• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 768 0

but beginning with DSM-III, diagnostic categories have been clearly listed, assumptions about suspected causes of disorders have been eliminated, numbers of disorders have been increased, and diagnoses are given on five axes (dimensions). Axis I: Clinical Syndromes contains all of the major disorders including anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, substance abuse, and organic mental disorders. Axis II: Personality Disorders and Mental Retardation contains disorders such as obsessive-compulsive and mild retardation that could be overlooked when focus is on Axis I. Individuals can have diagnoses on both Axes I and II. The other axes deal with general medical conditions, psychosocial and environmental problems, and global assessment of functioning. Reliability of diagnoses has improved significantly and validity is considered to have been improved. Most North American third-party providers (medical insurance companies) require diagnoses from DSM-IV for payment of mental health benefits. Criticisms of the use of DSM-IV include the thought that “labeling is disabling,” whereby diagnostic labels are applied to the whole person (e.g., John’s a schizophrenic) rather than used to mean the individual is suffering from a particular disorder; and that categorization results in attributing characteristics to the individual that he/she doesn’t possess, or in missing something important about the individual.

Types of Disorders

Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety is the primary symptom, or the primary cause of other symptoms, for all anxiety disorders. Anxiety is a feeling of impending doom or disaster from a specific or unknown source that is characterized by mood symptoms of tension, agitation, and apprehension; bodily symptoms of sweating, muscular tension, and increased heart rate and blood pressure; as well as cognitive symptoms of worry, rumination, and distractibility. Anxiety disorders include panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

• Panic disorder is the diagnosis when an individual experiences repeated attacks of intense anxiety along with severe chest pain, tightness of muscles, choking, sweating, or other acute symptoms. These symptoms can last anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours. Panic attacks have no apparent trigger and can happen at any time. Since these are statistically rare, having perhaps three of these in a 6-month period of time would be cause for alarm.

• Generalized anxiety disorder is similar to a panic disorder. Symptoms must occur for at least 6 months and include chronic anxiety not associated with any specific situation or object. The person frequently has trouble sleeping, is hypervigilant and tense, has difficulty concentrating, and can be irritable much of the time.

Panic disorder has acute symptoms short in duration, whereas generalized anxiety disorder has less-intense symptoms for a longer period of time.

• Phobias are intense, irrational fear responses to specific stimuli. Nearly 5% of the population suffers from some mild form of phobic disorder. A fear turns into a phobia when it provokes a compelling, irrational desire to avoid a dreaded situation or object, disrupting the person’s daily life. Common phobias include:

agoraphobia—fear of being out in public

acrophobia—fear of heights

claustrophobia—fear of enclosed spaces

zoophobia—fear of animals (such as snakes, mice, rats, spiders, dogs, and cats)

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a compound disorder of thought and behavior. Obsessions are persistent, intrusive, and unwanted thoughts that an individual cannot get out of his/her mind. Obsessions are different from worries; they generally involve a unique topic (such as dirt or contamination, death, or aggression), are often repugnant, and are seen as uncontrollable. If a person were frequently bothered by thoughts of wanting to harm others, this would be called an obsession. Obsessions are often accompanied by compulsions, ritualistic behaviors performed repeatedly, which the person does