Psychosis and criminality Continue Psychosis is an abnormal
Psychosis and criminality
Continue… Psychosis is an abnormal condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not. Symptoms may include false beliefs (delusions) and seeing or hearing things that others do not see or hear (hallucinations). Causes: Mental illness (schizophrenia, bipolar. . . Symptoms: False beliefs, seeing or hearing thi. . . Other names: Psychotic break. Psychosis refers to an abnormal condition of the mind described as involving a “loss of contact with reality”. ◉ I. e. , Detachment with reality People experiencing psychosis may exhibit some personality changes and thought disorder.
Depending on its severity this may be accompanied by unusual and bizzare behavior. With difficulty in social interaction and impairment in carrying daily activities CAUSES ◉ Genetics ◉ Trauma ◉ Psychiatric disorder ◉ Medical conditions ◉ Psychoactive drugs (alcohol etc. . . ) ◉ Medication
Continue… Gross impairment in reality testing(‘not in contact’ with reality) Marked disturbance in personality, with impairment in social, interpersonal, occupational functioning. Marked impairment in judgement & absent understanding of current symptoms & behavior(loss of insight) Presence of characteristic symptoms like delusions & hallucinations.
Continue… SECONDARY CAUSES ◉ Brain tumor or cyst ◉ Dementia - Alzheimer's disease. ◉ Neurological illness - such as Parkinson‘s disease and Huntington's disease ◉ HIV and other infections that can affect the brain ◉ Epilepsy ◉ Stroke
Continue… TYPES OF PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS SCHIZOPHRENIA is mental disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally BIPOLAR DISORDER formerly called manic depression, is mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings. PSYCHOTIC DEPRESSION is serious illness include some form psychosis. SCHIZOAFFECTIVE DISORDER DRUG INDUCED PSYCHOSIS
Continue… MAIN SYMPTOMs Hallucinations - hearing, seeing, or feeling things that do not exist Delusions - false beliefs, especially based on fear or suspicion of things that are not real Disorganization - in thought, speech, or behavior. Disordered thinking - jumping between unrelated topics, making strange connections between thoughts Catatonia - unresponsiveness Difficulty concentrating
Continue… The association between psychosis and criminality in general seems to be rather an indirect one, mediated through an illness-related increased vulnerability for general criminogenic factors as poverty, social deprivation and substance abuse, intensified by deficits of modern mental health care. The popular belief is that people with mental illness are more prone to commit acts of violence and aggression. The public perception of psychiatric patients as dangerous individuals is often rooted in the portrayal of criminals in the media as “crazy” individuals. People with mental illness are more likely to be a victim of violent crime than the perpetrator Certain psychiatric conditions do increase a person's risk of committing a crime. Research suggests that patients with mental illness may be more prone to violence if they do not receive adequate treatment, are actively experiencing delusions, or have long-standing paranoia
Continue… Considerable evidence suggests that a significant amount of the violence observed in the mentally ill is associated with specific psychotic symptoms. What this evidence often seems to indicate is that it is not simply the presence of mental illness that induces violence, but rather the specific presence of delusions and hallucinations. Krakowski and Czobor (1994) found a significant association between "paranoid" symptoms and transient ward violence in a group of 38 psychiatric patients consecutively admitted to a secure care unit. Straznickas et al. (1993) reported that seven of 24 (29%) assaults by psychiatric patients against their spouses were preceded by persecutory delusions.
Continue… Mental illness is commonly alleged to be a principal cause for violent behavior. For that reason many uninformed people are frightened of someone who is obviously disturbed emotionally. Yet mental illness, like most physical illness, tends to impair the individual’s ability to act, aggressively or in any other way. Only a few such conditions have a significant potential to precipitate a violent act. Among these is paranoid schizophrenia, which may affect the individual so that he comes to believe that people are persecuting him. He may then attack whomever he imagines his enemies to be.
Continue… A neurotic person experiences emotional distress and unconscious conflict, which are manifested in various physical or mental illnesses. Neurotic means you’re afflicted by neurosis, a word that has been in use since the 1700 s to describe mental, emotional, or physical reactions that are drastic and irrational. At its root, a neurotic behavior is an automatic, unconscious effort to manage deep anxiety. Also called psychoneurosis. a functional disorder in which feelings of anxiety, obsessional thoughts, compulsive acts, and physical complaints without objective evidence of disease, in various degrees and patterns, dominate the personality. a relatively mild personality disorder typified by excessive anxiety or indecision and a degree of social or interpersonal maladjustment. Neurotic disorders. Neurosis refers to a class of functional mental disorder involving distress but not delusions or hallucinations, where behavior is not outside socially acceptable norms. It is also known as psychoneurosis or neurotic disorder.
Continue… Neuroses are characterized by anxiety, depression, or other feelings of unhappiness or distress that are out of proportion to the circumstances of a person’s life. They may impair a person’s functioning in virtually any area of his life, relationships, or external affairs, but they are not severe enough to incapacitate the person. Affected patients generally do not suffer from the loss of the sense of reality seen in persons with psychoses.
Types Obsessive-compulsive disorders are characterized by the irresistible entry of unwanted ideas, thoughts, or feelings into consciousness or by the need to repeatedly perform ritualistic actions that the sufferer perceives as unnecessary or unwarranted. Obsessive ideas may include recurrent violent or obscene thoughts; compulsive behavior includes rituals such as repetitive hand washing or door locking. In anxiety disorders, anxiety is the principal feature, manifesting itself either in relatively short, acute anxiety attacks or in a chronic sense of nameless dread. Persons undergoing anxiety attacks may suffer from digestive upsets, excessive perspiration, headaches, heart palpitations, restlessness, insomnia, disturbances in appetite, and impaired concentration.
Continue… Phobia, a type of anxiety disorder, is represented by inappropriate fears that are triggered by specific situations or objects. Some common objects of phobias are open or closed spaces, fire, high places, dirt, and bacteria. . Depression, when neither excessively severe nor prolonged, is regarded as a neurosis. A depressed person feels sad, hopeless, and pessimistic and may be listless, easily fatigued, slow in thought and action, and have a reduced appetite and difficulty in sleeping. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a syndrome appearing in people who have endured some highly traumatic event, such as a natural disaster, torture, or incarceration in a concentration camp.
Common Personality Traits of Neurotics A tendency toward mood disorders like anxiety and depression Hyper-awareness and self-consciousness of one’s mistakes and imperfections A propensity to dwell on the negative An expectation that the worst outcome in any situation is the one most likely to occur Highly reactive to stress and emotional upset Compulsive, and may play the same scenario in one’s head over and over May be more likely to adopt maladaptive behaviors, such as self-medication with alcohol, food, or other substances
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