Eating Substance Abuse Week 3 Psy410 Paper

Eating, Substance Abuse, Sex/Gender/Sexual and Personality Disorders
Lori Cooper
Psy410
September 26, 2011
Annette Edwards

Eating, Substance Abuse, Sex/Gender/Sexual and Personality Disorders
The disorders being described within this paper all have their own classifications and are quite known in modern society. Some are more popular than others, while some are not talked about much. As with any disorder, there can be serious consequences and help should be called upon immediately if the individual’s health is at risk.
Eating problems are indicated by disruptions in eating behavior. This can mean

overeating, not taking in sufficiently, or eating in a very bad way (for example binging or filling

yourself again and again). Many individuals debate that simple eating too much must be

regarded as a problem, however currently it 's not in this class. Anorexia is a complex reaction to

perfection-oriented families, anorexia as a retreat from adult sexuality, and eating disorders as

reactions to traumatic events such as sexual abuse or assault. Psychodynamic interventions aim

to help clients understand how eating-disordered symptoms relate to their unconscious emotional

conflicts. Cognitive-behavioral explanations of eating disorders focus on experiences that

reinforce eating-disordered behaviors and faulty and distorted thoughts about food and weight.

The sociocultural explanation of eating disorders focuses on the unrealistic images of female

beauty presented by the media and their negative effects on women(Hansell & Damour, 2008).

Biological explanations for eating disorders focus on genetic factors, hormonal and

neurotransmitter abnormalities, and structural brain abnormalities. Eating disorders usually arise

from multiple causes. Most treatments, especially in cases where the eating-disordered behavior

is severe, involve a combination of techniques from a variety of theoretical perspectives.

The two problems with substance abuse, refer to either the misuse or reliance on a

substance. A substance can be anything which is consumed to produce a high, modify a person 's

feelings, or else influence working. The most usual substance considered in this class is alcohol

although other drugs, for example cocaine, marijuana, heroin, ecstasy, special-K, and crack, are

also included. Possibly the most abused materials, caffeine and nicotine, are also included though

seldom considered in this way by the normal individual. Biological explanations of substance use

disorders include the hypothesis that drug use is a form of self-medication for biochemical

deficiencies, and an emphasis on the role of genetic factors in substance use disorders.

Behavioral and cognitive perspectives highlight the role of tension reduction, classical

conditioning, and negative beliefs and expectancies in substance use disorders. Early

psychodynamic explanations for substance misuse focused on the hypothesis of emotional

fixation at an oral, pleasure-addicted developmental stage. Current psychodynamic theorists view

substance misuse as a maladaptive defense mechanism for coping with painful emotions (Hansell

& Damour, 2008).

Paraphilias all have in common upsetting and repeated sexual dreams, desires, or

conducts. These dreams, desires, or conducts should happen for a considerable interval of time

and should interfere with either acceptable sexual relations or daily working in case the analysis

is to be made. There is also a feeling of stress within these people. To put it differently, they

usually identify the indications as badly influencing their life however feel as if they are not able

to control them. The main feature in the sexual disorders and dysfunctions group is the

incapacity in usual sexual working. This can relate to an failure to perform or attain a climax,

aching sexual intercourse, a solid repulsion of sexual activity, or an exaggerated sexual reaction

routine or sexual curiosity. A medical reason has to be ruled out before making any sexual

dysfunction analysis and the indications should be blocking the individual 's daily working.

Gender Identity Disorder has also been put into this group, though no external dysfunction

should also be present for this problem. Actually, it includes intense emotions of being the

incorrect gender, or thoughts that your external body is inconsistent with your inner feeling of

being either female or male.

Psychodynamic explanations of paraphilias originally focused on fixations in sexual

development and currently focus on defense mechanisms related to humiliating sexual traumas

from childhood. Cognitive-behavioral explanations of paraphilias emphasize classically

conditioned sexual arousal to deviant stimuli, reinforcement of aberrant sexual behavior, and

social learning of abnormal sexuality. Biological factors are generally not a central focus in

explaining paraphilias, but some disinhibiting diseases or injuries, and mental retardation, can

contribute to paraphilic behavior (Hansell & Damour, 2008).

Personality Disorders are actually mental disorders which show a number of specific

characteristics. They have indications which are long lasting and play a significant part in many,

if not all, elements of the person 's living. Although many diseases vacillate regarding symptom

existence and severity, personality problems usually remain comparatively consistent. With the

principle of multiple causality, the psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral, sociocultural, and

biological perspectives have different, but often overlapping or complementary, ideas about the

causes and treatments of personality disorders (Hansell & Damour, 2008).

References:

Hansell, J. & Damour, L. (2008). Abnormal psychology (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

References: Hansell, J. & Damour, L. (2008). Abnormal psychology (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.