Psychology Methods and Disorders

Psychology is the summary of a person’s characteristics including how they think, feel or behave. Simply, it is the study of conscious and unconscious stimulations of the human mind and actions. I think psychology is the most interesting of all fields. It is the most interesting because it is about us. It is about the most crucial and intimate aspects of our life. It includes millions of aspects in it. It is about language and perception. It is about our mental ability and memory status. It is about the sense of differentiating good and bad. It is about emotions, feelings, behavior, morality, the ability to understand the environment, an amalgamation of our reactions according to the situations. It is about our anxiety, depression, love, hatred, our way of thinking etc. It is about everything that matters to us. I believe this world is made up of marvelous creations. Man is one among them. But, rest of the creations are manmade or man modified. That is the unique ability of human beings. What actual the word human being means? A human being is someone who is distinguished from other animals by superior mental development, power of using language to express emotions. These are nothing but psychological aspects. Having knowledge in psychology, one can understand a human being. In turn, one can understand the creator who created the rest of the marvelous creations. Uniting all these, I can say that I can know about this world!! What could be more amazing than this? Biology of mind All that is psychological is basically physiological. All thoughts, feelings & behavior ultimately have a biological reason.

Biological psychology, or biopsychology, is a field in which the mind-body connection is explored. It is the only approach in psychology that examines thoughts, emotions and behaviors from a biological and physical perspective. Since psychology is the study of mind and behavior, in my opinion, psychology, is an attempt to make sense of our definition of consciousness which is derived from the activity of biological organs called the brain. The brain’s electrical and chemical activity results in us having self-awareness. Psychology is the study of our conceptualization of consciousness from many biological processes. A biological perspective is relevant to the study of psychology in three major ways:

• Comparative method: Animals of different species are brought into comparison and studied and finally decides the human behavior.
• Physiology: Here we study how the functioning of hormones and nervous systems affect the brain and in turn human behavior.
• Investigation of inheritance: Here the concept of heredity, genetics and its influence on the human mind and behavior throughout various generations is studied.
• Psychological Disorders: This is also known as psychiatric disorders which refer to the patterns of behavioral or psychological symptoms that impact life in multiple areas. These disorders create distress for the person experiencing their own symptoms. This behavioral malfunctioning leads to feeling mental stress.

Few of the symptoms that lead to the mental disorder are:

• Confused thinking.
• Unable to pay concentration.
• Feel of depression and sadness.
• Extreme tiredness, low energy and sleeping problems.
• Inability to handle day-to-day stress and problems.
• The strong feel of fright and guilt.
• Detachment from reality (delusions), losing confidence, hallucinations.
• Change in food habits.
• Drug and alcohol abuse.
• Extreme anger, hostility and violence.
• Suicidal thinking.

According to various studies, Psychological disorders are highly classified into following categories:

• Neurodevelopmental disorders: The majority of these usually start in childhood. It includes attention-deficit/ Hyperactivity disorder, learning disorders, autism spectrum disorder.
• Bipolar disorder: A disorder associated with episodes of mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic highs.
• Depressive disorders: These include disorders characterized by feelings of extreme sadness and worthlessness, along with reduced interest in previously enjoyable activities.
• Anxiety Disorders: Anxiety involves concentrating on frightful or dangerous things that could happen and worrying fearfully and excessively about them. It includes panic disorder, and phobias.
• Schizophrenia: A disorder that affects a person’s ability to think, feel and behave properly.
• Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders: These are developed during or after stressful life events.
• Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders: People with these diagnoses have problems associated with excessive use of alcohol, drugs recreational drugs, hallucinogens, and six other types of drugs. This group also includes gambling disorder.
• Neurocognitive Disorders: The disorders in this group include disorders of thinking, as well as delirium and reasoning caused by such conditions or diseases as traumatic brain injury.
• Personality Disorders: It involves a lasting pattern of emotional instability and unhealthy behaviors that seriously disrupt daily living and relationships.
• Autism: A serious developmental disorder that impairs the ability to interact with people and make communication.

The motivation that drives me:

1. I believe that there is no power that is powerful than human power.
2. There is no strength that could strengthen the world other than human mental strength.
3. No other field of science other than psychology can let this world know the above two are true!!

How am I related to various psychological principles? Psychology is a fascinating field with several facets to engage in. No matter in what field we are interest is in, there is a field of psychology where we will find the ideal niche. It is the study of people’s behavior, performance, and mental operations. It also refers to the application of the knowledge, which can be used to understand events, treat issues of mental health, and improve education, employment, and relationships. With the help of psychology, I can be able to know about myself. I can build control over my actions and can manage my activities appropriately. With a clear understanding of myself, I can know about the causes of my own behavior and my perspective in life. By knowing myself, I can develop my personality and can reach my goals with ease. Gaining knowledge about myself makes me to understand the behavior of rest of the people also. This could help me to build strong relations and interactions with them. It helps me in improving my communication skills, building self-confidence, enriching career, taking proper decisions, making good judgments, building better relationships, filling positivity. Behavioral psychology It is also known as behaviorism. This theory states that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning regardless of genetic background, personality traits, and internal thoughts.It is broken into two areas of conditioning-classic and behavioral or operant. Most are familiar with operant conditioning, where one learns through reward what behavior is desired and punish for what behavior is undesired. Classical conditioning is a natural reflex or response to stimuli. My personal experience with behavioral psychology I experienced the state of receiving rewards and punishments during my schooling which made me to learn to differentiate good and bad-it comes under operant behaviorism. Cognitive psychology It includes the study of mental processes, which means the things that go on inside our brain, including memory, thinking, perception, attention, language, analytical ability, problem-solving, learning and understanding. My personal experience with cognitive psychology I wondered why I remember certain details without even trying, yet other important information slips my mind so quickly? Developmental psychology It deals with how people grow and change over the course of a lifetime. It is not just concerned with the physical changes that occur as people grow but also look at the social, emotional, and cognitive development that occurs throughout life. My personal experience with developmental psychology I noticed infants are more sensitive to touch. Infants’ vision is significantly worse compared to older children’s vision. Personality psychology: This deals with an understanding of how personality develops as well as how it influences the way we think and behave. My personal experience with personality psychology My attitude, my characteristics, my reaction to the situation -all these depicts my personality. Psychosocial psychology It deals with how an individual’s psychological factors and the surrounding environment are related. It estimates mental wellness and the ability to handle the situation. It causes anxiety, insomnia, losing temper etc., My personal experience with psychological psychology Like everyone else, I also experienced anxiety, and depression sometimes. Social psychology This gives the idea about how people think, feel, and behave in the presence of others. My personal experience with social psychology I encountered any situations in which people try to behave differently when they are left with few other people while shopping or marketing etc., Psychology- my savior: Psychology is helpful in the behavioral analysis. One can describe, predict, explain, and change the behavior. Having knowledge in psychology, I can understand myself better. This in turn helps in understanding human behavior. Having prior knowledge in this field can make me to predict future threats and could be helpful to resolve them easily. My communication skills can be enhanced and that could be helpful in building social relationships. I can develop the quality of critical thinking and can able to study a situation in various angles. This would help me making good decisions and judgments. The reason for choosing a degree in psychology is: I believe that purpose of education is to improve an individual both personally and socially. A psychology degree not only opens up a huge range and variety of career opportunities but also offers students the opportunity for personal growth. It acts as a gateway to learning more about myself and others. Earning a degree in psychology gives that chance to gain a greater understanding of people. I can apply that knowledge in a wide variety of job settings, including social services, marketing deals, negotiations, education, etc. In another point of view, the job outlook is good for psychology majors. Because, the demand for psychological services in various departments like schools, hospitals, substance abuse treatment centers is increasing day-by-day. So that I can make better use of my knowledge to build a fright-free and responsible society. I felt like working in psychology is challenging since I am such a person who love solving practical and theoretical problems. I can make a difference in people’s lives who are in extreme adversity and pain. I can at least try to generate a smile on their faces. Because serving mankind gives ultimate happiness. I can learn the way of life. I can learn how to manage time, organize things, and interpret data. It also helps me as a background for further higher education. As I mentioned earlier, it acts as a savior in my life which saves me and my world from extreme conditions. The most important reason to mention is, “I love learning psychology”. Conclusion: Psychology is a broad subject that touches on nearly every aspect of what makes people who they are. As individuals, we all face different challenges in life and sometimes no matter how strong we are our mind refuses to comprehend the information. Then one can find the need of a study of psychology. I may not able to fight in someone’s battle. But, I can stand by their side and can give support. The scope of psychology is increasing tremendously as the stressors keep on increasing. Being a member of mankind, I can’t let this go on. Because I believe, “A healthy mind is necessary for a healthy society.