There Has Been An Increase In The Proportion Of Persons...

â€Å"There has been an increase in the proportion of persons who associate mental illness with dangerousness, violence, and unpredictability† (Markowitz, 2005: 3) With reference to this statement, what is the public understanding of the nature and extent of mental disorder and how accurate is this? Intro This essay will look at the public understanding of the nature of mental disorder and to what extent it is associated with dangerousness and violence. The essay will begin by exploring the public’s perspectives and opinions on the matter and the impact that the mentally ill have on crime rates. Specific social perspectives will also be explored.. And finally the clinical approach on mental disorders will be explored and the risk factors and†¦show more content†¦Although stigmatizing attitudes are not only relatable to mental illness, the public attitudes towards mental illness tend to be more disapproving than towards people with physical illnesses (Piner and Kahle, 1984; Socall and Holtgraves, 1992; Weiner, Perry and Magnusson, 1988). Those with mental illnesses are viewed as being more likely to be responsible for their mental illness (Corrigan et al., 2000; 105). This assumptions is more towards those who suffer from substance additions and eating disorders rather than those who suffer from conditions such as schizophrenia (Angermeyer and Matschinger, 2004). Such attitudes as these therefore lead to discrimination. People in society are less likely to employ (Bordieri and Drehmer, 1986) and rent apartments (Page, 1977) to those suffering from mental illness, citizens are also more likely to direct false accusation s of violence to the mentally ill. (Explaining the increased arrest rate among mental patients: a cautionary note, 1980; Steadman, 1981) Although the stereotype towards the mentally ill is very current in society, it is not to say that all of the public agree with it. For example, there are many stereotypes of different ethnic groups but not everybody would agree with them. In contrast, prejudiced people will endorse these negative stereotypes, an example of this being that ‘those who are mentally ill are violent’, as a consequence this thenShow MoreRelatedAbnormal Psy Essay10046 Words   |  41 PagesDefault Information Field: Difficulty Information Field: Page Information Field: Type Highest Answer Letter: D Multiple Keywords in Same Paragraph: No Chapter: Chapter 1: Introduction: Definitional and Historical Considerations and Canadas Mental Health System Multiple Choice 1. An illustration of abnormal behaviour would be: A) Soiling oneself once a month at age 14. B) Experiencing anxiety when engaged in rituals after leaving the house. C) Losing control of oneself inRead MoreOcd - Symptoms, Causes, Treatment131367 Words   |  526 Pagesencouragement About the Author About the Author David A. Clark, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Psychology, University of New Brunswick, Canada. He received his PhD from the Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, England. Dr. Clark has published numerous articles on cognitive theory and therapy of depression and obsessive–compulsive disorders (OCD), and is a Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. He is coauthor, with Aaron T. Beck, of Scientific Foundations of Cognitive

Profile of Pakistans ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence)

Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is the largest of the countrys five intelligence services. It is a controversial, sometimes rogue organization that Benazir Bhutto, the late Pakistani prime minister, once termed a â€Å"state within a state.† Its tendency to operate outside of the Pakistani government’s control is often at odds with American anti-terror policy in South Asia. The International Business Times ranked the ISI as the top intelligence agency in the world in 2011. How the ISI Became so Powerful The ISI became that â€Å"state within a state† only after 1979, largely thanks to billions of dollars in American and Saudi aid and armament. Covertly channeled exclusively through the ISI to the mujahideen of Afghanistan, such funds aided the fight against Soviet occupation there in the 1980s. Muhammad Zia ul-Haq, Pakistans military dictator from 1977 to 1988 and the countrys first Islamist leader, positioned himself as the indispensable ally of American interests against Soviet expansion in South Asia. Zia promoted ISI as the indispensable clearinghouse through which all aid and armament would flow. Zia, not the CIA, decided which insurgent groups received financial support. The arrangement had far-reaching implications that the CIA didnt foresee, making Zia and the ISI the unlikely (and disastrous, in retrospect) hinge of U.S. policy in South Asia. The ISI’s Complicity With the Taliban For their part, Pakistan’s leaders—Zia, Bhutto, and Pervez Musharraf among them—often used the ISI’s double-dealing skills to their advantage. That’s especially true regarding Pakistan’s relationship with the Taliban, which the ISI helped create in the mid-1990s and subsequently financed, armed, and kept in business to counter India’s influence in Afghanistan. Either directly or indirectly, the ISI never stopped supporting the Taliban even after 2001, when Pakistan ostensibly became an ally of the U.S. in the war on al-Qaeda and the Taliban. British-Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid writes in his analysis of the failed American mission in South Asia between 2001 and 2008: even as some ISI officers were helping U.S. officers locate Taliban targets for U.S. bombers [in 2002], other ISI officers were pumping in fresh armaments to the Taliban. On the Afghan side of the border, [Northern Alliance] intelligence operatives compiled lists of the arriving ISI trucks and handed them to the CIA. Similar patterns continue to this day, especially on the Afghan-Pakistani border. Here, Taliban militants are likely warned by ISI operatives of impending American military action. A Call for the ISI’s Dismantling According to a report by the Defense Academy, a British Ministry of Defense think tank, â€Å"Indirectly, Pakistan [through the ISI] has been supporting terrorism and extremism—whether in London on 7/7 or in Afghanistan or Iraq.† The report called for the dismantling of the ISI. In July 2008, the Pakistani government attempted to bring the ISI under civilian rule. The decision was reversed within hours, thus underscoring the power of the ISI and the weakness of the civilian government. On paper (according to the Pakistani Constitution), the ISI is answerable to the prime minister. In reality, the ISI is officially and effectively a branch of the Pakistani military, itself a semi-autonomous institution that has either overthrown Pakistan’s civilian leadership or ruled over the country for most of its independence since 1947. Located in Islamabad, the ISI boasts a staff of tens of thousands, much of it army officers and enlisted men, but its reach is much more vast. It exercises that reach through retired ISI agents, plus militants under its influence or patronage. These include the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan and several extremist groups in Kashmir, a province Pakistan and India have been disputing for decades. The ISI’s Complicity With al-Qaeda As described in Steve Colls history of the CIA and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan since 1979: By the fall of 1998, CIA and other American intelligence reporting had documented many links between ISI, the Taliban, bin Laden and other Islamic militants operating from Afghanistan. Classified American reporting showed that Pakistani intelligence maintained about eight stations inside Afghanistan, staffed by active ISI officers or retired officers on contract. CIA reporting showed that Pakistani intelligence officers at about the colonel level met with bin Laden or his representatives to coordinate access to training camps for volunteer fighters headed for Kashmir. Pakistan’s Overriding Interests in South Asia This pattern reflects Pakistan’s late-90s agenda⠁  Ã¢â‚¬â€which has changed little since⠁  Ã¢â‚¬â€to bleed India in Kashmir and ensure Pakistani influence in Afghanistan, where Iran and India also compete for clout, power, and authority. These controlling factors explain Pakistan’s shifty relationship with the Taliban, bombing in one place while propping it up in another. Should U.S. and NATO forces withdraw from Afghanistan (just as American aid ended after the Soviet withdrawal from that country in 1988), Pakistan wants a controlling hand there. Supporting the Taliban is Pakistan’s insurance policy against repeating the situation left behind after American withdrawal at the end of the cold war. As told by Bhutto in 2007, during one of her last interviews: Today, its not just the intelligence services, who were previously called a state within a state. Today its the militants who are becoming yet another little state within the state, and this is leading some people to say that Pakistan is on the slippery slope of being called a failed state. But this is a crisis for Pakistan, that unless we deal with the extremists and the terrorists, our entire state could founder. Pakistan’s successive governments, in large part through the ISI, created the now seemingly out-of-control conditions that prevail in Pakistan and enable the Taliban, al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), and other militant groups to call the northwestern part of the country their sanctuary. Resources and Further Reading Coll, Steve. Ghost Wars: the Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001. Penguin, 2005.Hussain, Yasir. The Assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Epitome, 2008.â€Å"Key Quotes from the Document.† Newsnight, BBC, 28 Sept. 2006.Rashid, Ahmed. Descent into Chaos: The U.S. and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia. Penguin, 2009.

Borderline Personality Disorder Free Essays

string(150) " this depressant are realized within a period of three months in treating mood disorders and a period of six weeks if it is made to treat depression\." Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a type of a mental disease characterized by prolonged personality function failure, variability and disturbance of moods. Ultimately, it leads one to unstable and chaotic interpersonal relationships, behavior, identity, and self image. The proceeding results are periods of dissociation and isolation. We will write a custom essay sample on Borderline Personality Disorder or any similar topic only for you Order Now When one is disturbed this way, he or she may develop pervasive negativity within the facets of life psychologically. Difficult in developing and maintaining work, social settings and home relationships are experienced. When the victims are not given the effective therapy and proper care, complete or attempted suicides are possible outcomes (Kantor, 1993, pp. 135). Current research on this disorder has revealed the specific symptoms that can help one establish early signs of the disease. The first recognitive experience of this disease is a turmoil relationship that takes a hate-love track as time goes by. After perceived slight misunderstandings, victims of this disorder furiously and immediately drop their friends. The victims have a general difficult in agreeing on gray areas with the other people they interact with (Lachkar, 2004, pp. 23). Current research from Britain encyclopedia has come up with a wide range of the factors that may lead to this disorder. The causes are said to be complex and diverse. They include child sexual abuse or childhood trauma, brain abnormalities, environmental factors, neurobiological factors and genetic predisposition. The disease itself is mental but the repercussions mostly rest and affect social behavior of the concerned. The affected spends most of the time mentally alternating between extremes of devaluation and idealization. The perceived identity disturbance is generated because of the psychological unrest in evaluating ones sense of self and self image. In the process of finding a solution to these encounters, impulsive thought that are far much self damaging come in mind. They may include reckless driving, substance abuse, binge eating, eating disorders, promiscuous and unprotected sex (Lubbe, 2000, pp. 450). At individual level, suicidal threats, gestures and behavior are experienced. This may also be coupled with behaviors that are self mutilating including excoriation or interfering with body scars that may be healing, cutting or picking at oneself. Due to affective instability, moods can be marked by high reactivity such as irritability, dysphoria, and intense episodic or sometimes high anxiety. Chronic feelings such as worthlessness and emptiness, frequent displays of recurrent physical fights, constant anger and temper, dissociate symptoms, delusions, paranoid ideation and transient stress are symptoms that indicate prevalence of Borderline Personality Disorder (Lachkar, 2004, pp. 24). The Chinese society of psychiatry has carried out an extensive study on the diagnostic paths in handling this mental illness. The diagnosisitnvolves the so called mood swings. Mood swings describes reactivity of mood and marked liability which can be defined as emotional dysregulation. It is a reaction of the victim to external intrapsychic and psychosocial stressors which is believed to subside or arise with time. The above medical research body has come up with several areas of concentration in the attempts to curb the prevalence of the disease globally (Muller, 1994, pp. 87). The approach in treating the disorder has ranged from socialization programs to medication programs. The medical section has given a prior attention to hospitalization, medications and psychotherapy interventions. After carrying out the research, the core treatment of the disorder is psychotherapy. The two mainly used and effective disorders are Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). It is an approach that applies high skills in teaching the regulation techniques of ones relationships, emotions and tolerating distress. It can be a face to face or phone counseling which can be done at individual level or through a group consultation. The second type of psychotherapy is the Transference Focused Psychotherapy (TFP). This kind of approach concentrates on the relationship between the victim of emotions and the therapist. It helps in understanding the challenges that may come along with social interactions and how to deal with the difficulties. These researchers have identified that medications can not adequately cure this disorder. They can only treat the problems that are associated with the disorder. It can approach and counter situations like anxiety, impulsitivity and depression. These medications include anti anxiety medications, antipsychotic and antidepressant. The hospitalization program is usually designed to keep the victim safe from self injury. Consultation of mental health providers gives the directions and precautions to undertake in containing the disease (Muller, 1994. pp. 87). The world health organization has also involved itself in the search for contingency measures in handling of the above disorder. It has proposed and enhanced group based psychological services. These programs motivate people to engage, participate and encourage group and solitary activities. It has thus developed therapeutic communities in Europe, that have led the campaigns towards treatment or lowering of the severity associated with this personality disorder. These communities focus on future prevention of the disease, handle the current victims and extend their material assistance to these individuals. The mission of these research organizations is to provide improved psychiatric rehabilitation services. The rehabilitation is achieved through encouraging engagement in meaningful activities and avoiding of social exclusion and stigmatic endeavors. The world organization also provides mutual support and promotes co-counseling groups all over the world to prevent unexpected and harmful spread of the disorder. The victim can get involved in alternative medicinal techniques. Doing exercises and ensuring physical fitness can be improved by including team sports and occupational therapy techniques. Engaging in a sort of employment encourages the spirit of self efficacy, competence and having a social role and obligation to perform in the society. This in turn promotes self esteem (McCallum, 2001, pp. 234). This body has also provided antidepressants called Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor that has been presented in randomized and controlled trials around the world. It has been reported to improve attendant symptoms related to depression, anxiety, hostility and anger. A higher dose of the above depressant is required in the treatment of mood disorders in comparison with depression. The benefits of this depressant are realized within a period of three months in treating mood disorders and a period of six weeks if it is made to treat depression. You read "Borderline Personality Disorder" in category "Papers" Mentalization based treatments assumes that victims of this disorder experience attachment disturbance because of parent child relations in the early childhood stages. Lack of enough early child attunement and mirroring by parents can result to the child’s mentalization deficiency. This lowers the capacity of such child to attach some kind of correlation between the mental state and the potential causing action. Under normal conditions, there must exist some kind of relatedness between the driving force towards an action and the state of the mind. Studies have attached the perceived mental failure in this disorder to problematic impulse control and instability in moods (Acocella, 1999, pp. 108). Mentalization oriented treatments highly and frequently employ psycho dynamically informed multimodal treatment criterion in the process of ensuring a sustained capacity of self regulation of the patient. This criterion goes ahead to incorporate both individual psychotherapy and group psychotherapy in an outpatient context, partial hospitalization or therapeutic community. Combination of these medical and non medical elements helps to reduce the emotional states which are closely associated with Borderline Personality Disorder. The categories of the disorders include feelings of victimization, feeling of lack of identity or fragmentation, feeling of self destructiveness and extreme need for isolation. When these people are completely attacked by the disorder they become hyper alert to signals of rejection, less or no valuation, insecurity, ambivalence, avoidance and demonstration of fearful preoccupation in relationship patterns. All these issues are encountered in the process of novelty seeking or intimacy seeking of the patients (Livesley, 2003, pp. 90). Cultural, age and gender considerations of the disorder Several studies upon the relatedness of this disorder to gender aspects or differences have been done. It is an area that has raised a lot of controversies and critics in the attempt of justifying the perspective that this disorder dominates in female gender as compared to the males. It has thus received a very high feministic criticism. A group of scholars believe that patients of this disorder have a history of abuse in lines to do with sex during their early childhood. This ideology argues that girls are more exposed to the danger of sexual abuse compared to boys, definitely and inevitably justifying that the disease is common among ladies. On the other hand, women who have survived childhood sexual abuse perceive traumatization when interacting with abusive mental health services. This happens because of the fact that Borderline Personality Disorder is a diagnosis full of traumatization and thus it evokes negative or abusive responses and answers from mental health providers. To acknowledge the abuse of sex inflicted on these women, several feminist thinkers have suggested that it is better to use diagnosis of post traumatic disorder for this class of women. This medication is however made to medicalize the disorder but it does not handle the root cause of the problem within the society (Acocella, 1999, pp. 180). Clinical officers respond differently to similar complains or symptoms, depending on whether it originates from a woman or a man. For example if both sexes report cases of angriness and other promiscuous behaviors a man is likely to be diagnosed by use of Antisocial Personality Disorder whereas a woman will be diagnosed with Borderline Personal Disorder. If a woman portrays manhood characteristics such as hostility, success or sexual activity, she is entitled to a diagnosis of personality disorder. If on the other hand the woman shows psychiatric symptoms that conform not to the sick role considered traditionally passive, she is likely to be labeled and considered as a difficult patient. This situation leads to the patient receiving the stigmatizing diagnosis of the borderline personality disorder. Borderline Personality Disorder seemingly is associated with urban settings and low economic and social status. Diagnosis of this disease may at times be applied to the wrong group of persons or individuals. In some areas engagement in some behaviors is perceived as a protective approach or a presumed survival strategy. In making diagnosis analysis, it is of great importance for the clinician involved to consider the economic and social context in which the perceived emotional difficult occurred. Diagnosis of this disorder should not be performed before the age of eighteen years. This is because some observations made at early ages are associated with childhood. After this age, any symptoms can be diagnosed because every sense of maturity s assumed upon an individual (McCallum, 2001, pp. 234). Many sample based studies in the world have shown that the prevalence of this disorder in males is 1% and 3% in females. The origin of the individuals used in the sample has also contributed to variations in the study’s results, depending on the surrounding social and economic scenarios. Urban settings have indicated a percentage of 30% prevalence compared to 3% found in rural areas. This state has prevailed in many nations because urban settings are subjected to many social evils and crimes that highly contribute to emotional reactions. Substance abuses are believed to be highest in towns and cities. This disorder does not have a well defined course in ones life. It is however believed through experimentations and research activities that it disappears as one gets older and older. It has been observed to disappear in the fourth decade of life cycle. The remission of this disorder is not however automatic but depends on the frequency of engaging in criminal activities or activities that can interfere negatively with ones psychological and emotional state. There is a natural impact that forces one to reduce the spectrum of behaviors such as substance abuse (McCallum, 2001, pp. 234). Future considerations of the disorder The future diagnosis of this disorder requires an improvement and a further consideration of emotional difficulties to avoid misconceptions. This is because many reports have been produced where this disorder is persistently misdiagnosed. If this problem is not properly handled, it may lead to marked distress. This also promotes impairment in occupational, role functional and social obligations of the patients. When diagnostic results are released, the patient simply believes in the results without any doubt. Any diagnosis whether true or not is very much impactive on the emotional state of the patient. The patient will therefore adapt the living styles of fellow partners who are suffering from the disorder. Any further research on this work should be in position to offer updated synthesis which concretely incorporates rational clinical attention and current scientific knowledge. It should comprehensively reconstruct the minds of patients for it to serve as a vital caveat utilizing the treatment recommendations with appreciations and not view them as limiting to their ambitions in life. The nature of supportive advance should determine the treatment recommendations. These recommendations should be keyed with respect to confidence level provided by coded evidence (Acocella, 1999, pp. 108). In the future, researchers should not only concentrate on the medication issues but also pay attention to the socialization programs that can be adopted to prevent and at the same time help to cure who are suffering from the disorder. Emotional complications can not occur when the social atmosphere is not disturbed. Borderline disorder is sensitive to the environmental state. It is just a psychological response or reaction towards an emotional embarrassment from a certain source. If sexual abuse among children at early childhood is minimized or stopped, the rate at which the disorder is spreading can be cut down to lower ends. Therefore, programs should be launched to encourage the public through sensitization programs to take a personal initiative, aimed at a collective goal, a counter reaction towards Borderline Personality Disorder (Livesley, 2003, pp. 90). Reference: Acocella Joan, 1999. Creating Hysteria: Women and Multiple Personality Disorder. London, Jossey-Bass publishers, pp. 108. Kantor Martin, 1993. A Guide to Avoidance and Avoidant Personality Disorder. Mahwah, NJ, Praeger publishers, pp. 135. Lachkar Joan, 2004. The Narcissistic/ Borderline Couple: New Approaches to Marital Therapy. London, Brunner-Routledge, pp. 23, 25. Livesley John, 2003. Practical Management of Personality Disorder. London, Guilford Press, pp. 90. Lubbe Trevor, 2000. The Borderline Psychotic Child: A Selective Integration. London, Routledge, pp. 450. McCallum David, 2001. Personality and Dangerousness: Genealogies of Antisocial Personality Disorder. Cambridge University Press, pp. 234. Muller Ryse, 1994. Anatomy of a Splitting Borderline: Description and Analysis of a case History, Mahwah, NJ, pp. 87. How to cite Borderline Personality Disorder, Papers