Psychology

Psychological disorders is defined as a group of symptoms which create major disturbance in different areas of occupation such as in activities of daily living, work, school, family, and social relationships (Psychological disorders, n.d.). Due to its broad scope, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), as cited by Sadock and Sadock (2003), provided a classificationcriteria for evaluation of psychological disorders. As of 2000, DSM-IV-TR is used as the official classification of the U.S. for psychological disorders in order to delineate the symptoms from the actual diagnosis of psychological condition.

Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia
Panic disorder is a subclass of anxiety disorder under Axis I of DSM-IV-TR characterized by spontaneous, sudden episode of panic attacks (Psychological Disorders, n.d.). It often comes with agoraphobia or the fear of being alone in places where it would be hard to escape during a panic attack (Ballas, 2008). According to Sadock and Sadock (2003), panic disorder usually develops in young adulthood, in an average of 25 years old but both panic disorder and agoraphobia can develop at any age.

Symptoms of panic attacks occur in short periods and peak within 10 minutes after they start. These include chest pain, choking, dizziness, hot flushes, nausea, numbness, palpitations, and shortness of breath. On the other hand, symptoms of agoraphobia include uneasiness about being in places where escape may be difficult, fear of being alone or being separated from others, fear of losing control in a public place, feeling helpless and dependent on others (Ballas, 2008).

Major Depressive Disorder
Also termed as unipolar depression, major depressive disorder (MDD) is a subtype of mood disorder under Axis I of DSM-IV-TR.  To date, there is no known cause of this disorder. However, hypothesized bases of this disorder are discussed in Psychological Disorders (n.d.), such as low activity in the frontal lobe area that controls the emotional centers of the brain, abnormal levels in serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain, and other social and environmental causes.
MDD is described as having one or more of the following symptoms changes in weight, appetite, and sleep activity, lack of energy, feeling of guilt, problems in thinking and decision-making, and recurring ideas of death and suicide (Sadock  Sadock, 2003). Therefore, given these symptoms, it is said that this type of disorder prevails more in women than in men. In addition, the mean age of onset of MDD is about 40 years, but it can also begin in childhood or in old age.

Bipolar Type I Disorder
Bipolar Type I disorder also refers to the former term, bipolar disorder which means a condition in which a complete set of mania symptoms occurs during the course of the disorder aside from the depressive episode (Sadock  Sadock, 2003). Similar with the previously discussed disorder, this type of mood disorder also has almost the same hypothesized physiological and environmental causes (Psychological Disorders, n.d.). The only difference is that there are additional symptoms of mania for bipolar I disorder.

Unlike MDD, bipolar I disorder happens equally in both sexes. However, as much as depressive episodes occur more in women, manic episodes is prevalent in men. Also, the beginning of this type of disorder is earlier  from childhood to 50 years with a mean age of 30.

Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a subset of Axis I in the DSM-IV-TR which affects about 1 percent of the worldwide population (Psychologic Disorders, n.d.). It occurs equally among male and female but its onset is earlier in men. Though it may seem as a single disease, schizophrenia is actually a group of diseases probably with different causes but with similar behavioral symptoms (Sadock  Sadock, 2003).

The symptoms of this disorder, according to the DSM-IV-TR classification, as cited by Sadock and Sadock (2003) include the following delusions or false belief of reality not constant with the persons own life, hallucinations or false awareness of a non-realistic thought, disorganized speech and behavior, and negative symptoms such as having a flat affect, lack of interest in life, and isolation from other people.

Dissociative Identity Disorder
Dissociative Identity Disorder, commonly known as multiple personality disorder, is a chronic dissociative disorder characterized by the occurrence of two or more specific personalities within a single person. Regarded as the most serious of the dissociative disorders, it is most common in late adolescence and young adulthood and happens usually with other mental disorders (Sadock  Sadock, 2003). Sadock and Sadock (2003) claimed that there is no known cause of this type of disorder however, it generally involves a traumatic event, environmental factors, and the lack of social support.

The aforementioned are only a few examples of psychological disorders. As said earlier, this topic has a very broad scope thus it is divided into different categories. The DSM-IV-TR is the international nomenclature used which provides a systematic classification of the different diagnostic criteria of psychological disorders. In contrast with the identified physiological symptoms, diagnostic criteria is termed as such because it is a collection of symptoms which must occur in a specific period of time for the condition to be considered as a psychological disorder.