Psychotic, childhood, and cognitive disorders Essay

Many disorders are said to form in the stages of childhood or are in some way are bound to an individual by genetics. Some may just gradually appear or grow more intense over a period of time. No matter the disorder, it can make a person’s life a challenging one. The disorders that will be discussed below are psychotic disorders, childhood disorders, and cognitive disorders and how they affect an individual’s life. Psychotic disorders Psychosis is a symptom that causes an individual to be out of touch with reality. An individual may experience hallucinations and delusions. Schizophrenia is a disorder that fits into this category. The characteristics of schizophrenia are hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thought or speech, bizarre behavior, decrease in speech, emotional flattening, lack of motivation, and lack of pleasure. It has five subtypes known as paranoid schizophrenia, disorganized schizophrenia, catatonic schizophrenia, residual schizophrenia, and undifferentiated schizophrenia. The biological components look at the distal and proximal causes. According to Hansell & Damour (2008), The proximal causes of the symptoms involve various abnormalities in brain function, brain structure, and neuropsychological/neurophysiological status that may cause schizophrenic symptoms (though it is also possible that some of them are effects, not causes, of schizophrenia). The distal causes are what help to answer the questions to what the causes of schizophrenia may be. The cognitive components focus on the deficits in reasoning and the role that attention has. Interventions address those deficits to help treat schizophrenia. The sociocultural perspective focuses on institutional and large social forces that may have been the cause of the disorder. The family systems perspective suggests that the family has much do with causing schizophrenia. The hypothesis that family environments are pathological, give theorists something to focus on in family therapy. Freud believed that schizophrenia was biologically based. His idea was that psychotherapy would not help schizophrenia since he believed the individual was trying to connect with the outside world. Frieda Fromm-Reichmann used psychotherapy to successfully treat a patient. She believed schizophrenia was caused by an overbearing mother who was too demanding and cold shouldered. Childhood disorders There are many disorders in this category. The complete list includes: mental retardation, learning disorders, motor skills disorder, communication disorders, persuasive developmental disorders, ADD behavior disorder (Attention deficit and disruptive), eating and feeding disorders of infancy and early childhood, tic disorders, elimination disorders, and the category of other disorders. There are five prominent disorders that are considered by the DSM-IV-TR as childhood disorders: Mental retardation, separation anxiety disorder, ADD disorders, persuasive developmental disorders, and learning disorders. Mental retardation is a disorder present at birth. It impairs adaptive behavior and intellectual functioning. This includes Down syndrome, fragile x syndrome, tay-sachs disease, phenylketonuria, fetal alchohol syndrome, and shaken baby syndrome. Separation anxiety disorder happens when excessive anxiety appears as a result of separation from home or parents/guardians. ADD, also known as attention deficit and disruptive behavior disorder, includes three different types of diagnosis’s: attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and conduct disorder (CD). ADHD includes characteristics of impulsivity, hyperactivity, inattention. ODD includes characteristics of hostility, negativity, and defiant behavior along with the combination of other symptoms that include: temper loss, argumentative, defies rules and does not comply, deliberately annoying, blames others for misbehavior and mistakes, reactive or touchy, resentful, angry, vindictive, and spiteful. CD has characteristics of property destruction, theft, deceitfulness, aggression toward animals and people, and serious violation of any rules. A persuasive developmental disorder is characterized by persistent and profound impairment of functioning. Normal communication and social skills are not developed. Autism is the most common disorder diagnosed in this category as well as aspergers disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, and rett’s disorder. Autism consists of impaired communication, social interaction, and repetitive patterns of activities, interests, and behaviors. Asberger’s disorder consists of superior and cognitive language skills. They share some of the same aspects of autism yet focus more on specific objects or things. Children with childhood disintegrative disorder develop normally until the age of two. Then they suddenly lose motor skills, language ability, and social skills and start to develop many of the characteristics of autism. Rett’s disorder occurs after two years of age as well and shares many autism characteristics. This disorder only develops in girls. Characteristics include slow head growth, loss of physical coordination, motor skills, and social skills. Learning disorders impair all of the areas of cognitive functioning as well as trouble with certain academic skills. This category includes disorders such as dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and dyslexia. All of these disorders cause problems within a learning environment and interferes with daily living activities. Cognitive Disorders A cognitive disorder is characterized by a change in functioning caused by disturbance in thinking. There are three main disorders in this category: amnesia, dementia, and delirium. Dementia and delirium typically occur in elderly adults. The characteristics of delirium include difficulty focusing, attention shifting, language problems, disorientation, and memory loss that appear within a couple of hours and may last for days. The characteristics of dementia are memory impairment and cognitive deficits along with at least one of the following: apraxia, aphasia, executive functioning disturbances, or agnosia. It is permanent and gradually declines cognitive functioning. Individuals with amnesia have trouble developing memory and the inability to recall memories. It can either be chronic or transient, depending on the type of amnesia. Organic amnesia is a result of a viral infection, substance abuse, or physical trauma caused to the brain. Other types of amnesia may involve brain damage that is lasting or pervasive. Conclusion Developing a disorder can be difficult. Obtaining the right treatment and help can be beneficial the individuals life. Psychotic disorders are on a different level than the rest of the disorders described above. They require medication and possibly hospitalization since there is yet to be a cure. Childhood disorders can be managed with the correct medication and family therapy sessions. Cognitive disorders may require medication, depending on the severity as well as deep brain stimulation, surgery, or therapy to help with memory. Currently there is no cure for dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, only a help of prolonging the effects.