Figure 2: About one-third to one-half of U.S. adolescents (ages 8–15) with mental disorders receive treatment, with behavior-related disorders more likely to be treated. Considering the many forms of treatment for mental health disorders available today, how did these forms of treatment emerge?
Full Answer
What is abnormal child and Adolescent Psychology?
Child and adolescent psychology can provide them with tools for social interactions with peers and teach them to nurture relationships that are important to them. Abnormal child and adolescent psychology deal with teens who have mental health problems. Some common mental health issues that teens deal with include:
What do adolescents need to know about adolescent psychology?
Some of these include independence, sexuality, drug use, and peer relationships. As they go through this exciting and challenging phase of development, teens may need help from adolescent psychologists so they can work through and resolve these issues in positive ways.
What is abnormal psychology and why is it important?
Abnormal psychology examines psychopathology and abnormal behavior. The term covers a range of disorders. Included are mood disorders, personality disorders and any type of behavior that deviates from the norm. This particular branch of psychology is very important, especially when it comes to diagnosing and treating mental illness.
What is the behavioral approach to abnormal psychology?
As the name suggests, the behavioral approach to abnormal psychology focuses on the specific conduct of the afflicted individual. The behavioral approach emphasizes positive reinforcement. Positive behavior patterns are important to override the adverse, atypical behaviors.
What is abnormal psychology?
Abnormal Psychology is the study of mental disorders. Mental disorders are defined as psychological disorders that cause a person to act outside of the norm. Psychologists use the DSM, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual to diagnose abnormal psychology disorders.
How many mental disorders are there in the DSM?
There are 12 categories of mental disorders recognized by the DSM and several specific disorders listed under each. Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Neurodevelopmental disorders are usually diagnosed during early childhood and impair how a brain develops or works with the neurological systems in the body.
What is the treatment for addiction?
Substance abuse and addiction are treated with psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, group therapy, and family therapy.
What is cognitive behavior therapy?
Cognitive Behavior therapy is usually prescribed for these disorders and mood stabilizers and other medications to help manage the symptoms. For patients with extreme behavior disorders that cause danger or threat of danger to themselves or others, inpatient and residential treatment facilities are available.
What is it called when you are not in control of your emotions?
Behavior Disorders. Some abnormal psychology disorders can greatly impact a person's behavior in ways that may make that person dangerous. Behavior disorders are sometimes called impulse control disorders and cause a person to not be in conscious control of their feelings, emotions, and impulses.
Why do medications help with mood?
Because a chemical imbalance generally causes mood disorders in the brain, medications can help the brain produce and regulate the correct hormones and chemicals in the brain. Anxiety Disorders. People with anxiety disorder often experience constant and persistent worry or fear over real or perceived threats.
Is autism rare?
Despite media claims to the contrary, trauma disorders, personality disorders, and autism spectrum disorder are much rarer. Well-known conditions such as PTSD, borderline personality disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder are slightly more common but still have lifetime prevalence rates of only 1-1.5 percent.
What is the scientific study of abnormal behavior?
Abnormal psychology is the scientific study of abnormal behavior, with the intent to be able to predict reliably, explain, diagnose, identify the causes of, and treat maladaptive behavior. The study of psychological disorders is called psychopathology.
How to understand abnormal behavior?
To understand what abnormal behavior is, we first have to understand what normal behavior is. Normal really is in the eye of the beholder, and most psychologists have found it easier to explain what is wrong with people then what is right.
What is prevalence in psychology?
Prevalence is the percentage of people in a population that has a mental disorder or can be viewed as the number of cases divided by the total number of people in the sample. Incidence indicates the number of new cases in a population over a specific period.
What is the term for a mental disorder that lasts a short time?
A disorder may be acute, meaning that it lasts a short time, or chronic, meaning it persists for a long time. It can also be classified as time-limited, meaning that recovery will occur after some time regardless of whether any treatment occurs. Prognosis is the anticipated course the mental disorder will take.
What is the etiology of mental illness?
The etiology is the cause of the disorder. There may be social, biological, or psychological explanations for the disorder which need to be understood to identify the appropriate treatment. Likewise, the effectiveness of a treatment may give some hint at the cause of the mental disorder. More on this later.
What is the scientific study of the frequency and causes of diseases and other health-related states in specific populations?
Epidemiology is the scientific study of the frequency and causes of diseases and other health-related states in specific populations such as a school, neighborhood, a city, country, and the world. Psychiatric or mental health epidemiology refers to the occurrence of mental disorders in a population.
Is psychology a science?
Psychology is the “scientific study of behavior and mental processes.” We will spend quite a lot of time on the behavior and mental processes part throughout this book and in relation to mental disorders. Still, before we proceed, it is prudent to further elaborate on what makes psychology scientific. It is safe to say that most people outside of our discipline or a sister science would be surprised to learn that psychology utilizes the scientific method at all. That may be even truer of clinical psychology, especially in light of the plethora of self-help books found at any bookstore. But yes, the treatment methods used by mental health professionals are based on empirical research and the scientific method.
What are the problems with mental health?
The first problem is that the prevalence of mental disorders is high and growing. The second problem is that the majority of individuals diagnosed with a mental disorder are not able to access an adequate treatment.
Is mental illness undertreated?
In sum, the evidence that has accrued across multiple studies conducted across multiple countries indicates that mental disorders are prevalent and that the number of people meeting diagnostic criteria for a mental disorder appears to be steeply growing. Mental disorders are undertreated.
Is evidence based treatment effective?
Evidence-based psychological treatments (EBPTs) are effective. The Director of the National Institutes of Mental Health in the USA observed that ‘while psychosocial interventions have received much less marketing attention than pharmacological treatments, the results are arguably more encouraging’(p. 29) (Insel, 2009).
Why is adolescent psychology important?
Adolescent psychology can help them make sense of the physical changes they're going through, so they can deal with them positively .
How does child and adolescent psychology help?
Child and adolescent psychology can provide them with tools for social interactions with peers and teach them to nurture relationships that are important to them.
Why do teens need a psychologist?
Some of these include independence, sexuality, drug use, and peer relationships. As they go through this exciting and challenging phase of development , teens may need help from adolescent psychologists so they can work through and resolve these issues in positive ways. As they go through these experiences, they learn how to handle difficult situations and therefore become more independent.
What is the adolescent period?
The American Academy of Pediatrics explains that adolescence is a season of fast-paced development in five key areas: moral, social, physical, cognitive, and emotional. To support this development, adolescent psychology focuses on mental health issues for people between the ages of 13 and 19.
How do teens develop morality?
Teens develop their sense of morality during adolescence as well. They are transitioning from the authority and social order stage of development, in which they were focused on fixed rules. As they mature, they begin to analyze social contracts and relationships. They are concerned with doing what is mutually beneficial and doing what is morally right, even if it isn't legally right. As they grow into adulthood, their moral focus may shift again, as they begin to think of "right" and "wrong" as universal concepts that apply across legal systems and cultures.
How do teens become independent?
Teens need to become independent to become fully functioning adults. As they develop, they can gain the skills to become autonomous. To do this, they must: 1 Explore their identity and develop a stable sense of who they are, 2 Become more aware of themselves and their thoughts and behaviors, and 3 Set and reach goals.
Why do teens have so many opportunities?
Teens have many opportunities as well as challenges related to their physical development.