The lecture makes use of a number of clips. The first clip is used by the lecturer to illustrate the point that people with mental disorders react in unexpected ways. These unexpected reactions scare normal people, and therefore make them avoid mentally disturbed individuals. In the clip, a man teaches his brother how to dance, after which he attempts to hug him for learning to dance. The mentally sick brother tries to hide and avoid the hug; something that scares the other brother
The second clip is an illustration of the various forms of mental illnesses such as the fear of spaces; which is called agoraphobia, as well as an explanation of the fact that life has different facets that lead to mental issues. For example, since people fall in love, jealousy is bound to arise. The third clip is a disclosure of the fact that mentally sick people need care and love just like any normal person by David Rosenhan.He cites a personal experience in a mental hospital that was part of a study whereby he was not visited apart from the few visits he got from his wife. Another crucial idea in this clip is the fact that there are some people who think that there are no mentally ill people, and that medical practitioners just give names to behaviors that are different. This has created questions regarding what is normal and abnormal.
The next clip has a demonstration of an individual with obsessive personality compulsive disorder. The individual in the clip is meticulously clean and gets stressed when things are not kept the way he wants. The end result is that he ends up blaming others for his problems, as he believes that he has no problem. There is a clear distinction between obsessive compulsive disorder that comes in the next clip; which shows an individual who has behavior which he does not want and is trying to get rid of and the one in the earlier clip suffering from obsessive personality compulsive disorder, who does not want to change since he is convinced that he is fine.
The next clip is a demonstration of narcissistic personality disorder. This is a disorder that makes individuals display a terribly low sense of self esteem, like the lady in the clip who is shouting at the husband. These individuals seek out people to affirm to them their sense of importance. The next clip shows phobias (fears) such as the fear of open spaces and heights while the next one shows manic attacks which are moments of hyperactivity. The next clip shows schizophrenic individuals. The symptoms for this disorder include disorderly thinking and hallucinations. The last clip shows an individual undergoing gradual schizophrenic deterioration.
The content covered in this lecture is very relevant to my life in a major way. It has made me understand that the mood swings that my friends experience as well as the fears I witness around me such as the fear of certain insects are part of a big family of mental disorders. New things I have learnt also include the fact that obsessions are of two types namely: the obsessive personality compulsive disorder in which the individual does not acknowledge the problem and the obsessive compulsive disorder whereby the individual recognizes the disorder and makes an attempt to get rid of it.
The content that I have learned will be very helpful in my professional life as it will enable me to understand the levels of mental operation of the various individuals that I come across. I will be able to behave accordingly when in the presence of people with mental disorders so as to show them the love and appreciation they need, and at the same time avoid dangerous situations.