
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risk factors