How psychological problems develop

In my previous article How do psychological disorders develop i said that all biological changes that happen to a person's brain are only a symptom that results from the psychological disorder that was initially developed.

Most psychological problems start at home then they expand to include the whole society. Because the first people the child ever deals with are his primary caregivers the seeds of all of the child's psychological disorders are implanted in his early years.

If for example the parents were extreemly over protective then the child will learn how to fear new things. This disorder will start at home where the child will feel that he wants to cling to his parents all the time and when he grows up it will extend to span his whole world, in such a case the person will always want to remain inside his comfort zone.

That was just a simple example that shows you how psychological problems develop.
Psychological problems are usually more complex because more than one variable is involved.

For example the relationship with siblings, the social circle, and the birth order are all factors that can affect the development of psychological problems in addition to the parenting style. (see How parenting style impacts children)

The development of psychological problems

Here are few examples that can help you understand more how psychological disorders are developed:

• The desire for revenge: If the parents gave extra attention to one child then the other child might become extreemly jealous and might decide to take revenge as a result. Now the desire for revenge can take many different forms just as failing at school and getting poor grades to punish the parents or even stealing from the parents. (see What makes a child steal). If the desire for revenge expanded to the society then the child might start stealing from his friends, relatives and everyone else
• The Need for superiority: The desire for superiority is not a bad thing on its own unless the person takes the wrong path. If a person decided to become superior to others by being more successful then that's a healthy way of achieving his goal but if he decided to become superior by developing an obsessive hand washing disorder then we can say that this is a psychological disorder. Many of those who have obsessive cleaning thoughts want to feel superior to others by claiming that they are cleaner than them (see Obsessive hand washing and Obsessive compulsive disorders
• Some kind of a protest: In my article Tomboy psychology i explained how some women decide to protest against the feminine role by acting like men. This also starts at home, if the mother's role was seen as boring, less important or even useless then there is a big possibility that the girl will grow up to become a woman who acts like men. Stubborn children are also the result of a similar protest. If the parents were over controlling then the child might develop stubbornness in order to protest against these control attempts. Again the span of this psychological problem will grow and the child will become stubborn when dealing with anyone else (see Dealing with stubborn children)

Treating psychological problems

Those were just few examples that explain how some psychological problems develop. Of course there are hundreds more of examples that can't all be listed in one article but the good news is that all of these psychological problems can be treated.

It all begins when the person realizes that he needs treatment and seeks help. Before that stage its almost impossible to treat a psychological problem.

At this point the psychiatrist or the coach analyzes the person's past in order to know what went wrong along the way. Next the coach helps the patient fix that error by directing him towards a more useful way that can help him achieve his same goal.

For example if the patient turned into a criminal in order to become superior to others then the psychiatrist can help him find another way to become superior that is more useful to the society such as becoming very successful at work.

If you are interested in talking to a psychologist, a doctor or a mental health professional then you can also try 2knowmyself's coaching service.

2knowmysef is not a complicated medical website nor a boring online encyclopedia but rather a place where you will find simple, to the point and effective information that is backed by psychology and presented in a simple way that you can understand and apply. If you think that this is some kind of marketing hype then see what other visitors say about 2knowmyself.

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