In Chapter 13, I learned about psychological disorders.   The book states that psychological disorders are ongoing patterns of thoughts, feelings, and actions that are deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional.  Depending on the culture, certain deviant behavior may be viewed as normal; therefore diagnosing these disorders is very critical and serious.  People often self-diagnose themselves with disorders when they here symptoms and agree that they are experiencing.  Even though people may feel that they have these symptoms, there is more to diagnosing psychological disorders.   Clinicians classify psychological disorders with a volume called the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition.” The DSM-IV-TR, is a widely used system for naming, describing, and classifying psychological disorders.

Chapter 13 also went into detail about various disorders. Who knew that ere were so many psychological disorders?  From ADHD, to schizophrenia, there is a wide array of disorders.  One disorder that stood out to me was post-traumatic stress disorder.  PTSD is an anxiety disorder that is characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, and/or insomnia that lingers for four or more weeks after dramatic occurrence.  Many people who have served in the military have been diagnosed from this disorder due to graphic exposure to war or other events.  During this, the limbic system increases vulnerability, by flooding with stress and hormones and repeating of images of the traumatic experience come into consciousness.  Soldiers, as well as other victims of rape, abuse, and car accidents have affected by PTSD.  There is a cure, but others still suffer from the graphic images of their experience.