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A photograph shows several key members of the United States military accompanied by a crowd as they stand facing toward a wreath. All hold their right arms in salute or placed across their chests.
A wreath is laid in memoriam to victims of the Washington Navy Yard shooting. (credit: modification of work by D. Myles Cullen, US Department of Defense)

On Monday, September 16, 2013, a gunman killed 12 people as the workday began at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, DC. Aaron Alexis, 34, had a troubled history: he thought that he was being controlled by radio waves, and a month earlier, he had complained of noises coming from the linen closet in his military housing. He called the police to complain about voices in his head and being under surveillance by “shadowy forces” (Thomas, Levine, Date,&Cloherty, 2013).

While Alexis’s actions cannot be excused, it is clear that he had some form of mental illness. Mental illness is not necessarily a cause of violence; it is far more likely that the mentally ill will be victims rather than perpetrators of violence (Stuart, 2003). If, however, Alexis had received the help he needed, this tragedy might have been averted.

This chapter will clarify what psychological disorders are, how they are diagnosed and classified, their symptoms, and insights into their causes.

References

Abela, J. R.,&Hankin, B. L. (2011). Rumination as a vulnerability factor to depression during the transition from early to middle adolescence: A multiwave longitudinal study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 120 , 259–271.

Abramowitz, J. S.,&Siqueland, L. (2013). Obsessive-compulsive disorder. In L. G. Castonguay&T. F. Oltmanns (Eds.), Psychopathology: From science to clinical practice (pp. 143–171). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Abramson, L. Y., Metalsky, G. I.,&Alloy, L. B. (1989). Hopelessness depression: A theory- based subtype of depression. Psychological Review, 96 , 358–372.

Afifi, T. O., Mather, A., Boman, J., Fleisher, W., Enns, M. W., MacMillan, H.,&Sareen, J. (2010). Childhood adversity and personality disorder: Results from a nationally representative population-based survey. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 45 , 814–822.

Agerbo, E., Nordentoft, M.,&Mortensen, P. B. (2002). Familial, psychiatric, and socioeconomic risk factors for suicide in young people: Nested case-control study. British Medical Journal, 325 , 74–77.

Aghukwa, C. N. (2012). Care seeking and beliefs about the cause of mental illness among Nigerian psychiatric patients and their families. Psychiatric Services, 63 , 616–618.

Aikins, D. E.,&Craske, M. G. (2001). Cognitive theories of generalized anxiety disorder. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 24 , 57–74.

Akinbami, L. J., Liu, X., Pastor, P.,&Reuben, C. A. (2011, August). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among children aged 5–17 years in the United States, 1998–2009 (NCHS data brief No. 70). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db70.pdf

Alden, L. E.,&Bieling, P. (1998). Interpersonal consequences in the pursuit of safety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36 , 53–64.

Alegria, A. A., Blanco, C., Petry, N. M., Skodol, A. E., Liu, S. M.,&Grant, B. (2013). Sex differences in antisocial personality disorder: Results from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 4 , 214–222.

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Source:  OpenStax, Chapter 13: psychological disorders sw. OpenStax CNX. Jun 08, 2015 Download for free at https://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11811/1.1
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