“I felt the need to clean my room at home every Sunday and would spend 4 to 5 hours at it. I would take every book out of the bookcase, dust and put it.

“I felt the need to clean my room at home every Sunday and would spend 4 to 5 hours at it. I would take every book out of the bookcase, dust and put it back…the clothes in my closet hung exactly two fingers apart…I made a ritual of touching the wall in my bedroom before I went out because if I didn’t something bad would happen.”

“I can’t find reasons to like myself. I think I’m ugly. I think no one likes me. I become grumpy and short-tempered. Nobody wants to be around me. I’m left alone. Being alone confirms that I am ugly and not worth being with. I think I’m responsible for everything that goes wrong.”

“Voices , like the roar of the crowd, came. I felt like Jesus; I was being crucified. It was dark…I just continued to huddle under the blanket, feeling weak, laid bare and defenseless in a cruel world I could no longer understand.”

Why are we so fascinated with the abnormal?

“To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal.”

Having a heated argument with someone

Praying aloud or chanting external to a religious service

Dancing in excitement over getting a good grade or hearing good news

The World Health Organization reports that worldwide, some 450 million people suffer from mental or behavioral disorders. These disorders account for 15.4% of the years of life lost due to death or disability.

Mental Health Workers view psychological disorders as patterns of thoughts, feelings, or behaviors that are deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional.

Respect for diversity sounds like a wonderful ideal, but how should we react when it clashes with some deeply held value such as gender equality? Consider the following issues:

Should the U.S. government be accepting of brutality such as genital mutilation of women that is common in certain African countries?

Female U.S. military personnel in Saudi Arabia have fought against regulations that require them to wear a veil outside their bases. Should these personnel be forced to follow Saudi law or U.S. customs?

Should we object to the law in Saudi Arabia that forbids women to drive?

In Sudan, a woman may not leave the country without permission from her husband, father, or brother. Should we object to such a practice?

For a psychological disorder to be present, it must involve:

Deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional patterns of thoughts, feelings, or behaviors.

There must be something maladaptive happening.

ADHD (not ADD) is in the DSM.

It is technically a psychological disorder marked by the appearance by age 7 of one or more of three key symptoms: extreme inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity.

Your thoughts???????????