Psychological Disorders essays

Psychological Disorders essays Chapter 17 of Dennis Coon ¡s Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior deals with psychological disorders. The theme of the chapter is judgments of normality are relative, but psychological disorders clearly exist and need to be classified, explained and treated. According to the text, psychological disorders are  ¡complex and have multiple causes ¡ (Coon 554). Psychological disorders damage the quality of life in varying degrees. The study of psychological disorders can be tricky. Because disorders are based, primarily, on normality, some experts will agree or disagree on a disorder based on their perception of normal. In other words, what I think is normal, you may not. Because of this, such psychologist as Sigmund Frued, whose opinions and hypothesis were slightly ahead of his time, encountered difficulties in getting their ideas across. Some of the disorders mentioned in this chapter are organic mental disorders, problems caused by brain pathology, s exual and gender identity disorders and personality disorders. Some of the more serious disorders include schizophrenia and suicide. Schizophrenia is defined as a psychosis characterized by delusions, hallucinations, apathy and a split between thought and emotion. One person in 100 will become schizophrenic and roughly half of all the people admitted to mental hospitals are schizophrenic. An even more prominent psychological disorder is suicide. In the psychology in action section of chapter 17, the author states,  ¡Suicide: A Permanent Solution To A Temporary Problem ¡ (Coon 588). A more exact definition of suicide would be the act of killing oneself purposely. Either definition is suitable. Self-destruction has been a struggle for thousands of years. History documents cases of suicide dating all the way back to the ancient Egyptians. Recent decades have seen dedicated efforts by researchers and clinicians to understand the dynamics and...