Anorexia Nervosa and How it Influences Behavior

Preparation
Think about the psychological disorders you are most likely to work with professionally. Which is the most significant in the work you do or would like to do? Research this disorder and locate at least three peer-reviewed articles to support your work in this assessment.
Directions
For the psychological disorder you selected, complete the following:
Explain how the disorder influences behavior.
Describe how structural, anatomical, physiological, and cultural factors affect behavior associated with the disorder.
Explain how culture and lived experience influence psychology professionals' understanding of the disorder.
Analyze current treatments for the disorder in terms of both efficacy and ethics.
In 5–7 pages, explain how a psychological disorder you chose to study affects behavior; how structural, anatomical, physiological, and cultural factors affect behavior associated with the disorder; and how culture and lived experience influence psychology professionals' understanding of the disorder. Analyze current treatments for the disorder in terms of both efficacy and ethics.
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
Competency 1: Apply the principles of physiological psychology to a variety of psychological issues that occur across specializations.
Explain how a psychological disorder influences behavior.
Competency 3: Analyze the reciprocal relationship between physiological psychology and culture, behavior, and lived experience.
Describe how structural, anatomical, physiological, and cultural factors affect behavior associated with a psychological disorder.
Explain how culture and lived experience influence psychology professionals' understanding of a psychological disorder.
Competency 4: Analyze the ethical issues relating to physiological psychology.
Analyze current treatments for a psychological disorder in terms of efficacy and ethics.
Competency 5: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the psychological professions.
Use APA format and style.
Write coherently to support a central idea with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics, as expected of a psychology professional.
Many factors can cause the brain to malfunction, including trauma, drugs, toxins, hypoxia, stress, and genetic abnormalities. Some examples of what can happen when the brain malfunctions include learning disorders, communication disorders, drug addiction, and more. Perhaps no human ailments are more personally devastating than those involving malfunctions of the brain. Our brains are the repositories of our thoughts, ideas, beliefs, emotions, hopes, dreams, and identities. Because the brain holds the sum of what makes us uniquely human, brain disorders can rob us of our humanity. Damage to the brain can produce highly variable results, depending on the location and magnitude of the injury. Disturbances can run the gamut from simple motor ticks to language impairments, cognitive deficits, personality changes, and complete physical and mental incapacitation. Unfortunately, although a great deal of work has been done on recovery from brain injury, there is yet much progress to be made. Even so, as it now stands, the prognosis remains poor for certain disorders.
The phrases "mental illness" and "mental disease" describe another kind of brain disorder that can be as devastating as those due to functional deficits. Whereas a specific brain injury can often be pinpointed as the cause of neuropsychological impairment, the causes of mental illness tend to be multifactorial and far more difficult to identify (Carlson, 2014). In cases involving heritable disorders, it is often possible to establish a genetic link that clarifies the etiology or causation. Even then, environmental and other factors such as injury or communicable disease may contribute. Initial causation aside, chemical imbalances in the brain appear to play a part in most forms of mental illness.
Schizophrenia, one of the most devastating of all mental illnesses, takes many forms and can occur with various degrees of severity. Schizophrenia consists of positive symptoms (the presence of unusual behavior) and negative symptoms (the absence of normal behavior) (Carlson, 2014). Because it has a heritable, or genetic, component, we know that it has a biological basis, and it is believed that many of its most debilitating symptoms result from faulty neurotransmission.
However, because not all individuals with a genetic predisposition for schizophrenia actually develop the disease, we know that environmental factors contribute to its emergence. The prevalent etiological theory of schizophrenia, called the dopamine hypothesis (Carlson, 2014), posits that its positive symptoms are caused by excessive dopamine neurotransmission. Consider its implications for treatment, particularly in light of the newer atypical neuroleptic drugs now being used to treat schizophrenia.
There are two principal types of major affective (mood) disorders: bipolar and unipolar (Carlson, 2014). Bipolar disorder is characterized by cyclical episodes of mania and depression, while unipolar disorder involves depression alone. Although bipolar disorder is far from rare, unipolar disorder (chronic depression) is much more common, affecting millions of people and constituting one of the most prevalent forms of mental illness. Research shows that both of these disorders are associated with distinctive brain anomalies, have heritable components, and respond to pharmacological intervention as well as psychotherapy. Because patients suffering from mood disorders have been found to respond positively to sleep deprivation, disruption of REM sleep, and exposure to sunlight, it is clear that these disorders are somehow linked to biological rhythms.
There are four major anxiety disorders: panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and social anxiety disorder. The commonality among these four disorders is that they are characterized by unrealistic, unfounded fear and anxiety. Nearly a quarter of people will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives, making these the most common psychiatric illnesses.
Reference
Carlson, N. R. (2014). Foundations of behavioral neuroscience (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
To deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of the business community.
How can a psychology professional distinguish between the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia?
What are the long-term outcomes in terms of education, occupation, and independence for individuals with psychological disorders?