Chapter Ten: Psychological Disorders

Looking Back

Now that you have read the chapter, see whether you can answer the "What's Ahead" questions that preceded each major section. By using these questions to "look back," you can find out how much you have learned -- and what you may need to review.

Why were slaves who dreamed of freedom once considered to have a "mental disorder"? What's wrong with using tests such as the famous "inkblot" test to diagnose disorders? Why is the standard guide to the diagnosis of mental disorders so controversial? What's the difference between ordinary anxiety and an anxiety disorder? Why is the most disabling of all phobias known as the "fear of fear? When is checking the stove before leaving home a sign of a caution--and when does it signal a disorder? How can you tell whether you have major depression or just the blues? What are the poles in bipolar disorder? How do some people think themselves into depression? When does being self-centered become a disorder? What do a charming but heartless tycoon and a remorseless killer have in common? Why are some people seemingly incapable of feeling guilt and shame? What causes otherwise healthy people to forget who they are? Why are many clinicians and researchers skeptical about multiple personality disorder? Why can two people drink the same amount of wine and have tow different physical reactions to it? Why is alcoholism more common in Ireland than Italy? Why don't policies of total abstinence from alcohol always work? If you take morphine to control chronic pain, does that mean you'll become addicted to it? What's the difference between schizophrenia and a "split personality"? Why do most researchers consider schizophrenia a brain disorder? Could schizophrenia begin in the womb?

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