TAKE 1
1. Main Entry: Post a brief analysis of what you have learned from this week's readings and activities. Clearly identify each segment of the required response in order to facilitate discussion development. In 5 sentence or more, synthesize your thoughts on ...
a. How do biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors interact to produce specific psychological disorders? Consider disorders such as eating disorders in Western cultures, Amok in Malaysia, Susto in Latin America and Hikikomori in Japan.
b. Support your post. Provide a reference for one professional, peer-reviewed article in support of points addressed in your response. The reference should be APA formatted. Include an accessible link (e.g. UMGC Library generated Permalink) so your classmates can explore the article you have selected.
2. Peer Responses: Post Constructive Peer Feedback. In addition to posting your main entry, respond to at least TWO (2) of your classmates' entries. In 3 or more sentences, provide constructive feedback. What did you find interesting? Do you have additional thoughts? Share them. When providing your feedback present the logic behind it.
CLASSMATE POST 1
n this week’s reading, the myth of mental illness stood out to me the most. It is extremely interesting learning about how psychological disorders were studied and treated throughout the years. Many people believe that psychological disorders were made up by those who displayed erratic and psychotic behaviors in order to normalize such distasteful acts. The 1950s to the 1960s showed an increase in individuals claiming psychological disorders in order to escape punishment from committing crimes such as heinous acts and violent impulses (Spielman, 2018). In today’s society, research and treatments for disorders has come a long way. When a normal person thinks about psychological disorders, they immediately picture individuals that belong in straight jackets who are monitored 24/7 in mental health facilities. It is now my understanding, that we can no longer rely on research based on atypical versus nontypical due to the social norm in today’s society. The true benefit of modern medicine and therapy is that we hold the tools to help individuals with their unique disorders.
There are many ways that biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors interact, however, each factor has its unique trigger based on the individual. Certain psychological stressors need to be present for individuals to develop a disorder even though they may be born with a genetic predisposition for a certain psychological disorder (Farreras, 2023). When talking about biological factors, one could say since a family member displayed a specific disorder that other members of the family could possibly be diagnosed with the same disorder. This may not be the case for everyone but it is a basis to start from. For this factor, a trigger could be someone comparing you to your disabled family member and your belief that it may be true. A psychological factor could be the mind in a state of confusion when a person is trying to complete certain tasks. A trigger for this factor could be envy of others which leads to episodes of imaginary moments based off of want. Lastly, social-cultural factors could create numerous disorders such as anxiety and eating disorders. It is no secret when we talk about the heavy toll certain individuals face based on this factor. An example would be peer pressure from friends believing that they should emulate Hollywood actors in order to prosper socially. As a result of this factor, many female individuals resort to eating disorders in the hopes of one day portraying themselves as how Hollywood actors appear.
References:
Farreras, I. G. (2023). History of mental illness. Noba textbook series: Psychology. http://noba.to/65w3s7ex
Spielman, R. M. (2018). Psychology Unit 16, Module 2: What are psychological disorders? https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tus/psyc/psyc353/2225/additional-resources/week-1-what-are-psychological-disorders-.html
CLASSMATE POST 2
This first week has reintroduced me as to why I changed my major to psychology. I'm hoping that I will continue to be fascinated by the many topics we discuss throughout this semester. In one of our readings, the text mentioned that psychiatrist Thomas Szasz debated the idea that mental illness was created by society (Szasz 1960). The idea that mental illness was made to help identify people who went outside of the cultural or societal norms is troublesome, but understandable given the era in which the idea was formed. People who were not "normal" was suggested to have a mental illness because they did not adhere to their societal norms (Szasz 1960).
Three factors being biological, psychological, and social cultural are a perfect recipe to help create different psychological disorders. For example, anxiety is a common psychological disorder, troubling close to 30% of adults at any given time during their life (Muskin 2021). Anxiety was described as a normal stress reaction (Muskin 2021), but things changed once the stress reaction started to interrupt daily life functions. It seemed that anxiety is now a social norm; people of my generation understand it and was accepting of the disorder. The American Psychology Association mentioned that a psychological disorder has to have four key factors which include: significant disturbances in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors as well as that disturbances reflect some kind of biological, psychological, or developmental dysfunction (APA 2013). Anxiety easily fell into being described as a biological, psychological, and social disorder.
Muskin, P. R. (2021, June). What are anxiety disorders? Psychiatry.org - What are Anxiety Disorders? Retrieved January 14, 2023, from https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/anxiety-disorders/what-are-anxiety-disorders