Psychiatric Illness

Psychiatric Illness is one of many research paper topics that Paper Masters provides. Use this topic suggestion as a guide on how to write a paper or order your own custom research paper.

The term "psychiatric illness" is another name given to a host of diagnoses collectively known as mental disorders. This manifests in a person's inability to behave or function normally within the boundaries of society; it can be a physical display of inappropriate behaviors or it can be intrinsic and emotional imbalances that impact a person's ability to function. The nature and type of mental disorders has changed dramatically as time has passed; diagnoses that were once considered mental disorders, such as homosexuality, are no longer seen as such. As time passes, such changes will continue to be made, reflecting our increased understanding of this component of mental health and human behavior.

There are several different ways to classify mental disorders. The most common diagnostic tool is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, broken down into five different axes, or classifications.

1. The first includes clinical disorders, learning disorders, and disorders related to substance abuse.
2. The second includes personality disorders and intellectual disabilities.
3. The third focuses on more physical symptoms, and includes those disorders that manifest in the physical and medical realm.
4. The fourth axis specifies psychosocial and environmental components that are related to various disorders.
5. The fifth focuses on the various mental disorders that can emerge in those under the age of 18.

Fully understanding each and every one of these disorders is impossible, due to their increasing complexity and the rapidity with which they change.

How to Design a Research Paper on Psychiatric Disorders

In the public consciousness, images of psychiatry include couches, frowning therapists, and Freudian interpretation.Today, however, psychology is turning away from therapy as the primary treatment for psychiatric disorders. Repeated failures in the use of psychoanalysis as the sole treatment for disorders like bipolar illness coupled with breakthroughs in medical treatments have caused psychiatrists to look toward science for answers.

Medical research shows that psychiatric disorders are diseases of the brain, and should be treated medically. Psychotherapy should never be used as the sole or primary treatment for such disorders, as such treatment encourages relapse by ignoring the origination of the sickness. You will want to organize your research paper on psychiatric disorders as follows:

1. Begin by showing the connection between brain chemistry and behavior.
2. Next, the scientific method used in the medical model of psychiatric treatment will be used to demonstrate the validity of scientific assessment in psychiatric illnesses.
3. Finally, the role of psychotherapy's use to treat the symptoms of psychiatric disorders will be discussed.