The age old question in the field of psychology is: Nature vs. Nurture? Throughout the course, my psychology book has outlined multiple sides to this argument. It's interesting to read about the different topics of psychology looking at each perspective. The topic we are currently learning about is no exception.
Our class is currently reading about psychological disorders. So this is the realm of disorders that includes things like anxiety disorders, phobias, panic disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar......From this list, you can hopefully get the sense that there are many (in fact, hundreds) of different psychological disorders.
It's quite fascinating. I think reading about abnormalities is for most everyone. But what catches you by surprise is when some abnormality prescribes certain symptoms or characteristics that describe you! When this happened to me, I was fortunate to hear my teacher say that it's normal to find different aspects of yourself in some of these disorders. But we don't have the disorder???
That's where this issue of diagnosing someone with a psychological disorder gets tricky. By definition, you only have a "disorder" if you exhibit some kind of ongoing behavior pattern that is deviant, distressful, and/or dysfuncitonal. With this definition, it's easier to classify disorders from let's say, weird habits or tendencies.
Here's the other tricky part about psychological disorders: the list of different types of disorders continues to increase, and the number diagnosed with one of the disorders is also on the rise. Are we becoming more "disorder" now-a-days or are we using terms like "depression" as the common cold of psychological problems? Or maybe it's just that before, these disorders were present but unidentified until now....Either way, the thing that is compelling is that not all of these disorders are common in certain countries. This can be attributed to cultures. Western cultures are more based on individualism, whereas Non-Western cultures emphasize harmony and togetherness . For example, dissociative identity disorder (DID) - a disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities - is more common in North America. I must say, depression is universal, and more common in females than males. But again, the percentage of people who experience major depression at some point in their life varies from country to county. (If you are curious, USA's percentage is a third of Beirut's, approximately 7% and 23 respectively.)
Comparing numbers cross-culturally can tell us a lot about ourselves. I find it t be very insightful. But by now means, don't let it depress you. The world already has enough of those cases.
Our class is currently reading about psychological disorders. So this is the realm of disorders that includes things like anxiety disorders, phobias, panic disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar......From this list, you can hopefully get the sense that there are many (in fact, hundreds) of different psychological disorders.
It's quite fascinating. I think reading about abnormalities is for most everyone. But what catches you by surprise is when some abnormality prescribes certain symptoms or characteristics that describe you! When this happened to me, I was fortunate to hear my teacher say that it's normal to find different aspects of yourself in some of these disorders. But we don't have the disorder???
That's where this issue of diagnosing someone with a psychological disorder gets tricky. By definition, you only have a "disorder" if you exhibit some kind of ongoing behavior pattern that is deviant, distressful, and/or dysfuncitonal. With this definition, it's easier to classify disorders from let's say, weird habits or tendencies.
Here's the other tricky part about psychological disorders: the list of different types of disorders continues to increase, and the number diagnosed with one of the disorders is also on the rise. Are we becoming more "disorder" now-a-days or are we using terms like "depression" as the common cold of psychological problems? Or maybe it's just that before, these disorders were present but unidentified until now....Either way, the thing that is compelling is that not all of these disorders are common in certain countries. This can be attributed to cultures. Western cultures are more based on individualism, whereas Non-Western cultures emphasize harmony and togetherness . For example, dissociative identity disorder (DID) - a disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities - is more common in North America. I must say, depression is universal, and more common in females than males. But again, the percentage of people who experience major depression at some point in their life varies from country to county. (If you are curious, USA's percentage is a third of Beirut's, approximately 7% and 23 respectively.)
Comparing numbers cross-culturally can tell us a lot about ourselves. I find it t be very insightful. But by now means, don't let it depress you. The world already has enough of those cases. So: "Don't worry, BE HAPPY!" - singing bass on wall plaque
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