Transcript Mental Illness - Hale

Mental Illnesses
Part III
Sleep Disorders





Narcolepsy
Insomnia
Sleep Paralysis
Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome
Sleepwalking
Narcolepsy


Characterized by excessive daytime
sleepiness periods of muscle weakness
(cataplexy)
Can cause accidents and injury from
falling asleep while driving or doing other
dangerous tasks
Insomnia



Inability to sleep
Very common disorder
Ongoing insomnia leads to sleep
deprivation, which can inhibit
• Ability to concentrate
• Memory
• Immune system
• Hallucinations
Sleep Paralysis



Consists of a period of inability to perform
voluntary movements either at sleep onset or
upon awakening
A victim in this state feels awake, but he
cannot move or speak
In addition to the immobility, the common
symptoms include feeling choked or
suffocated, hearing strange noises like
footsteps and voices, seeing beings or dark
shadows, and feeling an existence of someone
in the room
Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome



Reversal of normal circadian rhythms
Sleeping at night is impossible
Excessive daytime sleepiness has
negative impact on life
Sleepwalking




Walking or talking while asleep
Relatively common
Not usually harmful, but had been
attributed to murders and suicides
(see article)
Hypochondria


Belief that physical symptoms are signs of a
serious illness, even when there is no medical
evidence to support the presence of an illness
Hypochondriacs seek out reassurance from
family, friends, or health care providers on a
regular basis.
•
They feel better for a short time at most, and then
begin to worry about the same symptoms, or about
new symptoms.
Munchausen Syndrome

A condition in which a person intentionally
fakes, simulates, worsens, or self-induces an
injury or illness for the main purpose of being
treated like a medical patient
•

named after a German military man, Baron von
Munchausen, who traveled around telling fantastic
tales about his imaginary exploits
Known to move from doctor to doctor, hospital
to hospital, or town to town to find a new
audience
Munchausen By Proxy


Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome (MBPS) is
characterized by a parent, usually the mother, who
intentionally causes illness in her child
The mother may fake symptoms of illness in her child by
•
•
•

withholding food
secretly giving the child drugs to make the child throw up or
have diarrhea
infecting intravenous (given through a vein) lines to make
the child appear or become ill
The parent is usually very helpful in the hospital setting
and is often appreciated by the nursing staff for the care
she gives her child
Eating Disorders


Abnormal eating habits, usually caused
by a distorted body image
May involved abnormal/unhealthy
exercise routines
• Anorexia
• Bulimia
• Dysmorphia (“Bigorexia”, Adonis Complex)
Eating Disorders





See article “Disorder takes its toll”
What are the psychological tolls of
starvation and purging?
What are the physiological effects of
starvation and purging?
Why is it “virtually impossible” for an
anorexic to cure themselves?
How are these disorders treated?
Eating Disorders

See article on p. 103