THE PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

In this chapter we will be discussing about disorders including the following identifications:
 Disorders usually first diagnosed in infancy, childhood or adolescence; autism and attention-deficit
or hyperactivity.
 Anxiety disorder; panic disorder, specific phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
 Mood disorders; major depressive and manic episode.
 Schizophrenia
 Personality disorder; anti-social, borderline, and passive-aggressive
 Suicide
Disorders usually first diagnosed in infancy, childhood or adolescence
- The major disorders included in this section are mostly those that are function of development through
the first 18 years of life and are therefore first identified in this period.
Some disorders are included in this section are as follows:
 Mental retardation - the disorder is demonstrated by poor performance in intelligence test by
concurrent deficits in adaptive functioning. (e.g. self-help skills, communication skills, social skills)
 Learning behavior – characterized by significant lags (considering the age and exposure) in learning
the three basic academic skills, namely, reading, writing and mathematics.
 Pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) - characterized by severe and pervasive impairments in
several areas of development including the areas of social interaction, communication and motor
skills where the presence of odd stereotyped behaviors is observed.
 Attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) - marked by lack of focus, excessive and
inappropriate physical activity and poor impulse control.

Pervasive developmental disorder (PDD)

- Are a cluster of disorders characterized by severe and sustained delays observed across the various in
which are expected to develop. Primary among these areas are the following: social skills, language
development and motor skills. These disorders are lifelong conditions for which no known cure has yet
been found. The most well-known among these disorders is autism which will be the focus of
discussion in this section.

Case illustration: PDD, Autistic disorder

When Sonny was around 3 years old, he was found inside a carton box with one leg tied to the bathroom door
He was dressed in ratty clothes and drooled a lot. There was a piece of bread on a plate and a glass of water
inside the box. The place was dirty and smelled of urine. He did not utter any word and hardly noticed
anybody present. Having no one to watch over him, Sonny's mother left him in that state the whole day.
Everyday whenever she had to do the laundry at her employer's house this was a good arrangement, she later
reasoned, as Sonny barely noticed people around him.
It was as this state of neglect that he was placed in a foster home. There sonny was able to eat nourishing
food, sleep on a comfortable bed, and dress in decent clothes. More importantly he had a foster family who
cares about him. Sonny’s foster mother however noticed that as he was about their house he simply bumped
into people and things with sense of danger. He continued to drool and flapped his arms constantly. Despite
an abundance of toys Sonny ignored all of them except for a basket of small toy cars. After looking at the
miniature cars one by one he typically threw them against the wall. Whenever his foster mother tried to talk
to him, Sonny never established eye contact Instead, he totally ignored her, appearing as though he did not
hear anything and yet he often covered his ears when a loud truck drove past their house.
Sonny was later diagnosed with PDD, Autistic Disorder. Given a diagnosis people assumed that his mother's
gross misunderstanding for his marked developmental delays may have caused Sonny subsequent neglect. It
was also surmised that neglect and poverty may have worsened his predicament. As he underwent regular
and sustained interventions, he was gradually able to communicate an relate to people and things
appropriately With much effort on the part of his foster family and help from the multidisciplinary team of
professionals which included a psychologist, an occupational therapist a speech and language pathologist, and
a special education teacher Sonny learned to become more independent in his daily routines Although still
displaying poor eye contact, he became better connected with people. He is gradually learning to
communicate his basic needs- through his actions and some words. He continues to progress with his special
program of interventions.

Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD)

- Is characterized by these behavioral markers lack of focus and attention span, physical hyperactivity
and impulsiveness. Some children diagnosed with this disorder may present Hyperactivity primarily
symptoms of being unable to focus on a task on hand and flit from Deficit/ Disorder (AD/HD) one
activity to the next whereas others may be diagnosed with primarily excessive physical or motor
movements and impulsive behaviors. Many of them also have symptoms of aggression and defiance.
All these symptoms/ behaviors must be seen in the context of childhood development and should
 manifest deviation from what may be considered within the range of typical behaviors of children at
certain ages. They must persist for an extended period of time before a child turns 7 years of age.
Case Illustration: AD/HD
Ever since he was in preschool, Jay has been observed to be inattentive. He was seldom able to complete
anything in one sitting as he became distracted and ran around the classroom. When guarded man-to-man. He
fidgeted on his seat and could not stay put. In frustration, his teachers just let him be, as reminders and
punishments did not seem to work. At home, he displayed similar behaviors. Even when watching his favorite
television show, he ran around or played with his other toys the same time. He always seemed to want to do
more than one thing at the same time.
Moreover he often did things that got him into trouble. Adults taking care of him attest to the fact that he was
quicker than many of them. They were never able to predict what he would be up to next and would only
catch him when the damage was done.
When playing with neighbors or cousins, Jay often grabs their toys. He does not wait for them to lend these
toys to him. He gets what he wants when he wants to. He also has a hard time following rules and often
follows his own. Further, he never finishes any games he plays as he often gets bored before they can be
completed. Now already 7, his behaviors still have not changed. He is as quick and as distractible as ever. As a
result, he now goes to a different school, his third, after having been asked to withdraw from his two previous
schools.

Anxiety disorders this is unpleasant emotion often accompanied by autonomic responses or physiological
reactions such as perspiration, increased heart rate and higher blood pressure, tightness in the chest and mild
stomach discomfort. Anxiety is also accompanied by feel an alarming signal of impending danger or threat to
oneself. These are normal reaction in stressful situations.
Psychoanalytic theories attribute anxiety disorders to past unresolved unconscious conflicts. According to
these theories these unconscious conflicts may be traced to early childhood. For instance feeling of
inadequacy and lack of control may have resulted from a portion disciplining strategy during toilet training.
Behavioral theories focus on anxiety as a learned response to external events and invoke principles of
associative learning to explain some phobias.
Cognitive theories emphasize the way anxious people think about potential dangers; their overestimation of
the likelihood and degree of harm makes them tense and physiologically prepared for danger.
Biological theories focus on interaction of a number of neurotransmitters (including nor epinephrine,
serotonin, and gamma amino butyric acid) that regulates feelings of anxiety. Biochemical abnormalities and
genetic evidence have likewise been identified in panic attacks and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
In the Philippines particularly in tagalogs, anxiety disorder are often referred to as nerbyos. It is
commonly heard that someone ill at ease was inatake ng nerbyos (having the case of the nerves). Although
this term that may refer to anxiety disorders and its associated features.
Panic disorder is characterized by recurrent and unexpected panic attacks. According to the DSM-IV-TR (2000),
a panic attack is marked by discrete period in which there is the sudden onset of intense apprehension
fearfulness, or terror, often associated with feelings of impending doom in 429. These feelings are often
accompanied by palpitations, sweating, shortness of breath, and trembling. They may be experienced with or
without agoraphobia.
Agoraphobia is the fear of being in places where escape maybe difficult or embarrassing, or when help may be
unavailable when unexpected panic attacks occurs.
Case Illustration: Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia
With her daughter in tow, Jennifer was walking toward the church to hear mass one Sunday morning when
she experienced shortness of breath. She momentarily stopped waling as she felt the booming of her beating
heart and the dripping of her cold sweat. She had to be led by her husband back to the car for her to calm
down. The whole family decided to skip mass and go home, since Jennifer was not feeling well. Her husband
called a doctor who checked on her, but found no abnormalities whatsoever. Jennifer soon forgot the
incident.
While at the supermarket a month later, Jennifer had another attack. This time, her husband was not with her,
so she stood there with her heart beating loudly and her body breaking into a cold sweat it was a good thing
that a salesclerk saw her and brought her to their clinic in the succeeding weeks, Jennifer experienced several
more panic attacks whenever she was out of the house. She began to despair because she did not know the
source of her anxiety. The doctor prescribed some medication to calm her down, but to no avail.
Not knowing when an attack would happen Jennifer soon dreaded going out of the house alone. Whenever
she did go out, she always made sure that she was accompanied by her husband or her daughter. As her
attacks often caused her great embarrassment before the crowd that would gather around her, she stopped
going to parties altogether. She also refused to go to Sunday mass for fear that she would have an attack yet
again; she preferred to stay home. Her unhappiness and desperation grew because of this drastic change in
lifestyle.
Summary
 What I've learned about the topic that was assigned to me in disorder usually diagnosed in infancy,
childhood or adolescence is we can observe what is normal and not in development of a child. But we
could not easily say or evaluate that the child has PDD or AD/HD there are basis and diagnosis of those
disorder.
 Example when a child is 3 years old normally they are importunate and don’t have enough knowledge
on what they are doing. But when child becomes 7 years old and older and still cannot understand or
follow what they have to do. And wouldn't act as their age, it's the time to check-up on them to know
what's the problem on their mind and why their behavior is being like that.
 We have different level of sensitivity. Anxiety disorder is normal. But if it makes you feel fear or panic
most of the time and makes you uncomfortable or palpitation you should have a check-up, look for a
psychologist or psychiatrist if you should take a medication because prevention is better than cure.