I have to do an English Oral, and I'm interested in mental health.
I was wondering if anyone can give me accurate information on
Obsessive Compulsive Disorders
Body Dysmorphic Disorder
Schizophrenia
Also, if there are any others which are interesting and not widely known about.
Is Schizophrenia actually a split personality? Or is that just a rumour?
Any links would be helpful too Google searches would turn up more factual information than you'll get from the idjits here. You could also look in www.wikipedia.com
No, schizophrenia is not a split personality, multiple personalities is called "Dissociative Identity Disorder". OCD is when someone has to do certain rituals over and over again before it feels "alright".
BDD is when someone is very unhappy about their body image and complains about it a lot.
Schizophrenia is when someone hears voices, sees things that are not really there, or they are really paranoid. No, it is not a split personality...split personality is when one person claims they are like actually 2 or more people and they have names for each "personality" and will act different. Sybil is a really old movie but gives a really good example of someone with split personality disorder go to a block buster and rent it. Also, A beautiful mind is a good movie about someone with Schizophrenia.
I have OCD and my grandmother is Schizophrenic so I know first hand about those disorders. I have also included some websites that may help you out.
Good Luck! schizophrenia is NOT the same as dissociative identity disorder (aka split personalities). schizophrenia is defined as "a psychosis characterized by delusions, hallucinations, apathy, and a 'split' between thought and emotion". there are actually 4 different recognized types of schizophrenia - disorganized (ex. grossly inappropriate emotions), catatonic (ex. going into a rigid stupor), paranoid (ex. frequent auditory hallucinations), and undifferentiated (someone who fits the definition of schizophrenia but not any of the other sub-classes).
a schizophrenic may do something like giggle uncontrollably when they find out their mother is dead, but someone with a "split personality" may be Horatio the Plumber today and Winston the Rocket Scientist tomorrow, each completely unaware of the other. there was one case of someone who had at least 16 different personalities, each with its own vocabulary, vocal pattern, posture, set of skills, etc.
OCD is characterized by an extreme preoccupation with certain thoughts and compulsive performance of certain behaviors. this means that someone with OCD will first become obsessed with something, for example a fear of contamination, and then develop compulsive behaviors to relieve anxiety about the obsession, such as washing their hands hundreds of times a day to avoid contamination. the obsession and compulsive behaviors become so intense and controlling that people spend more time focusing on them than on anything else.
find a friend who is taking an introductory psychology class, almost every intro psych book has a chapter on psychological disorders. use that as your starting point. www.schizophrenia.com has everything you need to know about it, it is an excellent website and no split personality it is not, that would be split personality disorder lol.
www.ocduk.org is similarly good.
and a good link for BDD: http://www.btinternet.com/~david.veale/b...
hope that helped =] sounds like a cool project.
x OCD - Is where the sufferer repeats tasks unconsciously - for example - making sure something is turned off, or or washing the hands ten times after going ot the toilet etc
Not sure about BDD
Schizophrenia is a split personality disorder - manifesting in different personalities. This is a big topic, and very complex medically. I could type for hours and not cover half of it.
My recommendation would be to try Wikipedia, or the link below. Be warned, lots of medical terminology multiple personality disorder or dissociative personality disorder is split personality disorder. Not schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a long term psychotic disorder (a disorder where someone loses touch with reality). It involves disturbances in thought and behavior patterns as well as disturbances in emotional reactions. It can be very debilitating and can almost always causes a degree of personality change while the person is suffering it.
Onset of the disorder normally starts in late teens -early 20s. Although it can occur at any time.
Symptoms can start slowly. With the person gradually becoming more withdrawn and losing interest in things. In other cases though, it can be a sudden onset, often brought on by stress or upheaval in the persons life.
Symptoms include
* delusions (fixed yet irrational ideas). These can be of persecution, particularly in the case of paranoid schizophrenia. Or hallucinations- where people hear or see things that arent there. This often includes hearing voices that talk about the sufferer negatively.
*thought disorder- this leads to impaired concentration and thought processes. The person seems confused and has disjointed speech. Sometimes uttering strange things and responding strangely to basic questions.
*thought control- the person may feel like their thoughts arent theirs. That their being controlled. Or that other people are stealing /broadcasting them.
*emotional numbness- sufferers can appear detached from society and become eccentric in behavior. They can lose interest in their normal pastimes and often neglect their hygiene and health.
*a rare symptom is catatonia. Where the person adopts a rigid posture for considerable periods of time, which may or may not be interspersed with loud outbursts or repeated movements.
Treatment for schizophrenia tends to be anti-psychotic drugs. What causes schizophrenia is not yet known, although they think its genetic and probably a fault in the brains neurotransmitters.
Body dysmorphic disorder
This is a psychiatric disorder where the sufferer gets severe anxiety and distress by an imaginary fault in one or more parts of their body.
Sufferers can feel so bad that they are effected socially and are reluctant to socialise. They may also insist on having cosmetic surgery to rectify what they see as their problem area(s).
The nature of this illness can mean, however, that no matter how much surgery they have on the area (or on their entire body sometimes), they still feel it needs rectifying and are self conscious of it.
Obsessive compulsive disorder
A psychiatric condition in which an individual has reoccurring ideas that become obsessions. These obsessions make the person act out certain ritualized acts in a repetitive manner, until it becomes a compulsion.
Although sufferers often regard the recurrent thoughts/obsessions as crazy, they are unable to control or resist them. fears of being contaminated by bacteria, or constant doubts (like 'did i shut the window?') are examples of frequent obsessions. There is also the possibility they may suffer obsessional rumination- where the sufferer feels compelled to think of a word, phrase or problem over and over.
Compulsions are carried out normally to stop fears becoming real, or cure an unexplainable anxiety. It often involves counting, or not touching, avoiding or checking things.
Ocd mostly starts in childhood and is thought to possibly have genetic links. Although environmental factors and a tendency towards neurotic symptoms are also thought to be related.
Behavioral therapy is normally used to treat ocd.
Other subjects you might find interesting:
Bipolar disorder
Narcissistic personality
Tourettes syndrome
Autism
Sociopathic personality
Histrionic personality |
