Psychological disorders are relatively common in Western Society. There are a great number of identified forms, the most common being depression, schizophrenia, autism and ADHD (hyperkenesia). Two others which are often considered psychological disorders and which are common are substance abuse and eating disorders.
There is much debate over the merits of the Western system of categorization of psychological disorders (DSM) because it is a system based on human judgment and powers of categorization rather than on empirical evidence. For example, people who suffer depression manifest certain symptoms and these symptoms are what contribute to the diagnosis, not any underlying cause. The reason for doing this is that any causes for any of these ailments if they exist at all, have remained elusive. They are certainly not as identifiable as the agents of biological diseases which have been linked to specific viruses, bactaria or other agents. In addition, while doctors are able to use various methods of relatively objective observation (blood tests etc) to help determine biological conditions, psychological diagnoses are determined through what the patient says. This makes it very easy for patients to fudge (deliberately or not) the true nature of their condition or for psychological diagnosis to become a complex minefield of vague and misleading information.
In an attempt to make sense out of it, the medical model of illness, which had proven very successful in dealing with and understanding biological diseases, was implanted onto the psychological system of disorders. This was reinforced in the 1960's with the accidental discovery of the effects of certain pharmaceuticals in reducing the symptoms of many psychological disorders and led to theories regarding the chemical functions of the brain as the source of psychological disorder. Newly discovered psychotropic medications were powerful enough to enable psychiatric institutions to be emptied out and the patients returned to the community, an occurrence which seemed to provide compelling evidence for the hypothesis that disorders were caused by chemical imbalance.
However, despite consequent extensive research, insufficient evidence has been found to support the chemical imbalance theorem and therapists have moved away from any idea that medication constitutes a cure. Medication remains, however, invaluable for clients and therapists alike in helping to reduce and control symptoms while trauma can be dealt with, and other solutions put into place, or to reduce the effects of stress in day to day life. Certainly, life in the community is much better for the well being of sufferers than being in institutions.
The only observable pathology (changes that can be physically documented) in any of the psychological disorders can be found in dementia (Alzhiemer's) and chronic conditions of schizophrenia or depression, where the functioning of the brain has been impaired sufficiently for damaged neurons to be visible in a brain scan. There is no measurable or documentable physiological pathology associated with most instances of all the known psychological disorders which is why patient self-reporting remains so important to psychological diagnosis.
It is likely that the brain of a person who is severely psychologically disordered may function differently chemically, but that doesn't make chemical function the cause of the disorder. In all likelihood the causes of psychological disorders are too complex to identify. They are as complex as life itself. This document looks at the possibility of associations between psychological disorders and functional development of the individual, especially core functionality, which involves all the hours and days of a person's life from the time they were conceived: all the experiences, people, events and accomplishments; rather than just the chemical nature of their brain.
Before going any further lets ask the question: Are the known psychological disorders identifiable medical conditions or are they simply clusters of personality characteristics that have a certain amount of observable inter patient reliability? We can predict that sales people are likely to be able to communicate well and be relatively extrovert and outspoken. There are clusters of observable personality characteristics that are associated with salespeople. We know this because sales training involves bringing these characteristics out. Similarly depression is associated with a cluster of behavioural symptoms: feeling down, lack of sleep, negative thoughts etc.
The current system of disorder categorization is not based on sound biological explanations. There is no standard drug/treatment regime for each of the disorder categories. Instead each individual is treated uniquely and has a cocktail of drugs applied before reaching a suitable balance. It is quite possible that a large part of current psychological disorder categorization simply involves identifying personality characteristics.
Current concepts regarding psychological disorders are rather ad hoc and there is room for many improvements, especially in the area of creating sound and useful biological foundations.
The most common psychological disorder in Western society, depression, defined as an episode that lasts 6 months or more, affects up to 25% of the population. Although it can hit almost anyone at any time there are those who have a propensity for it. It is often associated with an event (reactive depression) but can just as easily happen for no apparent reason, such as when it is linked to another disorder.
Depression can be associated with any of the following:
Some people don't get depressed regardless of what happens to them. The events themselves are not the cause, but something to do with the individual.
Depression is often linked to the individual's level of functional development. People fail because they are not good enough at something that is important to them. People get depressed with the loss of a loved one because they can't cope emotionally without them. Stress causes depression where personal functioning isn't at a level capable of sustaining it. Inadequately dealing with life changes can cause depression, because the individual does not adjust.
There are two main kinds of eating disorder, anorexia, which is a form of under-eating and obesity, which is the opposite. There is very likely a strong association with functional development in both these conditions.
Anorexia
Is a very complex eating disorder linked to puberty/adolescence, body image and media expectations of body shape and almost only suffered by girls. They may either not eat, or eat and then regurgitate (bulimna).
Anorexia is usually a response to the pressures of growing up, but it can be used as a response to any emotional pressure.
Obesity
This is commonly linked to diet and exercise, however little regard is given to the role that emotions play. Many obese people eat because they feel relaxed when they do. This is no surprise since eating stimulates the part of the nervous system that causes us to relax, the para-sympathetic nervous system. Similar sensations can be achieved when having sex, when relaxing after physical exertion, or even during physical exertion when the body is operating efficiently. While other people learn to stimulate the para-sympathetic system through activity, many obese people learn to do it through eating. Their predicament is that putting on weight diminishes their chances of learning para-sympathetic stimulation through exercise and other activities and it soon becomes a vicious cycle.
Both types of eating disorder described above involve developmental habits which are almost certainly linked to functional development.
Generally this involves using some kind of drug as an emotional or psychological prop to the extent that it impacts negatively on the person's life and that of the people around them.
This is similar to eating disorders except here, the stimulants are ingested directly rather than through food. Again this is a behavioural habit that is most certainly associated with functional development.
Relatively common, schizophrenia affects about 1% of the population. Like with depression, sufferers can live productive lives, or they can become invalids. Unlike depression, schizophrenia is harder to define and has often been used as a description when symptoms are not clear cut. In addition, depression is often one of the symptoms. Schizophrenia is usually associated with development, puberty being a common time of attributed onset, although sufferers can get a first time diagnosis of it well into their thirties. Unlike depression, schizophrenia generally gets worse rather than better over the life span.
From a functional perspective, schizophrenia could be considered a generalized developmental disorder. In other words, it occurs simply as a result of poor or disrupted development especially in relation to crucial developmental stages such as puberty. If the individual fails to pubesce sufficiently (individuation from parents, self-reliance, confidence, social skills, life skills etc.) then further development can be hindered. This may occur as a result of an incident (abuse, loss of loved one) or the general social environment. In any case it involves the individual's response to their upbringing and how something that is never resolved properly, rather than being put aside, actually gets in the way and stunts further growth.
It is possible that schizophrenics develop hindrances to further developmental growth, not in all areas, but in sufficient areas for it to cause a problem. While those who suffer depression can grow out of it, schizophrenics are less able to and often lack self-insight. Life consists of many periods of developmental change. It is not all over after adolescence. There are major life changes right into old age, and shizophrenics are less well equipped to deal with them.
ADHD and similar conduct disorders are quite common and are labels most pertinently applied to children. They usually involve short attention span, high energy levels and other characteristics that make these children difficult to deal with.
In terms of functionality, ADHD sufferers can be highly or poorly functional. The ADHD characteristics are not symptoms of their level of functionality, but more of their personality or they way they respond to their environment. ADHD sufferers make themselves noticeable in that their responses cause more problems for parents and schools. The only way to deal with ADHD is to lessen the impact of the behaviour on others or change the way they respond. The latter is not an easy task.
ADHD children can be encouraged to channel their energy into constructive pursuits and that way create a win-win situation. This requires a large amount of adult energy and intervention at a young age.
Autism is a relatively rare condition that is becoming more frequently diagnosed in the milder form of Asperger's Syndrome. Since this affects the very young it is considered to have strong genetic links, or at least linked to the structure of the brain at birth.
Autism involves personality characteristic featuring large amounts of reticence and social withdrawal that become a problem for parents and child alike. Children diagnosed with Asperger's can grow to become highly skilled in a specialist area and make a major contribution to society as adults, while those labeled autistic may fail to develop intellectually and become retarded adults and at the same time cause mayhem and heartache for their parents.
Children with Asperger's, such as idiot/savants often use parts of the brain otherwise used for social development, facial recognition and small talk, for the intense pursuit of specific areas of knowledge such as remembering numbers or calculating calendar information. Whatever the trigger for this behaviour, it is a manifestation of the functional development of the brain. Rather than developing different parts of the brain to manage a wide variety of different functions, an Asperger's brain tends to be used for greater computational and memory skills in a narrower range of functions and social functitioning is sacrificed early.
Rather than a disorder, Asperger's should probably be considered a personality characteristic, which while unusual, is not manifestly disordered and often comes with gifts that should be cherished and from which society can benefit. Many brilliant scientists exhibit Asperger's type characteristics.