Abnormal psychology

Every student is entitled to an anxiety free learning environment. If schools fail to recognize or accept that anxiety inhibits a student’s ability to learn, the student will never receive the help that they need. Anxiety related to academics is not a new issue, but it has never gotten the recognition that it needs. If a student has anxiety it impedes on their ability to learn. Academic anxiety left untreated can cause long term symptoms, that carry with them into adulthood. A lack of motivation…

Depression during the adolescent years is becoming very common in this day and age. “It’s an unsettling time, with the many physical, emotional, psychological, and social changes that accompany this stage of life.” (“Depression”) Teenage years have and always will be difficult, but studies have shown that the rate of depression has increased. Studies have shown that one in five teens suffer from depression. There are ways to cope throughout the difficult times, for example making new friends.…

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is not Manic/Bipolar disorder, nor is it multiple personality disorder. It is defined as “A mental disorder characterized by unstable moods, behaviour, and relationships.” (“Borderline,” Mayo) This mental disorder is easily misdiagnosed as another mental disorder. The history of the disorder, characteristics and causes, and finally the diagnosis and the treatment are important for understanding borderline personality disorder. Borderline personality disorder…

Time is precious. We are inundated with this message from infancy. Some of the most common axioms in the western world revolve around this idea, such as “time is money” and “a stitch in time saves nine.” Above all though is the belief that we must not waste time. Yet we do, and often. Perhaps the reason the idea is so pervasive is because we don’t heed it. People lose time in so many ways. They lose hours binge watching a television show on Netflix or surfing the internet. More insidiously are…

Unfortunately, the influence of Asclepiades and Cicero eventually declined and the Roman physician, Celsus, reestablished the notion that madness was a punishment from the Gods. Aulus Cornelius Celsus (25BC-50AD) believed that “a sort of force” should be applied to the insane to scare the demonic spirit, coercing it to flee the body. His beliefs helped to strengthen the idea that some psychological disorders were caused by angry gods or spirits. His beliefs and writings were later used as…

Stigmas almost always carry negative, life changing effects. In regards to mental illness, the stigma that surrounds it can prevent an individual from living their life the way it deserves to be lived, and from seeking the treatment that could potentially help these individuals suffering from mental illness in huge, positive ways. Recent studies have shed a light on a person’s own self-stigma may have worse effects than the stigma that they would face out in society. The media gives off an often…

Techniques and Interventions I often use free association with most of my clients. Many of my clients are hesitant to come to counseling and suffer from some form of low self-esteem. In using free association I am giving the client power to lead the session and it will “help the client learn more about what he or she thinks and feels in a nonjudgmental, accepting atmosphere” (Capuzzi & Gross, 2011, P. 67). If the client feels that they are not being judged, then they are more likely to face the…

Many Americans today suffer from either social anxiety disorder (SAD) and/or depression. In general, people who suffer from either one of these disorders will actually have both as social anxiety and depression are closely related. If someone has social anxiety disorder or social phobia and does not receive treatment, they have the tendency to develop depression. A person suffering from SAD is unlikely to attend social situations out of fear that they will not be liked by others. Someone…

Introduction Veterans living every day with post-traumatic stress disorder often feel on edge, have feelings of panic, or feel emotionally numb and disconnected from family, friends, and loved ones. Post-traumatic stress disorder occurs after experiencing severe trauma or a life-threatening event, and the mind and body in still in a state of shock (Smith, 2015; Robinson, 2015; Segal, 2015). Some other major symptoms of PTSD for veterans include night terrors, extreme emotional and physical…

Angelique Howington
September 17, 2015
Dr. Ribeiro
Introduction to Psychopathology and Adaptive Behavior 
 O’Hare, T., Shen, C., & Sherrer, M. V. (2015). Lifetime abuse and self-harm in people with severe mental illness: A structural equation model. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, And Policy, 7(4), 348-355. doi:10.1037/tra0000016 Article Review People with severe mental illness (SMI) generally have experience with an extreme trauma over their lifetime (Muesser et al.,…