Psychological disorder paper

Statistics from the National Institute of Mental Health indicates that each year, about one out of four Americans is diagnosed with one or more psychological disorder. In this research paper, I will give the definition of psychological disorders, give examples of psychological disorders and broadly discuss the social anxiety disorder in terms of its symptoms, causes and treatment. Keywords: Psychological disorder, Psychological dysfunction, social anxiety disorder, distress, treatment etc. Overview of psychological disorder and the three key characteristics The term "psychological disorder” is a difficult task to define and thus there isn't a universal definition of the term. Nevertheless, psychologists broadly define this term as “psychological dysfunction in an individual which is associated with distress or impairment and a consequence that isn't culturally expected.

Neurodevelopmental disorders is composed of all those which are diagnosed at infancy, childhood or adolescent for example intellectual disability, communication disorders, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficient disorder as well as the global development delay. Bipolar and related disorders class is characterized by mood swings as well as changes in activity and energy levels e. g. mania or hypomania. Finally, anxiety disorders are those characterized by excessive and persistent fear, worry, anxiety as well as related behavioral changes. Although it is normal for one to feel anxious in some social settings, people with social anxiety disorder often experienced intense fear of interaction with others in most social interactions and fear of being judged, negatively evaluated or rejected by others. High anxiety of the patients leads to psychological dysfunction causing him or her to be distress therefore interfering with the person’s life and relationships (Shelton & Kelly, 2018).

Personal Distress associated with Social Anxiety Disorder As stated earlier social anxiety disorder is a condition characterized by intense anxiety and excessive self-consciousness in everyday social situations. Persons with social anxiety disorder have a persistent, intense and chronic fear of being watched and judged by others and of being embarrassed or humiliated by their own actions. As a result of this, they always experience a lot distress in circumstances such as speaking or performing in public, talking to strangers as well as eating or drinking in public places. The norm of any group is that members should always socialize. Social anxiety disorder causes the violation of this norm in that a person suffering from this condition fear to speak, perform or even stay with people due to fear of being judged, embarrassed or elevated.

Causes and Symptoms The definite cause of social anxiety disorder is still a mystery. Nevertheless, researchers currently believed that it might be caused by a mixture of environmental factors and genetics. Although there isn't direct relationship between childhood maltreatment or in other words early-onset psychological adversity and the build-out of social anxiety disorder, they can be regarded as risk factors. However, Airlin in her article “Treating Social Anxiety Disorder" suggested that both medication and therapy have been effective in treating social anxiety disorder. Many researchers have suggested cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to be the most successful treatment for those suffering from social anxiety disorder. Cognitive-Behavioral Disorder according to the American Psychological Disorder refers to “a system of treatment involving a focus on thinking and its influence on both behavior and feelings.

” It emphasizes the function of unhelpful beliefs as well as their influence on emotional and behavioral outcomes (Shelton & Kerry, 2018). It assists a person to think better, have better behaviors and also to be aware of the symptoms he or she might be having. While normal anxiety serves a beneficial and adaptive purpose, anxiety can also become the genesis of a serious suffering to many people. It is estimated that 15 million person’s in America suffers from social anxiety disorder and most of them often suffer silently, some unwilling or unable to seek treatment for their problems. Therefore, there is need to create awareness on the treatment and early intervention. References Airlin, C & Steven, G. Treating Social Anxiety Disorder. Retrieved from https://www.