12 votes
Accepted

Is there a mental condition that makes people unconditionally gullible?

Some neurodegenerative diseases cause extreme gullibility, in particular Alzheimer Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the scientists were able to determine which parts of the brain govern a ...
Fizz's user avatar
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11 votes

Is there a mental condition that makes people unconditionally gullible?

Worldbuilding may have beaten you to this: https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/a/99881/15591 Williams Syndrome is not, strictly-speaking a purely mental condition. It is "caused by a genetic ...
Jeutnarg's user avatar
  • 211
8 votes

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Limitations

I came across this question whilst researching CBT for a course I am studying. The short answer As I will cover in the long answer, there has been a lot of articles stating that CBT is very effective, ...
Chris Rogers's user avatar
8 votes
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Are mentally ill people more violent?

'Mental Illness' covers such a broad range of illnesses that it would be very difficult to answer your question. However, general consensus is that: people who are receiving an effective treatment ...
queenslug's user avatar
  • 2,426
8 votes

Why is it that only humans commit suicide?

Such behavior does exist in the wider animal world, not just in humans. See the Wikipedia page on Animal Suicide, particularly the section titled "Suicidal behavior". (if you have done any ...
BenCole's user avatar
  • 1,603
8 votes
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Are there any movies or series involving someone with ADHD?

The problem with ADHD is that it doesn't really have its own trademark indicator, the way that schizophrenia or Asperger's might. There are several different subtypes of ADHD, and they tend to look ...
Sydney Maples's user avatar
8 votes
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How do we know bipolar is one illness rather than two comorbid illnesses?

Short answer: Bipolar disorder is probably not composed of two comorbid illnesses, but it may be on a continuum that includes some depressive disorders. This is a good question, though it does convey ...
Arnon Weinberg's user avatar
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8 votes
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What is the relationship between rejection sensitive dysphoria and ADHD?

Upon closer examination, it appears that Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria is a term that was coined by Dr. William Dodson to describe the phenomenon of rejection sensitivity in ADHD sufferers. It does ...
Sydney Maples's user avatar
8 votes
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Were the subjects in the Stanford prison experiment randomly assigned to the study?

The subjects in this experiment were randomly assigned in two groups (prisoner versus guard). They were all healthy and without any identified psychological issues. I quote from the Setting-Up page ...
AliceD's user avatar
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8 votes

Is the Flynn effect autism?

The Flynn effect refers to the tendency over the last century or so for IQ scores to increase each generation by a few points. There is no link between vaccination and autism. It is pseudo-scientific ...
Jeromy Anglim's user avatar
8 votes

Is a low Emotional Intelligence (EQ) pathological?

Shortly , a low EQ is not a sufficient condition to diagnose a mental psychiatric disorder. This is the DSM-V Proposal for the Definition of Mental/Psychiatric Disorder All these features have to be ...
Fil's user avatar
  • 1,524
8 votes

Omitting word(s) when typing

In his 2003 psycholinguistics book, John Field has summarized (pp. 70-72) his own typing errors and combined them with an older corpus of Hotopf. Missing words were among the frequent errors, but alas ...
Fizz's user avatar
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8 votes
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Is "not going to doctor because of fear of illness" a psychological disorder?

What you are describing is most likely avoidance, which in itself isn't a disorder. People are most likely afraid of the illness in itself, and so not going to the doctor means that they don't have ...
Liz D.'s user avatar
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7 votes

What it is called when a mother has sexual desires towards her son?

Jocasta complex syndrome is what you are referring to. In psychoanalytic analysis, the Jocasta complex is the incestuous sexual desire of a mother towards her son. SOURCE
keith's user avatar
  • 71
7 votes

Can bipolar disorder be considered a malfunction of the "love circuit" in the human brain?

A Love Circuit? The idea that there is a "love circuit" has little evidence (for or against it). But in general studies that look at "love" (however defined) reveal broad activation across multiple ...
mrt's user avatar
  • 4,377
7 votes
Accepted

What mental illnesses cause different performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task

The diseases and mental dysfunctions that have been studied are Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, ADHD, Substance Dependence, Autism, Multiple Sclerosis and Schizophrenia (with and without ...
Seanny123's user avatar
  • 8,813
7 votes

Are mentally ill people more violent?

There are certain illnesses which are associated with violence, or have aggression as a symptom (which will not always result in physical violence). Especially the Cluster B personality disorders come ...
rumtscho's user avatar
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7 votes
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Is there scientific evidence that narcissists cannot be treated?

It appears you have heard correctly, at least in a sense: there are no peer reviewed treatments for narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) itself. On the other hand, this does not constitute evidence ...
Christian Hummeluhr's user avatar
7 votes
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Does high IQ give cause to doubt an ADHD diagnosis?

Sounds to me like someone is making a logical fallacy here, though the origin of this fallacy isn't clear to me. We cannot go from 'poor academic performance', to 'not amounting to anything', to '...
Sydney Maples's user avatar
7 votes

Does a mental disorder exist where people think someone else is sick?

There is a condition called hypochondriases by proxy (e.g., Moreira & Moreira, 1999). It is also referred to as vulnerable child syndrome (Pacurar et al., 2015). The parent, particularly if (s)he ...
AliceD's user avatar
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7 votes

What are the effects of hebephilia on victims?

I thought I would edit to add a bit of information. First of all for those who don't know, (I didn't until I looked it up when I saw this question for the first time), the term hebephilia has been ...
Chris Rogers's user avatar
7 votes
Accepted

Is autism caused by genetics?

In light of a recent question in MedicalSciences.SE, I thought I would update this answer to include some information from my answer there. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) now affects one in 68 births ...
Chris Rogers's user avatar
7 votes
Accepted

Can listening to sad songs lead to depression?

If you are talking about clinical depression as an illness, the direct answer to your question is: I don't know. There was a study of the effect of different genres of music on how people felt (...
Pharmama's user avatar
7 votes
Accepted

Is there a scientific explanation for dramatic body shaking and trembling in religious settings? (see videos for illustrative examples)

The exhibited behaviours are episodic glossolalia, collapsing, fainting, trembling, jerking, convulsing, contorting, and shaking. The individuals performing these episodic behaviours report ...
Tony Mobbs's user avatar
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6 votes

What is the relationship between rejection sensitive dysphoria and ADHD?

You might want to look at Bondü, R. & Esser, G. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry (2015) 24: 185. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-014-0560-9 The authors found fairly compelling evidence of a latent ...
Bill McCown's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

Why was MPD changed to DID?

DID is one of the most controversial psychiatric disorders, with no clear consensus on diagnostic criteria or treatment. To answer your question on why MPD was renamed DID, for completeness, there is ...
Chris Rogers's user avatar
6 votes

Why is the initial first-line response to a psychological problem not a brain scan?

The first stop when a non-emergency medical issue evolves is, as you say, a visit to the GP. This is not a supplement to diagnosis. Instead, a visit to the GP can be a critical step in the treatment ...
AliceD's user avatar
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6 votes

What is a phobia against babies or kids called?

A rather cursory search brought me to the wikipedia page for fear of children: Pedophobia: [The] fear of children, fear of infants or fear of childhood [..]. This as opposed to a pathological ...
AliceD's user avatar
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6 votes
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What disorder might be considered opposite of the Histrionic Personality Disorder?

Diagnosis of personality disorders in general is moving away from a categorical system (patient does or does not have the disorder), to a dimensional system (patient scores extreme on personality ...
Arnon Weinberg's user avatar
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