Mental Disorders

1. Mental Disorders By: Austin Woodbury, Stephen Andersen, Ellyn Dienethal, Kati Boger

2. Bipolar Disorder • People with this disorder have an average of thirty percent more of an important class of signal-sending brain cells • By looking at the intensity of the DTBZ signal in all the subjects' brains, the University of Michigan team found that bipolar patients averaged 31 percent more binding sites in the region known as the thalamus, and 28 percent more in the ventral brain stem. • Symptoms are reckless behavior, loss of appetite, no sleep, low self esteem, thoughts of worthlessness and scuicide, withdrawal, sadness, fatigue, elevated mood, agitation. • Bipolar disorder involves periods of excitability (mania) alternating with periods of depression. The "mood swings" between mania and depression can be very abrupt. For the manic phase of bipolar disorder, antipsychotic medications, lithium, and mood stabilizers are typically used. For the depressive phase, antidepressants are sometimes used, with or without the manic phase treatment

3. Two Types of Bipolar Disorder • There are two primary types of bipolar disorder. People with bipolar disorder I have had at least one fully manic episode with periods of major depression. In the past, bipolar disorder I was called manic depression. • People with bipolar disorder II seldom experience full-fledged mania. Instead they experience periods of hypomania (elevated levels of energy and impulsiveness that are not as extreme as the symptoms of mania). These hypomanic periods alternate with episodes of major depression

4. Bipolar Disorder

5. Multiple Personality Disorder & Dissociative Identity Disorder • Dissociation Identidy Disorder(DID) is a disorder in which conscious awareness becomes separated from previous memories, thoughts and feelings. When a situation becomes too overwhelming some people try to dissociate them selves from it. The cause of DID and multiple personality disorder (MPD) aren't clearly understood but most agree it is to be associated with ruthless physical, mental or sexual abuse. The abuse is what the sufferers of MPD and DID try to disassociate themselves from. When this abuse occurs it is believed that the victum "builds" a psychological barrier to seal off painful experiences. The disassociation between a person and their memory could form another personality because of that psychological barrier. Another personality is produced to perform a task or to keep the memories that are too painful for that person to remember. These personalities often are direct opposites and dominate at different times.

6. In 1980 the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders revised the definition for multiple personality disorder and dissociative identity disorder and the critia was as follows: The presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states (each with its own relatively enduring patterns of perceiving, relating, and thinking about the environment and self). At least two of these identities or personality states recurrently take control of the person's behavior. Inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness. The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance such as blackouts, chaotic behavior because of alcohol or medication side effects. Symptoms of MPD and DID are.. Finding oneself in strange places with no memory of how you arrived at that location Notes or letters written in strange handwriting Items in the home that you don't remember purchasing Amnesia for significant portions of a person's day Being called a different name by a friendly stranger Hearing voices inside one's head Facts about DID and MPD • Random Facts • MPD was first recognized and described by a French physician named Pierre Janet in the late 19th century. • DID and MPD are actually quite rare and only account for about 3% of patients in psychiatric hospitals. • MPD and DID usually occur in females nine times more often than in males. • MPD and DID aren't always noticeable and patients can appear to function normally to the people around them. • The three best known books about MPD are Switching Time, Sybil and the Three Faces of Eve. • Children that have imaginary friends or daydream a lot have a greater chance of developing DID or MPD if cruelly abused.

7. Switching Time • Switching time is a book by Richard Baer(below to the right) and about his journey with his patient Karen Overhill that leads to her psychological recovery. Karen Overhill has 17 separate personalities. Each of them hold a purpose whether it be to pay the bills or protect her from the horrifying memories of her past. Here are some examples of a few of her personalities. Jenson is 11 years old. He is an African American, artistic (he drew the three pictures to the right and left) and he "builds" the barriers inside Karen's mind to keep all the personalities mostly separated. Katherine is 34 years old and ages as Karen does. She handles all business transactions, likes to read, loves to listen to classical music, plays the clarinet, and takes care of the children personalities. Miles is 8 years old and was created to hold all the anger and is in constant pain. Miles aged two years before stopping because the ritual abuse began. Miles couldn't bear all the pain so he split himself apart to create Elise, who is also 8, and keeps Miles' and Karl's regular life separate from the abuse. Mile also created Karl from himself. Karl is 10 and feels the most severe pain that none of the other personalities can handle. • Karen acquired all of these personalities because of the severe sexual, physical, and mental abuse she experienced in her childhood. Her father was a member of a sort of town cult that met often and viewed girls and women as merely sexual objects. Most of Karen's memories are split among her personalities. • Each of the 17 personalities have different opinions, memories and handwriting. They take turns coming out when a task needs to be accomplished or when other identities are feeling weak. • One of the stranger aspects of the personalities is that they don't all become sick at one time. Also influences such as alcohol doesn't affect them all the same. Alcohol might make Miles nauseated but not affect Karen 2 ( another personality) whatsoever. • Whenever Dr. Baer refers to "Karen" he is referring to the personality he sees most often which is Karen 3. Karen 3 was created to go to therapy. Technically there isn't just Karen anymore, there are 17 identities that make up Karen. They hold every part of her personality, opinions, values and morals separately.

8. Savant Syndrome

9. What is Savant Syndrome? • Savant syndrome is the presence of unusual intellectual and/or artistic abilities in otherwise impaired individuals • Savant syndrome can be caused either by birth or by a head injury or illness

10. Causes of Savant syndrome • The most prominent theory that covers most cases is an injury to the left part of the brain in the womb, infancy, childhood or adulthood which starts a dramatic compensation by the right brain. • The famous Russian patient S, who literally remembered every detail in his entire life. He could recite conversations or random number lists decades after they happen.

11. Bibliography • Picture- http://www.robertrivard.net/Postitorama/Savants/Savants-1.jpg • Facts- http://geniusblog.davidshenk.com/2007/03/savants_and_us.html • http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1805

12. ADHD • Another disorder is ADHD. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has been a disorder that is widely recognized and can relate to many other disorders. It is often found coexisting with another disorder and people with temper-prone behavior. • Symptoms for are distractibility, forgetfulness, and disorganization. Other symptoms include fidgeting, restlessness, not staying seated in class, and being interruptive. There have been a lot of issues with diagnosing ADHD because of the nature of the symptoms. • Children have often been mistaken for having because of there natural hyperactivity. People have said that it is not a mental disorder at all. They say it is a normal reaction in a boring learning environment. Some of this is true, but ADHD is a real mental disorder according to the World Federation for Mental Health, there is no debating that. • 4% of children who show one or more of the stated symptoms have ADHD. American children being treated for ADHD has quadrupled since 2003 to 2005. This may be because of a false diagnosis for perfectly healthy children or ADHD has really increased through out the years. • Medications for ADHD include Ritalin and adderall. These stimulants help calm people and get them to focus on task. • Not much is know about how ADHD is caused. Most of theories point to a specific neurotransmitter. This neurotransmitter is dopamine. Dopamine is important in thinking, motivation, short-term memory and some emotions, as well as immune function and motor control. Scientists say the amount of dopamine receptors and the level of dopamine released effects how attentive a person is. An inefficiency of these variables causes ADHD. • The way that dopamine and dopamine receptors are affected varies. Some say that it is caused in birth development and if the mother uses harmful substances like cigarettes and alcohol. Others say the inefficiency is caused according to genetics. Attention disorders often run in families, so there are likely to be genetic influences. Studies indicate that 25 percent of the close relatives in the families of ADHD children also have ADHD, whereas the rate is about 5 percent in the general population. The why it is caused is not known entirely.

13. ADHD corresponding to other brain disorders

14. Bibliography • Category. (n.d.). Abnormal Brain Chemistry Found in Bipolar Disorder - Page 2. Bipolar Disorder - Manic Depressive Illness from Diagnosis to Medications. Retrieved December 6, 2009, from http://bipolar.about.com/cs/menu_science/a/press_umich0210_2.htm • bipolar disorder. (n.d.). www.google.com/health. Retrieved December 6, 2009, from https://health.google.com/health/ref/Bipolar+disorder • Bipolar Disorder Symptoms & Bipolar Depression | CureAnxiety.com. (n.d.). Cure Anxiety -What is Anxiety,Bipolar Disorder Symptoms, Depression Medication,Bipolar Disease,Natural Sleep Aids. Retrieved December 6, 2009, from http://cureanxiety.com/bipolar-disorder-symptoms • Google Image Result for http://kirstyne.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/mban1006l.jpg. (n.d.). Google Images. Retrieved December 6, 2009, from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://kirstyne.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/mban1006l.jpg&imgrefurl=http://kirstyne.wordpress.com/2007/12/14/bipolar-disorder/&usg=__xzeHzxCtFg6pKvypURcO-aF20GM=&h=400&w=355&sz=20&hl=en&start • Baer, Richard. Switching Time: A Doctor's Harrowing Story of Treating a Woman with 17 Personalities. null. Reprint. new york: Three Rivers Press, 2008. Print. (tags:none | edit tags) • "Kentucky Virtual Library." Kentucky Virtual Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2009. <http://www.Kyvl.org>. (tags:none | edit tags) • http://www.ldonline.org/adhdbasics/causes • http://www.righthealth.com/topic/What_Causes_Adhd_In_Children/overview/healthology20?fdid=healthology_14988c60d22cc2ad1ed64471c39de08c