8 MENTAL DISORDERS: POPULAR MYTHS


Essay plans A


1 Introduction: two disorders commonly confused; different symptoms and causes; aims of essay


2 Describe symptoms of disorders 1 and 2


3 Describe causes of disorders 1 and 2


4 Illustrate similarities between disorders; behaviour, causes, treatments


5 Illustrate differences between disorders; behaviour, causes, treatments


6 Conclusion: disorders 1 and 2 are similar; delusions, detachment from reality; but different causes and treatment


Essay extracts 1


B 1


Introduction: social importance of conformity; definition of conformity; give essay aims


2 Asch’s hypothesis; majority can influence individuals even when majority is wrong


3 Describe experiment; methodology


4 Describe results; individuals conformed to the majority opinion


5 Link results to effect of mass media on individual thinking


6 Discuss criticisms of Asch’s experiments; other variables; history and social context and relate to media influence on individual opinion


7 Conclusion: Asch’s experiments demonstrated tendency to conformity; social context and history not fully accounted for; relate to effect of media on independent opinion.


To summarize, it is clear that schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder are similar in the sense that patients with both disorders may lose touch with the outer world as they construct an independent inner reality. In the case of schizophrenia, this inner world is disorganized and incoherent. In contrast, the patient with dissociative identity disorder may have distinct boundaries between their different personalities and experience very little confusion. The causes of schizophrenia are thought to be physiological and genetically influenced, whereas dissociative identity disorder is the result of traumatic or stressful events. Schizophrenia is usually treated with medication and hospitalization. In contrast, medication is not commonly recommended as a treatment for dissociative identity disorder, which is generally treated with psychotherapy.


2


Successful social groups require a high degree of cooperation between individuals, which can be achieved in various ways. One of these is the exercise of social pressure by the majority on the individual to behave in a certain way or adopt a particular belief. Conformity is the act of changing individual behaviour in response to group pressure. It is important to understand the effects of conformity because it is a powerful social phenomenon affecting most sectors of society, including education, politics and commerce. This essay will outline Asch’s hypothesis of conformity, describe the methodology and results of his experiments and discuss them in the light of other research.


Essay question


In 1999, thirteen young people were killed in a violent attack by two pupils of Columbine High School, Colorado. The attackers also died. Since then, a number of high school and college massacres have been carried out by adolescent males in the United States and Europe. To what extent do you think mental illness is the cause of this extreme violence?


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