Psychology

Psychological disorders are caused by a variety of factors that is the reason why mental health professionals have to use a large variety of corrective approaches so that each patient exhibiting ingrained and troublesome behavioral pattern can get the appropriate help so that they may cope with the symptoms of psychological disorders. The practice of helping people exhibiting mental disorders is called psychotherapy (Glick, 2004). The most common ways of helping people with mental disorders are as listed below.

Behavioral therapy is the kind of help given to a patient after it has been proven that the patients immediate environmental surroundings have affected his or her mental health (Evans  Gilbert, 2000). This kind of therapy aims at correcting the environmental attributes surrounding the patient and altering them accordingly in an attempt of ensuring that the prevailing conditions favor the patient and therefore contribute to his or her well being (Connecticut Department of  Mental Health  Addiction Services, 2008).

Biological biasing is the approach followed when there is proof that the person concerned has been genetically primed to suffer a disorder (Mytton, 1999). The procedure followed therefore must focus on genetic attributes and in most cases is medical in nature.

In most cases, psychotherapy is performed alongside biomedical treatment to correct psychological disorders. The combination of medical prescriptions and psychotherapeutic procedures has been proven to be an effective remedy for emotional disorders and other many behavioral on mental anomalies (Glick, 2004). In cases where a patient is having psychological or mental problems due to neurological anomalies of his or her central nervous system, Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) is applied. This is whereby an electric current is applied to the patients CNS through the temples to brig about a cataclysm in his or her central nervous system (Connecticut Department of Mental Health  Addiction Services, 2008).

Another approach used to solve or minimize the effects of psychological disorders in patients is free association. This is based on Freudian psychoanalysis whereby patients are required to give a complete account of their thoughts, mental illusions, emotional feelings and images so that the motivation behind their disorder or unusual behavioral activities can be unearthed (Evans  Gilbert, 2000). This is done on an instantaneous basis so that the cause of the disorder can be determined at the exact time its effects are manifesting itself in the patient.

Prefrontal Lobotomy is a procedure performed on patients with severe mental disorders. A surgical procedure is carried out to connect the frontal lobe of the brain to the thalamus (Mytton, 1999). Alternatively, psychoanalytic therapy based on the Freudian technique as outlined above can be performed to establish the unconscious motivation and inferential conflicts occurring in the patients conscious and subconscious elements of mentality and personality on a long term basis so that the most effective psychological, medical or surgical procedure can be recommended and performed (Evans  Gilbert, 2000). In cases where the above procedures have been ruled as ineffective to alleviate the exhibition of psychological disorders, psychosurgery can be performed directly on the brain tissue to subsidize the effects of the psychological disorder.

Drug therapy, as described above, is the use of medical prescriptions to alleviate the effects of psychological disorders (Connecticut Department of Mental Health  Addiction services, 2008). There exists a variety of psychoactive drugs specifically recommended to suppress mental disorders as they occur, which should be administered only by a licensed practitioner. For example, to alleviate the effects of depressive illnesses, antidepressants are applied with a goal of achieving the maximum possible stability conditions while minimizing the risk of any possible side effects (Glick, 2004). Drug therapy is usually supported by laboratory procedures so that the best drug, the dosing regimen and the monitoring system can be determined before the medication starts being applied on the patient.

Psychodynamic therapy, also called insight therapy is based on Freuds ideas whereby an attempt is made by the practitioner to uncover the underlying logic and material in the patients unconscious mind (Mytton, 1999). This is done through psychoanalysis, hypnosis and inference techniques as well as free association and dream analysis. The psychotherapeutic data obtained is then subjected to symptom substitution and transference so that the most appropriate procedure to be used on the patient can be determined.

Humanistic therapy is a psychotherapeutic approach whereby a patients positive capacities and his or her ability to self-actualize are established to assess the seriousness of his or her condition and the best remedy for it (Evans  Gilbert, 2000). This approach was pioneered by Carl Rogers and involves the Gestalt therapy and others collectively referred to as Existential therapies.

Behavior therapy, as its name implies, focuses on behavioral traits mainly on exercises aimed at changing unwanted behavioral patterns through reward and punishment, behavioral reinforcements and desensitization (Connecticut Department of Mental health  Addiction Services, 2008). As part of this therapy, is the exposure sub-therapy, whereby all factors or circumstances causing anxiety or abnormal excitation to a persons psychological state are confronted. It is done with the involvement of others especially family members and close friends so that the desired response can be achieved gradually.

Cognitive therapy is a set of exercises aimed at identifying and correcting indistinct mental patterns that make a patient have troubling feelings and behavioral patterns (Glick, 2004). The aim is ingraining positive thinking patterns which in turn result into the patient exhibiting a more positive and fulfilling behavior.

As an example, depression is a psychological disorder that can best be treated by psychotherapy interventions such as talk therapy (Mytton, 1999). Cognitive behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and interpersonal therapy are also commonly used to treat depression. These therapies helps an individual unearth the causes of the depression and give insight on what to be done to stay healthy.