Psychological disorders affect a person's everyday life, as well as the lives of the people around them. A psychological disorder is a "harmful dysfunction" in which behavior is judged to be atypical, disturbing, maladaptive, and unjustifiable (Myers, 2001). There are many different types of disorders today, and they have been around since ancient times when they believed these disorders were some type of supernatural occurrences. There are several categories of disorders: anxiety disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, and schizophrenia.
The first kinds of disorders are anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders are characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors (Myers, 2001). A couple different types of this disorder are Acute Stress disorder, and Social Phobia. Acute Stress Disorder is a variation of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. In this disorder the person experiences a traumatic event, and they continue to experience it over and over through dreams or flashbacks. Social Phobia is another form of anxiety, and is characterized by overwhelming anxiety and excessive self consciousness in social situations like speaking in public. About 5.3 million Americans suffer from this (Long, 2003). This would disrupt a person's ability to get a job and work, or to just meet people. From this they may never be able to support themselves, or find someone to marry and have a family. Two effective treatments for these disorders are certain medications and cognitive therapy.
Another type of disorder is mood disorders. Mood disorders are characterized by emotional extremes (Myers, 2001). Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder are two types of mood disorders. Major Depressive Disorder is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts. It affects the way a person eats or sleeps, the way he or she feels about themselves and other things. Someone with this disease has a constant feeling of hopelessness, is persistently sad, and has constant feelings of guilt.