Heart Disease. Just another excuse for lazy people not to work. Imagine if we treated everyone like we treat the mentally ill.
What was the statement suggesting? Why types of mental illnesses are seen as “excuses”?
No FEAR!! Fear is an Anxiety Disorder We have nothing to fear but fear itself!! FDR Phobias: Irrational fear is a part of our general psyche as normal human beings. Women in particular, admit to having more fears than men. Biological research confirms that we are born with fear (amygdala). It is nature’s way of protecting us. When the amygdala system overreacts we have panic attacks. When this happens, rational analysis through frontal cortex is no longer possible.
The Scientific Answer It is the human’s response to danger. We are preconditioned to be fearful of heights, spiders, and snakes. “flight or fight” instinct
THE TEN MOST COMMON PHOBIAS SPIDERS = arachnophobia PEOPLE and/or SOCIAL SITUATIONS = sociophobia FLYING = aerophobia OPEN SPACES = agoraphobia CONFINED SPACES = claustrophobia HEIGHTS = acrophobia CANCER = carcinophobia THUNDERSTORMS = brontophobia DEATH = necrophobia HEART DISEASE = cardiophobia
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder As Good As it Gets Rain Man Real Life: Living with OCD
What Is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? Worries, doubts, superstitious beliefs all are common in everyday life. However, when they become so excessive such as hours of hand washing or make no sense at all such as driving around and around the block to check that an accident didn't occur then a diagnosis of OCD is made. In OCD, it is as though the brain gets stuck on a particular thought or urge and just can't let go. People with OCD often say the symptoms feel like a case of mental hiccups that won't go away. OCD is a medical brain disorder that causes problems in information processing. It is not your fault or the result of a "weak" or unstable personality.
Before the arrival of modern medications and cognitive behavior therapy, OCD was generally thought to be untreatable Today, is completely curable in some individuals and the others, where it is not curable, are able to achieve meaningful and long-term symptom relief with treatment.
OCD: obsessions and compulsions Common Obsessions: Common Compulsions: Contamination fears of germs, dirt, etc. Washing Imagining having harmed self or others Repeating Imagining losing control or aggressive urges Checking Intrusive sexual thoughts or urges Touching Excessive religious or moral doubt Counting Forbidden thoughts Ordering/arranging A need to have things "just so" Hoarding or saving
OCD symptoms can occur in people of all ages OCD symptoms can occur in people of all ages. Not all Obsessive-Compulsive behaviours represent an illness. Some rituals (e.g., bedtime songs, religious practices) are a welcome part of daily life. Normal worries, such as contamination fears, may increase during times of stress, such as when someone in the family is sick or dying. Only when symptoms persist, make no sense, cause much distress, or interfere with functioning do they need clinical attention.
Research suggests that OCD involves problems in communication between the front part of the brain (the orbital cortex) and deeper structures (the basal ganglia). These brain structures use the chemical messenger serotonin. It is believed that insufficient levels of serotonin are prominently involved in OCD. Drugs that increase the brain concentration of serotonin often help improve OCD symptoms.
Treating Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder The most successful treatments for children with OCD are behavioral therapy and medication. Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy (CBT) helps children learn to change their thoughts and feelings by first changing their behavior. CBT involves exposure, or exposing the child to his fears to decrease his anxiety about it. For example, a child who is afraid of dirt might be exposed to something he considers dirty until he no longer fears it. For exposure to be successful, it is often combined with response prevention, in which the child's rituals or avoidance behaviors are blocked. For example, the child who fears dirt must not only stay in contact with the dirty object, he also must not be allowed to wash repeatedly. Some treatment plans involve having the child "bossing back" the OCD, giving it a nasty nickname, and visualizing it as something the child can control.
Knowledge - In your own words define/describe: cognitive behaviour psychotherapy (CBT), exposure, and “bossing back.” Thinking/Inquiry Write a half page reflection on what a daily routine would be like for someone living with OCD. Include thoughts that might occur and the subsequent behaviours (Examples of routines: getting ready for school/work, grocery shopping, driving to the store, writing a test, etc.) Consider the emotional/social implications of living with OCD. Read page 415 (IN FOCUS: Alienation and Mental Illness)How can education (school/media) help to reduce the stigma attached to mental illness?