Mental Retardation
Mental retardation is defined as, an individual with limitations in
cognitive ability and adaptive behaviors that interfere with learning.
Individuals with mental retardation learn at a slower pace, have low
IQs, and may reach a level where learning stops. There are no exact
causes for mental retardation but some things are associated with the
disability. Prenatal development problems, childbirth difficulties,
and a childhood brain injury can all lead to mental retardation.
An individual with mental retardation might have problems in learning
and social skills. Learning problems can include: difficulty making
decisions, short attention spans, and limited strategies for dealing
with changes. Problems they face with social skills are being to
friendly, difficulty labeling emotions, and being wary of new places.
Despite the setbacks and individual with mental retardation can
receive an education and lead a productive role in society.
"I Am Sam" is about a mentally retarded man named Sam (Sean Penn). In...
Stupid, retarded, crazy, insane; throughout time, these words are used to explain the behaviors of the mentally ill. These are just words, right? Actually, these words can have hurtful connotations. Since the first individual with a mental illness walked this earth until now, hurtful labels have been assigned to them. But society does not stop with just words, there are also unfavorable mannerisms used to explain visually, stupid, retarded, crazy, or insane. These descriptive words and mannerisms used in jest amongst friends can cause distress to anyone who bears witnesses to include an individual who is intellectually disabled or mentally fragile. If we look at it from the perspective of the intellectually disabled, they have been
Basically, there are two parts to a learning disability: one is processing and the second
ASD individuals may find it hard to communicate and socialize with others around them. However, because each child is unique, they have their own unique abilities and ways of responding to new experiences. Other issues children with ASD have include; anxiety, sleeping problems, and learning disabilities. Those who are diagnosed with ASD or any other disability are usually judged and bullied. In the documentary Violet’s mother says she is afraid of her child being labeled and underestimated because she is diagnosed with autism. A child’s disability can also affect their family members. Family members may have a difficult time understanding and getting to know the autistic child in order to provide for them. They struggle to find interventions such as treatment and therapy for them, the right medical care, and trying learn to cope with all this. At times parents and caregivers can also feel stressed or irritated knowing they have to fulfill all of the child’s needs. Siblings on the other hand, may find it unfair that the autistic child gets the most attention and
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder which disables the brain and leaves a person feeling psychotic. A person diagnosed with this disorder may see or hear things that other people don’t. They may also think that, if they are talking with someone, the other person is controlling his or her mind or is planning to hurt them in some way. This will result in the schizophrenic person withdrawing from any social interaction, or becoming very agitated.
Schizophrenia is defined as a severe disabling mental illness. A person with this illness may be completely out of touch with what is going on around them. For example, the individual suffering from Schizophrenia may hear voices, see people who are not there (ghost in other words), and or feel bugs crawling on their skin when in actuality there are now. They may also have disorganized speech and behavior, physically rigid, emotionless, and delusions. The type of delusions where they believe that people are reading their minds, have control over their thoughts, and or plotting to hurt them. They have difficulty holding jobs and taking care of themselves.
In a country based around free will, the United States contains a vast variety of personalities and behaviors. Plenty of people, probably more than we know, exert abnormal behavior. Abnormal behavior is patterns of emotion, thought, and action that are considered pathological. Historically, people blame witchcraft for this eccentric type of behavior and tended to perform exorcisms in hopes of abolishing such actions. Anxiety disorders and personality disorders, two forms of abnormal behavior, can alter a person’s personality as a result of life experiences.
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder in which brain functioning is disrupted. People suffering from Schizophrenia are often unable to decipher what they are experiencing from reality. Although the person suffering from this particular illness could be highly educated and well spoken, their symptoms can make it near impossible to understand what is happening in the world around them. Some people suffer from intense audio and visual hallucinations, while others may experience slight delusions and are able to recognize the onset. Signs that usually indicate the onset of schizophrenia are not only audio and visual hallucinations, but also include delusions, thought disorder, and an inability to convey ideas and thoughts clearly to family and friends (Spearing, Melissa). The following is a look into the mindset and delusions of Susan K. Weiner, a woman who has suffered the affects of schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia is a disease of the brain that is expressed clinically as a disease of the mind. Once it strikes, morbidity is high (60% of patients are receiving disability benefits within the first year of onset) as is mortality (the suicide rate is 10%). (www.nejm.org/content/1999/0340/008/0645.asp). Because its symptoms and signs and associated cognitive abnormalities are diverse, researchers have been unable to find localization in a single region of the brain. This essay will discuss the symptoms, treatments and causes of schizophrenia.
There are many diseases and disorders that may affect the human mind. Some of these are serious, while others are minor and may not even be noticed. Some of the disorders and diseases to be covered in this report are delirium, dementia, and schizophrenia, also a discussion of specific symptoms and treatments available for the different disorders.
Schizophrenia is a serious, chronic mental disorder characterized by loss of contact with reality and disturbances of thought, mood, and perception. Schizophrenia is the most common and the most potentially sever and disabling of the psychosis, a term encompassing several severe mental disorders that result in the loss of contact with reality along with major personality derangements. Schizophrenia patients experience delusions, hallucinations and often lose thought process. Schizophrenia affects an estimated one percent of the population in every country of the world. Victims share a range of symptoms that can be devastating to themselves as well as to families and friends. They may have trouble dealing with the most minor everyday stresses and insignificant changes in their surroundings. They may avoid social contact, ignore personal hygiene and behave oddly (Kass, 194). Many people outside the mental health profession believe that schizophrenia refers to a “split personality”. The word “schizophrenia” comes from the Greek schizo, meaning split and phrenia refers to the diaphragm once thought to be the location of a person’s mind and soul. When the word “schizophrenia” was established by European psychiatrists, they meant to describe a shattering, or breakdown, of basic psychological functions. Eugene Bleuler is one of the most influential psychiatrists of his time. He is best known today for his introduction of the term “schizophrenia” to describe the disorder previously known as dementia praecox and for his studies of schizophrenics. The illness can best be described as a collection of particular symptoms that usually fall into four basic categories: formal thought disorder, perception disorder, feeling/emotional disturbance, and behavior disorders (Young, 23). People with schizophrenia describe strange of unrealistic thoughts. Their speech is sometimes hard to follow because of disordered thinking. Phrases seem disconnected, and ideas move from topic to topic with no logical pattern in what is being said. In some cases, individuals with schizophrenia say that they have no idea at all or that their heads seem “empty”. Many schizophrenic patients think they possess extraordinary powers such as x-ray vision or super strength. They may believe that their thoughts are being controlled by others or that everyone knows what they are thinking. These beliefs ar...
Matson, J. L., Minshawi, N. F., Gonzalez, M. L., & Mayville, S. V. The Relationship of Comorbid Problem Behaviors to Social Skills in Persons With Profound Mental Retardation. Sage Journals, 30, 496-506.
Autism or PPD (pervasive developmental disorder) is defined by the Columbia encyclopedia as a rare neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by the inability to relate to and perceive the environment in a realistic manner. The onset of the disorder is in infancy or early childhood, generally before the age of thirty months, and males are affected four times as often as females. Symptoms include impairment in social interaction, fixation on inanimate objects, inability to communicate normally, and resistance to changes in daily routine (Anthes, 1997).
Autism is a neurological disorder that was identified by Dr. Leo Kanner 50 years ago. Autism can affect someone very mildly or severally and it can effect language, communication, and/or gross motor skills. It is the most devastating disorder a child could have and it also is devastating for the family. There is no medicine and no cure for autism but there are glutton free diets that help.
Schizophrenia still remains today and makes more challenges and continues to be complex mental illness. There had been sayings that Schizophrenia is an uncommon condition but in reality, it’s not rare at all. In actuality, everyone has a chance of having Schizophrenia in their life. Schizophrenia a brain disorder that can occur to any person in any background, happening to not only in men but also in women evenly and all areas of roles, like thinking, feeling, sensitivity and performance. This disorder is an extensive mental health complication that can affect all different kinds of people.
It was not until I saw the movie (before our class) “I Am Sam”, my thoughts about people with learning disabilities started to change. The movie changed my perception that mentally challenged individuals are strange by nature because they do not seem to understand when people talk to them and is different from myself. The movie showed me that they do comprehend information, have feelings as I do, and most importantly, that I have wrongly stereotyped their differences.