The discipline of medicine which focuses on the treatment of mental disorders, using a combination of pharmacotherapy, behavioral ("talk") therapy, and innovative experimental therapies (e.g., transcranial magnetic stimulation).
12
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2answers
2k views
Is pedophilia a sexual orientation or a mental disorder?
There are some different claims being made that pedophilia is a sexual orientation rather than a mental disorder.
At the moment there seems to be a growing group of psychologists advocating that ...
9
votes
1answer
192 views
Cognitive explanation of why beta blockers are effective for anxiety
Beta blockers essentially reduce physical effects of anxiety and panic disorder, but there is no proof that there is a direct effect on anxiety. Some scientists believe there is an indirect effect.
...
8
votes
0answers
65 views
What do anatomical substrates of conditioned taste aversion tell us about treatment?
Conditioned taste aversions (CTAs) or Garcia effect are a byproduct of feeling ill after we've consumed a certain food. These aversions is present even if the illness is not related to ingestion and ...
6
votes
1answer
336 views
What is the relationship between post-traumatic stress disorder and fugue states?
The introduction of the new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders ("DSM-5") is on the horizon. With it are coming some new, evidence-based diagnoses for dissociative ...
6
votes
1answer
168 views
For depression diagnoses, does one make a clear distinction between endogenous and exogenous causes of depression?
Roughly speaking, we might imagine that people have depression predominantly for one of two reasons:
Endogenously induced: The person has some inherent inballance between different ...
6
votes
0answers
89 views
Is multiple personality disorder a medical condition or artifact of psychotherapy?
The popular media has offered such examples as "Eve" (based on Chris Costner-Sizemore) and "Sybil" (based on Shirley Ardell Mason) as sufferers of dissociative identity disorder (at one point known as ...
5
votes
1answer
111 views
How can prolonged stress lead to a sustained reduction in cognitive functioning?
Background: Ten years ago or so I went through a traumatic period which resulted in a lot of stress and anxiety. I initially assumed there was some depression but cognition and short term memory was ...
4
votes
2answers
154 views
Is there a psychological model or theory that describes strangers in the vicinity unknowingly causing discomfort?
The closest thing I found to this is social anxiety or agoraphobia, which is a fear of socializing or a fear of public places, respectively. However, I think the idea that strangers can cause ...
4
votes
1answer
123 views
How do you know if it's psychosomatic or not?
"It's in your head" is often true and often offensive. But as your head can invent any number of psychological and physiological symptoms how can you distinguish whether something is or isn't ...
3
votes
1answer
85 views
How to obtain Fritz Perls' Eye Witness to Therapy film?
I am reading Fritz Perls' book called "Eye Witness to Therapy" which contains film transcipts that Perls thought would be useful to learn Gestalt therapy.
For me it is a very deep and interesting ...
3
votes
0answers
94 views
Why is a lack of response to punishment in adults considered significant in diagnoses?
It seems that a lack of response to punishment is often considered useful in diagnosing conditions or symptoms. A good example of this may be in diagnosing psychopathy, in which a lack of response to ...
2
votes
0answers
20 views
Meditation for patients with neuroleptic induced tension
Patients taking antipsychotic (neuroleptic) drugs often suffer from some kind of discomfort or tension. This can manifest as a neuroleptic induced dysphoria, akathisia, or some kind of anxiety.
Is ...
2
votes
0answers
72 views
Is happiness a result of cognitive or a side effect of neurobiological processes? [closed]
This morning I've heard this talk on Ted.com:
Matt Killingsworth: Want to be happier? Stay in the moment
The presenter is discussing an iPhone app used to track happiness, and seems to draw a ...
2
votes
2answers
172 views
How effective is the NLP Reverse Movie Technique in dealing with traumatic experiences?
The Reverse Movie Technique (also konwn as The NLP Fast Phobia/Trauma Cure) is named as such because it involves playing a traumatic event backwards through your head.
Is the technique effective at ...
0
votes
1answer
86 views
Do internet memes say something about how the brain works? [closed]
I've been thinking about what the current internet memes, most notably the "advice animals" can say about the human brain/mind. I know that in the "old days", there were folk sayings and folk wisdom, ...
-1
votes
1answer
45 views
How to tell a diagnosis from an actual state?
Since diagnoses merely represent what a doctor is thinking, how can a mental patient know the difference between de facto "reality" and what decisions a doctor is planning?
We know planning is not ...
