Social Deviation and Social Work
 Confusion
Organic Mental Disorder is a permanent or
temporary dysfunction in the brain that is caused by
physiological problems with the brain. The causes
range from heredity to an injury of the brain to a
disease that affects brain tissue or changes the
chemical or hormonal levels of the brain. The
symptoms of organic mental disorders vary
depending on the underlying issue of what caused the
imbalance or malfunction of the brain, but they can
be difficult to deal with.
 An organic mental disorder is a dysfunction
of the brain that may be permanent or
temporary. It describes reduced brain
function due to illnesses that are not
psychiatric in nature.
 Sometimes the term organic mental disorder
is used interchangeably with the terms
organic brain syndrome (OBS), chronic
organic brain syndrome, or neurocognitive
disorder—this latter term is the one used
more commonly now.
Symptoms/Reasons
 Hallucinations
 Inability to perform in social situations
 Depression
 Confusion
 Changes in personality
Causes
 It may be caused by injury or disease
affecting brain tissues as well as by chemical
or hormonal abnormalities.
 Exposure to toxic materials, neurological
impairment, or abnormal changes associated
with aging can also cause these disorders
 Alcohol or metabolic disorders, such as liver,
kidney or thyroid disease or vitamin
deficiencies
 Concussions, blood clots, or bleeding in or
around the brain from trauma
 Low oxygen in the blood, high amounts of
carbon dioxide in the body, strokes, brain
infections, and heart infections
 Degenerative disorders like Parkinson's
disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington
disease, and multiple sclerosis may also be
contributing factors.
Main Symptoms
 Agitation
 Irritability
 A change in behavior, impaired brain
function, cognitive ability, or memory
Diagnosis/Treatment
 Blood tests, spinal taps, or an
electroencephalogram may be administered
to diagnose organic brain syndrome or an
organic mental disorder. Imaging of the
brain, like a CT scan or MRI, is also useful,
depending on a doctor's suspicion.
 Treatments for organic mental disorders vary
on what the underlying cause is. Medication
may be prescribed, or rehabilitation therapy
may help patients recover function in the
parts of the brain affected by the organic
mental disorder.
Autism spectrum disorder is a condition related to
brain development that impacts how a person
perceives and socializes with others, causing
problems in social interaction and communication.
The disorder also includes limited and repetitive
patterns of behavior.
Symptoms
• Fails to respond to his or her name or appears not
to hear you at times
• Resists cuddling and holding, and seems to prefer
playing alone, retreating into his or her own world
• Has poor eye contact and lacks facial expression
• Doesn't speak or has delayed speech, or loses
previous ability to say words or sentences
Patterns of Behavior
• Performs repetitive movements, such as rocking,
spinning or hand flapping
• Performs activities that could cause self-harm, such
as biting or head-banging
• Develops specific routines or rituals and becomes
disturbed at the slightest change
• Has problems with coordination or has odd
movement patterns, such as clumsiness or walking
on toes, and has odd, stiff or exaggerated body
language
Your doctor may recommend developmental tests to Sometimes, ID may be classified as:
identify if your child has delays in cognitive,
language and social skills, if your child: • “other”

• Doesn't respond with a smile or happy expression • “unspecified”

by 6 months Symptoms:
• Doesn't mimic sounds or facial expressions by 9 • failure to meet intellectual milestones
months
•sitting, crawling, or walking later than other
• Doesn't babble or coo by 12 months children
• Doesn't gesture — such as point or wave — by 14 • problems learning to talk or trouble speaking
months clearly
• Doesn't say single words by 16 months •memory problems
• Doesn't play "make-believe" or pretend by 18 Behavioral issues:
months
• aggression
• Doesn't say two-word phrases by 24 months
• dependency
• Loses language skills or social skills at any age
• withdrawal from social activities
Causes: Genetics and Environment
• attention-seeking behavior
Risk Factors: Child’s sex, Family History, Other
disorders, Extremely Preterm babies, Parents’ ages Diagnosis

Complications: Your child’s doctor will perform a three-part

evaluation that includes:
• Problems in school and with successful learning
• interviews with you
• Employment problems
• observations of your child
• Inability to live independently
• standard tests
• Social isolation
Your child’s evaluation process might include visits
• Stress within the family to specialists, who may include a:
• Victimization and being bullied Psychologist, Speech Pathologist, Social Worker,
Prevention: Only treatment options. Pediatric Neurologist, Developmental Pediatrician,
and Physical Therapist.
Intellectual Disability
Treatment may include:
If your child has an intellectual disability (ID), their
brain hasn’t developed properly or has been injured • behavior therapy
in some way. Their brain may also not function • occupational therapy
within the normal range of both intellectual and
adaptive functioning. In the past, medical • counseling
professionals called this condition “mental • medication, in some cases
retardation.”
What is the long-term outlook?
Four levels of Intellectual Disability:
When ID occurs with other serious physical
mild profound problems, your child may have a below-average life
moderate expectancy. However, if your child has mild to
moderate ID, they will probably have a fairly normal
severe life expectancy.
Other types of Organic Mental Disorders:
 Organic Hallucinosis
 Organic Catatonic Disorder
 Organic Delusional Disorder
 Organic Mood Disorder
 Organic Anxiety Disorder
 Organic Dissociative Disorder
 Organic Emotionally Labile Disorder.
 Organic Personality Disorder
 Postencephalitic Syndrome
 Postconcussional Syndrome
 Unspecified Organic Disorder
Treatment for Organic Mental Disorders
The treatment methods are going to vary depending
on what type of mental disorder you are dealing with,
but for the most part, a professionally guided therapy
program and counseling are recommended for long
term success with treating organic mental disorders
even though there may be no cure.
For many, pursuing online therapy allows them to get
the help they need while still being able to function
in their day to day life. The therapy can be just as
intense online - and just as helpful.
Functional Mental Disorder is a mental disorder
that is caused by psychological issues and does not
involve brain damage.
Causes:
 Heredity
 Stress
 Emotional Conflict
 Fear
 Ineffective coping skills
 Disturbing events in childhood or in the
recent past
Examples of Functional Mental Disorder
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) - a common, long-
term condition of the digestive system. It can cause
bouts of stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhea and/or
constipation. These problems may mean that you're
more sensitive to pain coming from your digestive
tract, and you may become constipated or have
diarrhea because your food passes through your
digestive tract either too slowly or too quickly.
Psychological factors such as stress may also play a
part in IBS. Poorly coordinated signals between the
brain and the intestines can cause your body to
overreact to changes that normally occur in the
digestive process, resulting in pain, diarrhea or
constipation. Sometimes symptoms appear after the
experience of an extremely stressful event. A high
incidence of IBS is seen in adults who were the
victim of sexual or physical abuse in childhood.
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) - a disorder
characterized by extreme fatigue or tiredness that
doesn’t go away with rest and can’t be explained by
an underlying medical condition. For CFS to be
diagnosed, a significantly reduced ability to perform
your usual daily activities with fatigue must last for
at least six months. It must not be curable with bed
rest.
Fibromyalgia - is a long-term or chronic disorder. It’s
associated with widespread pain in the muscles and
bones, areas of tenderness, and general fatigue.
Causes: infections, genetics, trauma since this
condition is linked with PTSD, and also stress.
Two Classes of Functional Mental Disorder
 Neurosis
 Psychosis
William Cullen – a Scottish Physician and Professor
of medicine first coined the word “neurosis”.
HOWEVER, in 1980, the American Psychiatric
Association removed the term neurosis from its
diagnostic manual as part of a revamp to standardize
the criteria for mental illnesses. Today, neurosis is
not a stand-alone mental condition. Instead, doctors
most often put its symptoms in the same category as
anxiety disorder. In other words, what used to be
called neurosis now falls under the umbrella of
anxiety.
Sigmund Freud - later used the term “anxiety
neurosis” to describe mental illness or distress with
extreme anxiety as a defining feature.
Neurosis
refers to a constant struggle between an individual’s
personality and his patterns of behavior in a stressful
condition, often associated with physical and mental
disturbances.
Major Traditional Categories of Neuroses:
Anxiety neurosis. Mental illness defined by
excessive anxiety and worry, sometimes involving
panic attacks and manifesting itself in physical
symptoms such as tremor, chest pain, sweating, and
nausea.
Depressive neurosis. A mental illness characterized
by a profound feeling of sadness or despair and a lack
of interest in things that were once pleasurable.
Obsessive-compulsive neurosis. The persistent and
distressing recurrence of intrusive thoughts or
images (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors or
mental acts (compulsions).
Somatization (formerly called hysterical neurosis).
The presence of real and significant physical
symptoms that cannot be explained by a medical
condition but are instead a manifestation of anxiety
or other mental distress.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (also called war or
combat neurosis). Severe stress and functional
disability caused by witnessing a traumatic event
such as war combat or any other event that involved
death or serious injury.
Compensation neurosis. Not a true neurosis, but a
form of malingering, or feigning psychological
symptoms for monetary or other personal gain.
Causes
In 1996, a specific human gene and its corresponding
alleles (two components of a gene which are
responsible for encoding the gene) were linked to
neuroticism. The identified gene and its allele pair
help to control the amount of serotonin (a central
nervous system neurotransmitter) released into the
body through the production of a protein known as a
transporter. This transporter protein, which helps to
carry the serotonin across the synaptic space (the gap
between nerve cells) to stimulate nerve cells, also
assists the cell in reabsorbing the serotonin (a process
known as "reuptake"). In the case of the "neurosis
gene," one possible version of its corresponding
alleles (called s for their short length) was found to
produce an insufficient amount of this transporter
protein, and the other (named l for long), a
significantly large amount. If the amount of
transporter protein produced is inadequate, an
excessive amount of serotonin must remain in the
synaptic gap while the protein "catches up" with
reuptake, and the serotonin will continue to stimulate
surrounding nerve cells, resulting in neurosis or
neurotic symptoms. A corresponding study of 500
patients showed that patients who were assessed as
having neurotic personality traits usually possessed
the shorter allele pair (or a combination of one short
and one long) that produced insufficient transporter
protein.
Psychosis
A condition that affects the way your brain processes
information. It causes you to lose touch with reality.
You might see, hear, or believe things that aren’t real.
Types of Psychosis
Schizophrenia - a serious mental health disorder
affecting the way someone feels, thinks, and acts.
Individuals find it difficult to distinguish between
what is real and what is imaginary.
Schizoaffective disorder - a condition similar to
schizophrenia that includes periods of mood
disturbances.
Brief psychotic disorder - psychotic symptoms last at
least 1 day but no longer than 1 month. Often
occurring in response to a stressful life event. Once
symptoms have gone, they may never return.
Delusional disorder - the individual has a strong
belief in something irrational and often bizarre with
no factual basis. Symptoms last for 1 month or
longer.
Bipolar psychosis - individuals have the symptoms
of bipolar disorder (intense highs and lows in mood)
and also experience episodes of psychosis. The
psychosis more commonly occurs during manic
phases.
Psychotic depression - also known as major
depressive disorder with psychotic features.
Postpartum psychosis (also called postnatal) - a
severe form of postnatal depression.
Substance-induced psychosis - including alcohol,
certain illegal drugs, and some prescription drugs,
including steroids and stimulants.
Phobias and Panic Disorders
What is Phobia?
 It is an extreme form of fear or anxiety
triggered by a particular situation or object
even when there is no danger.
 Most phobias develop in childhood, but they
can also develop in later life.
Symptoms
 Difficulty in breathing
 Increased heart rate
 Chest pain or tightness
 Trembling or shaking
 Dizziness
 A churning stomach
 Panicking when exposed to irrational fear
 Sweating
 Extreme, irrational fear of situation, living
creature, place, or object
Causes
 Particular incidents or traumas.
 Learned responses, picked up in early life.
Factors in the family environment, such as
parents who are very worried or anxious, can
have an effect on the way you cope with
anxiety in later life. You might develop the
same specific phobia as a parent or older
sibling.
 Genetics.
 Responses to panic or fear
 Long-term stress can cause feelings
of anxiety and depression and reduce your
ability to cope in particular situations. This
can make you feel more fearful or anxious
about being in those situations again and,
over a long period, could lead to you
developing a phobia.
Types of Phobias
Specific Phobias
Complex Phobias
Specific Phobias
 Formerly called a Simple Phobia. These
phobias are a lasting and unreasonable fear
caused by the presence or thought of a
specific object or situation, such as spiders or
flying.
Different Types of Specific Phobias
 Animal Phobias
 Situational Phobias – These involve a fear of
specific situations, such as flying, riding in a
car or on public transportation, driving, going
over bridges or in tunnels, or of being in a
closed-in place, like an elevator.
 Natural Environment Phobias - Examples
include the fear of storms, heights, or water.
 Blood-injection-injury Phobia - These
involve a fear of being injured, of
seeing blood or of invasive medical
procedures, such as blood tests or injections.
 Other phobias may include a fear of falling
down, a fear of loud sounds, and a fear of
costumed characters, such as clowns.
Different examples of Specific Phobias
 Claustrophobia: Fear of being in constricted,
confined spaces
 Aerophobia: Fear of flying
 Arachnophobia: Fear of spiders
 Driving phobia: Fear of driving a car
 Emetophobia: Fear of vomiting
 Erythrophobia: Fear of blushing
 Hypochondria: Fear of becoming ill
 Zoophobia: Fear of animals
 Aquaphobia: Fear of water
 Acrophobia: Fear of heights
 Blood, injury, and injection (BII) phobia:
Fear of injuries involving blood
 Escalaphobia: Fear of escalators
 Tunnel phobia: Fear of tunnels
Complex phobias tend to have a more disruptive or
disabling impact on your life than specific phobias.
Two of the most common complex phobias are social
phobia and agoraphobia.
Social Phobia is a fear of social situations where you
may be embarrassed or judged. This problem may
also be related to feelings of inferiority and low self-
esteem and can drive a person to drop out of school,
avoid making friends, and remain unemployed.
People suffering from social phobia may:
 view small mistakes as more exaggerated
than they really are
 find blushing as painfully embarrassing
 feel that all eyes are on them
 fear speaking in public, dating, or talking
with persons in authority
 fear using public restrooms or eating out
 fear talking on the phone or writing in front
of others
Difficult to engage in everyday activities such as:
 talking in groups or starting conversations
 public speaking
 speaking on the phone
 meeting new people
 talking to authority figures
 eating and drinking in front of others
 regular trips out to the shops or bank
 going to work
Agoraphobia is widely thought to be a fear of open
spaces, but it is more complex than this. A person
will feel anxious about being in places or situations
that it would be difficult or embarrassing to get out
of, or where they might not be able to get help if they
have a panic attack.
Avoid a variety of everyday situations such as:
 being outside the home alone
 being in open spaces
 being in a crowd of people
 travelling by car, bus or plane
 being in enclosed spaces such as a lift or in a
shop
Treatments
Desensitization, or exposure therapy: This can help
people with a phobia adjust their response to the
source of fear. They are gradually exposed to the
cause of their phobia over a series of escalating steps.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): The doctor,
therapist, or counselor helps the person with a phobia
learn different ways of understanding and reacting to
the source of their phobia.
Medications
Beta blockers - These can help reduce the physical
signs of anxiety that can accompany a phobia.
Antidepressants - Serotonin reuptake inhibitors
(SSRIs) are commonly prescribed for people with
phobias. They affect serotonin levels in the brain, and
this can result in better moods.
Tranquilizers - Benzodiazepines are an example of a
tranquilizer that might be prescribed for a phobia.
These may help reduce anxiety symptoms.
What is Panic Disorder?
People with panic disorder experience unexpected
and repeated panic attacks. They become terrified
that they may have more attacks and fear that
something bad will happen because of the panic
attack (such as going crazy, losing control or dying).
Symptoms
 Feelings of extreme terror that occur
suddenly without warning.
 Panic attack symptoms, including a pounding
heart, sweating, trembling, numbness in the
hands and feet, dizziness, weakness, chest
pain and rapid breathing.
 During an attack, many people suffering from
panic disorder describe feeling as if they are
having a heart attack or on the verge of dying.
 Constant fear that another attack might
happen at any time.
 Behavior changes as a result of having panic
attacks, such as avoiding certain situations,
areas or objects out of fear that they will
trigger another attack.
Treatments
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is one treatment
approach that can help people with panic disorder
learn new ways of thinking and reacting to anxiety-
provoking situations.
Exposure therapy