# Catagorization and Treatment of Mental Disorders.



## Makuren (Sep 15, 2007)

Note: This is a subjective view on the medical and psychological fields. Believe what you wish. Please read this with an open mind and respond. Critically think about it. If something down not make sense tell me and I'll clarify. This is the dark, untold side about psychology which is OFTEN ignored by psychologists themselves.

It is time to break away from the illusions and myths of society.

I entered my Abnormal Psychology class this afternoon and the teacher arose my interest when he began speaking about the important differences between Medical catagorization and treatment to Psychological treatment.

In both fields there are many catagorizations that name certain diseases/illness/set of symptoms with the word "disorder" at the end. Disorder for the medical field means that something biologically in your body is not working the way it should (An enzyme that breaks down milk for example may not be generated by its organ, brain damage, "chemical imbalances", etc). A "disorder" for psychiatry and psychology usually means: The person is not acting normal in society and is eliciting certain behaviors, moods, symptoms, cognitions, feelings of distress, etc.
Medical Catagorization and Treatment:

Professionals working in the medical field are very critical when it comes to understanding the symptoms and treatments options for an individual. Diagnosis is a critical factor that needs to be 100% accurate else the individual is at ask for medical complications, symptoms, even death. For Doctors, they are always curious on the cause of the onset of symptoms and are dedicated to solving the equation that A causes B and we can cure the symptoms of B by giving this Y medication. The reason why they are strict with the diagnosis is because each diagnosis has a wide selection of treatments. One diagnosis may require chimotherapy while others may just need a simple pill. It's important to get it right else you recieve a harm of treatment. There are physical entities, problems, and complications that can be physically seen with the naked eye.

Psychological Catagorization and Treatment:

The DSM-IV is a book filled with catagorized problems, behaviors, disorders, etc. As of you know each group of symptoms. Each illness/disorder is named and classified with its symptoms but a VAST majority of the disorders in the DMS-IV does NOT provide TREATMENT OPTIONS. All the descriptions and catagorizations in the DMS-IV are hypothesis's, constructs, theories, ideas. Most of them DO NOT have a biological BASIS. Indeed there are chemical inbalances within the synaptic cleft and that they can be dealt with by medication such as pills but it only alliviates the symptoms so that life can be tolerable, it never cures the disorder. At this point in time research has not found the cause for many of the illnesses described in the book because there are dozens of factors involved. Since the disorders are really theories to explain human behavior, cognitions, sensations. Many disorders are removed and more are added each time the DMS is updated. Homosexuality which was VERY taboo years ago was considered a mental disorder in DSM II and DMS III. It was pulled out of the forth one because it was becomming accepted (we all no there it is no disorder!). There is not enough evidence for treatment for many definitions/catagories of mental illnesses because all that is possible at this moment is to aliviate syptoms.

Please note that I am not bashing down the Profession, no. I am only pointing out the truths that people (and even I) never grasped or understood untill now. The discipline is important and if all we have is pills that can help "cope" with "incurable illnesses" its a step forwrad in understanding the human body, mind, psychological processes. It is a step forward and not a step back! :wink:

More and more psychologists are finding that many serious disorders such as Autism is linked to biological (genetic) factors. It can be to genes or developmental retardation, etc.

About experiments:

Controled experiments can isolate many variables to have valid results HOWEVER the maximum amount of variables that can be tested at once is only four! Understanding the data from four variables takes large sums of money and long a long period to time to conduct and understand the results.of what their trying to study.can on All that can be done is logically find reasons "why" it is occuring and conduct research to see if the theory formulated has grain of truth. It is a crucial procedureto take to see if new medications work. But honestly due to all the factors involved, the discipline is limited in what it can find.

Bottem line:

The Medical Professionals have empirical physical proof that and can isolate through experiements That A Causes B.

The psychological Profession is limited because many disorders, catagorizations, problems are summed up as a hunch, guess, theory, hypothesis, etc. It is a guess.

Diagnosis in psychology is problematic though. Think about this: Each and every day you see people who are extreme in behaviors and you see many who act "normal". When people act out of cultural norms and become extreme people and psychologists in general make up theories to justify their behavior. They deduce the individuals behavior to a word based on a hunch or logical theory that may or may not be true. That is why many disorders in the DMS get removed, changed to the medical field (Because it is genetic), or get added. Freaky eh? People think its actually an illness but actually its a guess, a theory. It exists in theory but it may not even be real! As many say we may be creating our own reality.

Here's the example my teacher said of how psychology diagnosis's someone in the practical world. We can catagorize and theorize and group symptoms to mental, physical, environmental factors and problems HOWEVER WE CANT EXPLAIN IT

Example:

I look outside and see the sun up in the sky. I feel its warm rays from the window. I go outside and it is even warmer. The rays touching my skin, the wind in my face. "That is hot" I say. A person eventually comes over and says: " Yes the sun is hot but what causes the sun to create light and heat?". I reply: "Because it's hot".

I do not know what the sun is made of, how its created, what caused it. But I know this, It is hot.

In psychology:

I walk outside and see a man walking across from me. I go closer to him and I see his face is stoic and that he is rubbing his shoulders, walking fast and talking to himself. I say to myself "He has DP". A man with curiousity in his mind walks over me and asks me: " Why is that person talking to himself, walking fast, and rubbing his shoulders?" I reply with my answer: "Because he has DP."

We know what the person is suffering from because they have that set of symptoms HOWEVER thats all the discipline knows. It cannot explain why it occured, where it's located, etc.

This brings up a crucial question: Are disorders with no genetic, biological basis or cause non existant? It may be the case. People take the catagorization seriously and truely believe they have it so the body becomes hyper sensitive to these symptoms since its now a strong belief it may occur. They act out their own disorder mentally and physically which will eventually change the chemistry of the body.

I realized through the years that the power of my will, persistance, conciousness is VERY strong. Much stronger than what my body may be able to show. We may actually be influencing ourselves to cause these disorders because we "believe" these disorders.

Why do I have these symptoms of unreality, anxiety, detachement, etc. "Well, because I have DP". It does NOT EXPLAIN ANYTHING. A bloody circle.

Anyway, I'm tired of writing. What do you think? Does this make sense for you? What do you believe? Have contradicting proof? Post it! Always interested! I think it is a interesting topic!


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