Are Psychological Diseases (e.g. ADD, DID, ADHD, APD) Real?

March 13, 2008, 10:11 PM

Alright, we've had a convo in the SB about this, and it was getting too heated, so I decided to make a thread about it (either way, this is a great way to study for my psychology).

There are those that claim that mental disorders, such as DID and APD, do not exist. I am going to cite passages from Psychology: Frontiers and Applications to support my stance that they do exist.

First off, I will address schizophrenia, and then DID. I will get to ADHD and other such ones later on.

"Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder that involves severe disturbances in thinking, speech, perception, emotion, and behaviour (Herz & Marder, 2002)" (p.557 2007).

Literally speaking, schizophrenia means 'split mind,' and was coined by Dr. Eugen Bleuler in 1911 (p.557 2005). This does not refer to having DID, or multiple personalities like the common notion implies. Schizophrenia is having disjointed thoughts, emotions, language, and other cognitive/psychological functions. People with schizophrenia are often delusional, have hallucinations, and/or catatonic rigidity.

Statistically, schizophrenia affects roughly one percent of the population. Of this percentage, ten percent are permanently impaired, with no hope of recovery; sixty-five percent have intermittent periods of functioning (they are sick and healthy at random intervals); and twenty-five percent make full recoveries (Provost 2008).

Schizophrenia is characterized by flat unemotional responses to external stimuli, detachment from the perceived world, disturbed behaviour (e.g. catatonic rigidity), and disorders of thought. Schizophrenics are divided into four types: Paranoid (delusional concerning persecution and grandeur), Disorganized (often confused and incoherent, including thoughts), Catatonic (motor disturbances i.e. being able to bend in ways not 'humanly possible'), and Undifferentiated (display symptoms related to the above classifications, but cannot really be classified into any one).

Responses to this?

Next, I shall discuss Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), more commonly known as Multiple Personality Disorder.

This is the most controversial of the disorders and most widely known (often mistaken for schizophrenia). DID is a disorder which involves several psyches being present in a single mind. This is more often caused by trauma as a child than anything (p.555 2005).

It is postulated that if a child is under unnaturally high stress, that child will use defense mechanisms, mainly the ones involving fantasizing (not in the sexual way). They will imagine themselves in situations away from the stressful environment. It is also shown that children will take out their stress in a multitude of ways, each of which have the potential to create separate personalities. For example, if a child took out her stress both angrily and by pleasantly fantasizing, two personalities can develop in conjunction with the original, namely one that is continuously angry and irksome, and another that is kind and gentle. This is known as the trauma-dissociation theory (p.555 2005).

DID is a common disorder nowadays; who is lying and who is not? However, many of the ones with DID (such as Chris Sizemore) as why people would fake such a horrific disorder. Many people with DID tend to have a personality which attempts to kill itself. Why would people fake this? What would they gain from this?

Thoughts?

Works Cited

(Unfortunately, I can't indent on this properly, so that is an error in my APA format, as well as the fact that there is no APA format for lectures that I am aware of)
Atkinson, Micheal L., Mitchell, John B., Muir, Darwin W., Passer, Micheal W., Smith, Ronald E. (2005). Psychology: Frontiers and Applications. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson. 2nd Canadian Edition.

Provost, Meghan. (March 4th, 2008). Lecture. Dissociative Disorders. Bedford, Nova Scotia. Mount Saint Vincent University. 10:30 a.m.-11:45 a.m.

March 14, 2008, 4:17 AM

I think they do exist, however ones like ADD/ADHD are over prescribed, if you will. Alot of times kids said to have it are simply hyper brats jacked up on sugar and their mom and dad haven't taught them how to be still. I think it mostly serves at an excuse to not parent your child properly, or as an excuse for the child to act badly.

Teacher: can't you sit still for one minute?!
Kid: but I have ADD...
Teacher: oh, I'm sorry.

I've actually known people with ADD (real ADD) who function perfectly normal are much better behaved than most people running around claiming to have the disorder.

As for those other disorders, yes, they're real. I know a girl whose mother has schizophrenia (along with some major health problems) and it's not pretty. I don't talk to that girl anymore either, got tired of hearing her constantly complaining about having to stay home and help her mom. She was 18, she could have moved out if she wanted to, so she was only subjecting herself to it.

March 14, 2008, 6:30 AM

Okay. Interesting topic. I'm gonna jump in!

Schizophrenia definitely does exist. I don't think there's any question of that. What doctor can legitimately question its existance? I think it's a terrible illness. I remembering seeing a special on it on 20/20 as a kid and being terrified of getting it. I can't imagine how alienating and terrifying it must be. I watched some of a movie that focused on a man with schizophrenia called Clean Shaven (I didn't get to finish it because the DVD was messed up), and it was quite interesting and terrifying. Luckily, there are drugs that make it easier to manage. I still feel so bad for people who have that disorder. :/

As for ADD and ADHD, I believe they too are actual disorders. However, I think that they are also two of the most overdiagnosed psychological disorders. As a country (or maybe collective society?), we're very lazy and find it easier to pin the blame on some illness than accept the fact that some children are poorly behaved due to negligent or lazy parenting. No one likes taking blame for something. It's much easier to have your child swallow a pill than actually shape up and discipline your perfect little angel. Honestly, it really bothers me. It's sort of sick. I want to inform these parents that their children don't have any disorders; they're just terrible parents.

DID...hmm. I've wondered about that one for some time now. To a certain extent, I think it might exist. However, it's obviously a very easy disorder to fake. To answer your question, I can definitely understand why people might fake it. Some people have Munchausen syndrome, and let's be honest...DID is relatively easy to fake if you're a decent actor. People may also be looking for attention or a way to make a profit (books, TV appearances, etc). I just have doubts about it because it's such a strange disorder, and there's no definitive way to diagnose it. The most that psychologists can do is interview a person. The example you gave of the child is not really legitimate, I think. What you described sounds more like a coping strategy that might result in a particularly moody child. How does fantasizing in a stressful situation and having large swings in personality qualify someone as having DID? A huge symptom of DID is amnesia. If a person (who has not been abusing drugs) has long and inexplicable blackouts, I think they might have DID. I think it's ludicrous to suggest that because someone has large swings in personality (aka: is sweet one moment and a few hours later is belligerent or like a different person) they have DID. Humans are capable of a wide array of emotions. And they are certainly not consistent creatures.

Another thing that annoys me about this is that for some reason (God only knows why), it's become trendy to have some sort of psychological disorder. If there isn't something wrong with you, you aren't interesting. That's certainly how it seems to me, anyway. I think as a culture, we've become incredibly self obsessed, and all this self-reflection/introspection just makes people question way too many things in their life and self diagnose. God, I hate when people self diagnose. It's so obnoxious. Anyway, so people go to psychologists when they probably don't need to, and they become even more self-involved. They mention to their doctor that they sometimes have trouble paying attention at work or school (um, who DOESN'T?) or sometimes feel depressed about life (again, isn't everyone at some point?) and the psychiatrist diagnoses the person and prescribes some pills. I think that we collectively need to take a great big step and get over ourselves and the imperfections in our lives.

March 14, 2008, 8:03 AM

Quote:

I think they do exist, however ones like ADD/ADHD are over prescribed, if you will. Alot of times kids said to have it are simply hyper brats jacked up on sugar and their mom and dad haven't taught them how to be still. I think it mostly serves at an excuse to not parent your child properly, or as an excuse for the child to act badly

yeah i agree, people use ADD and ADHD as excuses for their children being misbehaving evil little children. And then they start to believe its not my fault my child is horrible, and they expect the drugs to be some kind of panacea for their children's problems.

As for schizophrenia, it would be harder for some to see it as real as the way it manifests itself is through the actions of the people who have it. I would say obviously it exists, but im fully aware that people have opinions that differ from mine.
But you would have to be pretty arrogant to disagree with conventional wisdom and say that Psychological diseases arent real

March 14, 2008, 1:44 PM

Quote:

DID...hmm. I've wondered about that one for some time now. To a certain extent, I think it might exist. However, it's obviously a very easy disorder to fake. To answer your question, I can definitely understand why people might fake it. Some people have Munchausen syndrome, and let's be honest...DID is relatively easy to fake if you're a decent actor. People may also be looking for attention or a way to make a profit (books, TV appearances, etc). I just have doubts about it because it's such a strange disorder, and there's no definitive way to diagnose it. The most that psychologists can do is interview a person. The example you gave of the child is not really legitimate, I think. What you described sounds more like a coping strategy that might result in a particularly moody child. How does fantasizing in a stressful situation and having large swings in personality qualify someone as having DID? A huge symptom of DID is amnesia. If a person (who has not been abusing drugs) has long and inexplicable blackouts, I think they might have DID. I think it's ludicrous to suggest that because someone has large swings in personality (aka: is sweet one moment and a few hours later is belligerent or like a different person) they have DID. Humans are capable of a wide array of emotions. And they are certainly not consistent creatures.

See, now I am in 90% accord here. Yes, DID is often misdiagnosed; there are fools out there who think that they can get out of jail, debts, and so on by having DID. Honestly, these people are idiots; and yes, if you are a fairly good actor it isn't too hard to enact DID.

I'm not sure how valid this argument is, but I'm going to put it out just in case. I personally have self-diagnosed myself with a form of DID. I have not, nor plan to, go to psychologists for a test; it's likely they'll tell me its all in my head or they'll prescribe me medicine. It's a unique form of DID [as I discussed with my Psychology professor (Provost 04/03/08)], as the dominant personality has complete control of the body at all times, and all of the personalities interact harmoniously. In truth, this likely isn't even DID, but some other wacky thing that's wrong with me, but it is similar to it, and so I call it such. Either way, it doesn't affect my life (I don't have amnesia or periods of blankness, for example) negatively, so I don't think I should go in for tests.

The point here is that I find DID to be real. I know a person with DID that is perfectly sane, and functions quite well in society. Why? He was 'cured' of it. Whether or not it was a real case of DID, I don't think I'll ever know, but I do know that he was diagnosed with it and eventually cured of it (he had like, 4 personalities).

The thing I am a little pissy about, Eryth (not at you, though), is that you are right in the sense that people think it's 'cool' to have these disorders. I just don't understand why people think that having this stuff is so god-damn fun. It is just so effing dumb; what is so cool about being mentally ill? The attention? I think not. It's not fun to have people looking at you wierd and treating you like a little baby who still has to booby-feed.

People are so self-obsessed, you are totally right. Our society, or rather Western Society, is becoming increasingly idiotic with being lazy. It's gotten to the point where Sloth is common in almost every household in North America and Europe. ADD, as many of you are saying, is very much often misdiagnosed, and parents think their kids have it because they can't pay attention in school or something. Bull-fucking-shit. I know a kid with ADD, he functions perfectly fine. REAL ADD/ADHD is not very common; people with this literally have a chemical imbalance or something of that sort. However, there are people out there with hyperactive kids that say "OMG! My kid has ADHD!"

My response: just learn to control them. Thoughts?

March 14, 2008, 7:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felldoh

I'm not sure how valid this argument is, but I'm going to put it out just in case. I personally have self-diagnosed myself with a form of DID. I have not, nor plan to, go to psychologists for a test; it's likely they'll tell me its all in my head or they'll prescribe me medicine. It's a unique form of DID [as I discussed with my Psychology professor (Provost 04/03/08)], as the dominant personality has complete control of the body at all times, and all of the personalities interact harmoniously. In truth, this likely isn't even DID, but some other wacky thing that's wrong with me, but it is similar to it, and so I call it such. Either way, it doesn't affect my life (I don't have amnesia or periods of blankness, for example) negatively, so I don't think I should go in for tests.

The point here is that I find DID to be real. I know a person with DID that is perfectly sane, and functions quite well in society. Why? He was 'cured' of it. Whether or not it was a real case of DID, I don't think I'll ever know, but I do know that he was diagnosed with it and eventually cured of it (he had like, 4 personalities).

The thing I am a little pissy about, Eryth (not at you, though), is that you are right in the sense that people think it's 'cool' to have these disorders. I just don't understand why people think that having this stuff is so god-damn fun. It is just so effing dumb; what is so cool about being mentally ill? The attention? I think not. It's not fun to have people looking at you wierd and treating you like a little baby who still has to booby-feed.

People are so self-obsessed, you are totally right. Our society, or rather Western Society, is becoming increasingly idiotic with being lazy. It's gotten to the point where Sloth is common in almost every household in North America and Europe. ADD, as many of you are saying, is very much often misdiagnosed, and parents think their kids have it because they can't pay attention in school or something. Bull-fucking-shit. I know a kid with ADD, he functions perfectly fine. REAL ADD/ADHD is not very common; people with this literally have a chemical imbalance or something of that sort. However, there are people out there with hyperactive kids that say "OMG! My kid has ADHD!"

My response: just learn to control them. Thoughts?

Honestly, you shouldn't self-diagnose. You aren't a psychologist/psychiatrist, so chances are pretty good that you won't diagnose yourself correctly. They went through years of schooling for a reason. If it were as simple as looking up symptoms on wikipedia, then we could all be that profession. From what you say, it sounds like you don't have DID at all. I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but it just sounds as though you have an overactive imagination. That's kind of why I'm skeptical of DID. People like to play pretend and be creative. I know sometimes people create "alter-egos" for themselves, but they need to realize it's not real. I know they think that they have another person living inside of them-- their "alter-ego" or whatever-- but that doesn't mean they have DID or some sort of mental disorder. It seems they just take roleplaying a little too far. Like I said before, the only way I'd really believe someone who claims to have DID is if they had periods of blacking out. However...even then, it could be good acting. There's actually an interesting movie about DID with Edward Norton in it (no, it's not Fight Club...though he certainly must like playing characters with DID o.O) called Primal Fear. Anyway, I'm not really well-versed enough in the subject to proclaim that DID does not exist. But if it is truly a real disorder, I think it's pretty rare, and few people who claim to have it truly do.

I also don't think you can just be "cured" of it. That doesn't make ANY sense. If this is truly a psychological disorder, it is a fair assumption that there are chemicals in the brain that are causing it. Right? Okay, so that would mean that the best treatment would be medication. Doctors don't know enough about DID to have developed a medication for it. So how can you be suddenly "cured" of it? Depression, schizophrenia, and ADD don't just suddenly disappear with therapy. In fact, they can't be "cured" either. Psychiatrists can only help people effectively manage them with either medication or electroshock therapy. So to say that someone with DID was "cured" seem very suspicious to me. It is a mental disorder, not a sore throat. Mental disorders are chronic and are never truly cured.

As for people pretending to have mental disorders, I guess it makes them feel special in a way. It gives them something to identify with. Or, even better...it gives them a scapegoat on which they can blame their problems and shortcomings. It's weak, in my opinion. The way parents like to blame ADD for their shortcomings as parents, people like to blame disorders for their flaws and shortcomings as a person.

March 14, 2008, 8:31 PM

Okay now I will share some of what I have learned on the subjuct.

First I'll touch on DID. This is actually an illness that has only been given a name recently (within the past couple hundred years or so.) Most cases occur in the US, so many people say that it is just and imaginative state of mind that Americans use as an excuse to do things. It is also hard to test for, because you have to test the persons mind and conditions in each personality. So many think it does not really exist. But the most interesting fact about this disease is that Some personalities in a person have specific allergies that the other personalities do not have. Also it has not been diagnosed in other parts of the world, because it is not something they look for, and The person that has it tends not to even know of the actions of the other personalities.

Schizophrenia has simular effects to drugs like meth. Many people who have this can hear or see things that are not really there, but it is no limited to that. There is also the fact that people that suffer from this may believe they are cappable of things that they truley are not, like flying or taking over the world, etc. Some of these are the people that believe they've been abducted by aliens. There's a House episode about that actually.

And the most sorry thing about these is that they are actually directed to brain chemistry. They cannot be cured. I know that you said the guy you know is cured of it, but he is not. He has either learned to have more control over himself, or he is taking some sort of drug to balance his brain.

March 14, 2008, 9:35 PM

I'm not really in a position to say that these diseases don't exist, but the problem is probably in determining whether or not people are pretending to have said disorders, either for attention or to get away with doing certain things, or if they really have it and can't help it without the aid of a psychologist.

But having brought up DID, I'd be curious to know if John Nash in A Beautiful Mind either had schizophrenia or DID now.