Psychology Essay

1. Describe each of the four kinds of people who intentionally end their lives: death seekers, death initiators, death ignorers, and death darers (about a half-page response). Death seekers are individuals who clearly seek to end their lives.   They are serious about committing suicide; it is not a cry for attention on their parts.   Death initiators are those who believe that they are already in the process of dying.   Some death initiator might be those who are chronically ill or those who have been seriously injured and see no method of cure or healing in their expected life spans.   By contrast, death ignorers do not believe that they will truly â€Å"end† with their deaths.   For such people, dying is merely a step toward another plane of existence upon which they feel that they will be free of pain or illness.   Finally, death darers â€Å"dare† their death to occur through their actions.   They are uncertain about actually committing suicide and take actions that may or may not result in their deaths. 2. Define and Discuss Gender Identity Disorder (about a quarter-page response). Gender Identity Disorder is a rare; it has no single known cause. It may be caused by abnormal chromosomes, hormone imbalances during pregnancy and in childhood, or psychological disorders created by poor relationship formation (WebMD, 2008, par. 2-3).   This disorder results in the individual feeling great discomfort in his or her own body and the desire to live as a member of the opposite sex.   People with Gender Identity Disorder may merely dress as the opposite sex or they may have their bodies surgically altered (WebMD, 2008, par. 2, 4). 3. Describe residual schizophrenia and be very detailed with your response (about a quarter-page response). Residual schizophrenia is what occurs in individuals with chronic schizophrenia, following the disappearance of â€Å"positive† symptoms in which the individual experiences â€Å"heightened† or â€Å"excessive† bodily functions (Epigee, 2008). These symptoms might include hallucinations, feelings of persecution or other â€Å"false beliefs about [their] physical state (somatic delusions) or [they] may feel that [they] have special abilities or powers (delusions of grandeur)† (Epigee, 2008, â€Å"Positive Symptoms†).   Instead, individuals experiencing residual schizophrenia have â€Å"negative† symptoms.   They might refuse to speak or withdraw form social experiences (Epigee, 2008).