Mental Disorder

Mental disorder is a psychological pattern or anomaly, potentially reflected in behaviour, that is generally associated with distress or disability, and which is not considered part of normal development in a person's culture. The recognition and understanding of mental health conditions have changed over time and across cultures and there are still variations in definition, assessment and classification. The causes of mental disorders are varied and in some cases unclear, and theories may incorporate findings from a range of fields. Services are based in psychiatric hospitals or in the community, and assessments are carried out by psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and clinical social workers, using various methods but often relying on observation and questioning. Mental Disorder explains the latest research on mental disorders. It serves as an essential start to mastering the science and art of clinical practice.

Chapter 1 examines youth suicide ideation from a cross-cultural perspective and to focus specifically on gender differences by examining data from 19 countries and cities. Chapter 2 examines the relationship between the locus of control scale as an indicator of internality-externality and the Kessler 10 scale as an indicator of psychological distress, and analyses the effects of socio-demographic and employment-related factors on this relationship. Chapter 3 examines the prevalence of mental health issues and future aspirations among service-seeking youth living in the slums of Kampala. Chapter 4 reviews the literature regarding cognitive deficits in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus as well as explores original research investigating prospective memory in this cohort. This study demonstrates the need for additional studies clarifying the relationship between prospective memory and glycemic control.

Chapter 5 discusses HCV (Hepatitis C Virus) among patients with mental disorders. Guidelines and universal strategies are suggested to minimize, prevent and treat HCV among patients with mental patients. Future prospects and new concepts in modeling HCV among these patients have also been highlighted and evaluated in this chapter. Chapter 6 describes concept of social anxiety disorder, and presents recent evidence-based treatment algorithm and available further treatment options for them including pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy. Chapter 7 focuses on delayed matching-to-sample procedures that could be useful for identifying problems of short-term memory in people with dementia. The results with use of a titrated delayed matching-to-sample, showed that small titrating steps were more useful than larger titrating steps. Chapter 8 presents the process of adult hippocampal neurogenesis and its relationship with neurological disorders, as well as reviews its role in relation to disease etiology, pathogenesis and areas of future therapeutic targeting.

Chapter 9 compares a single (pharmacological treatment) versus a multi-element interventions (pharmacological treatment, social skills training, psychoeducation for relatives and family therapy for first episode-psychosis patients and their relatives) know as integrated treatment to determine clinical and functional outcome improvements. It shows that a greater proportion of patients receiving integrated treatment fulfilled the remission criteria and a higher psychosocial functioning improvement when compared to those receiving standard treatment. In addition, a higher number of patients of integrated treatment fulfilled both criteria: symptomatic remission and a better level of psychosocial functioning achieving better functional outcome compared to patients of standard treatment. Chapter 10 provides knowledge, information and clinical skills that are related to examine Psychosis.