Desdemona’s Psychological Case Study The purpose of this study is to examine Desdemona and whether or not she has dependant personality disorder. Characterized by a clinging behavior and a fear of separation, this disorder usually emerges in early adulthood. If someone does have dependant personality disorder they urgently seek relationships or someone to rely on to the point that someone will not share opinions that seem unappealing (DSM, 675). Based on Desdemona’s actions and speech it is believed that she has dependant personality disorder. When it comes to the criterion Desdemona must meet in order to get diagnosed with Dependant Personality Disorder, there is a large amount of evidence confirming that she does have this mental illness. …show more content…
It is believed that people with dependant personality disorder, “will wait for others to start things because they believe that as a rule others can do them better...They are, however, likely to function adequately if given the assurance that someone else is supervising and approving” (DSM, 676). This is mainly evident when it comes to Desdemona fighting for Cassio to be reinstated. Before Cassio asks for Desdemona to advocate for him, he goes to Emilia so that she can set up a meeting for the both of them. Emilia is Desdemona’s best friend, or so it seems. Desdemona first considers talking to Othello about Cassio but after Emilia seconds the notion Desdemona truly …show more content…
Before the addition of Emilia’s support, Desdemona uses the words assured, good, and abilities. The definition of the word ability is to have the means or skill to do something ( Google Dictionary) however that definition does not include having the mental or emotional capability or whether the person using this word intends to do the act being presented. Next the word good, while it does have a positive connotation there are other adjective of a greater meaning that could be used. The word good is basic, overused, and almost neutral in a sense. Desdemona is hinting at some support but she is still not one hundred percent. Finally there is the word assured, while it is being used to keep up Cassio’s confidence, it just doesn’t seem strong enough. Some synonyms for assured are guaranteed, secure, convince, satisfy, promise, and confirm, all which have a stronger emotion and therefore a stronger bond. After that Emilia gives her comment Desdemona’s vocabulary changes to include words such as honest, friendly, fellow, and the phrase “do not doubt”. Obviously there is a much more positive mood with these words. Friendly and fellow both provide a upbeat and happy mood, which could only be because Desdemona is growing more confident in a good outcome from this situation. Honest also conveys that her trust is growing around not only the people she was
...oermann et al, 2005). This has a tendency to lead to an insecure sense of one’s self. (Hoermann et al, 2005) A person with this disorder has a difficult time being reliable. This can be from constant career change, relationships and goals. These essential changes occur without any warning. (Hoermann et al, 2005)
Mental health is not the mere absence of illness but it is the sense of harmony and balance for the individual. Aspects associated with the individual include self-worth, sense of accomplishment, and a positive identity (Fontaine, 2009), where as mental illness is the disharmony someone is experiencing. This disharmony affects not only the individual but their friends and family as well as the surrounding community. This disharmony causes the person to be unable to function properly in many aspects of their life (Fontaine, 2009). Disco Di started to display signs of mental illness from the young age of 12. Her behaviours may have been triggered by a traumatic event and have been interfering with her life ever since. I agree with the diagnosis that Disco Di was given which was an Axis I diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Axis II diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). This paper is going to explain why I agree with these diagnoses as well as genetic and cultural factors and treatment method for them.
A hospital was encouraged strongly by a husband that his wife mental status warren assessment. Therefore, the woman was hospitalized voluntarily for depression. The husband provided information to the hospital on the women’s current state because the woman has failed to display coherent behavior and effectively communicate with personnel at the time of admission.
The DSM-5 Personality and Personality Disorders Work Group made several recommendations to change the DSM-IV approach towards diagnosing personality disorders. One of those recommendations was to delete five personality disorders as a way to reduce the level of comorbidity among the disorders. Histrionic, paranoid narcissistic, paranoid and dependent personality disorders were recommended for removal. In the present article, Zimmerman and his colleges evaluated the impact of these recommendations in three different ways, prevalence of personality disorders, comorbidity among these disorders and association with psychosocial morbidity.
The character I choose to diagnose for this assignment is Blanche DuBois from the play “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams. The DSM5 states that in order for someone to be diagnosed with Histrionic Personality Disorder, one must exhibit a pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts. One must display five (or more) of the following circumstances in order for this diagnosis to be relevant: is uncomfortable in situations in which he or she is not the center of attention, interaction with others is often characterized by inappropriate sexually seductive or provocative behavior, displays rapidly shifting and shallow expression of emotions, consistently uses physical appearance to draw attention to self, has a style of speech that is
When Iago first sets out to deceive Othello, he tells him, "look at your wife; observe her well with Cassio" (3.3.196). He knows that if he can plant enough doubt and jealousy in Othello's mind, Othello only needs to look at Desdemona being friendly with Cassio to suspect infidelity. After this, when Desdemona asks for Cassio's reinstatement, it looks as though she is trying to get something better for her lover, as opposed to just helping a friend.
As the details of her recent marriage to Othello unfold, Desdemona appears to be a woman driven by emotions. She marries a man because he has shared his stories of grand adventure. In order to do so, she elopes from her loving father’s house in the middle of the night. These seem like actions of emotion stemming from her love – or possibly infatuation – for Othello. Contradictory to this, when asked to speak about her willingness to enter the marriage, she responds with a very clear and sensible reason for staying with Othello:
These behaviours allude towards tension due to their dissimilarity to the accustomed conduct of Othello and Desdemona. Desdemona’s growing fear of Othello is evident. in the precautions she takes to avoid his anger. Desdemona places the importance of Othello’s commands above her need to confide in Emilia.... ...
Multiple Personality Disorder is a mental illness which most commonly has been referred to as Dissociative disorder or DID in recent years[1]. The illness commonly disassociated with schizophrenia finds a person experiencing two or more clearly differing personalities which will in habit assume control at some stage. Changing from one personality to another in a matter of seconds, the person will actually believe that they have more than one personality. DID can co-occur with other illnesses which include a range of anxiety disorders. The causes of DID are still not proven but it is thought to have occurred in response to a traumatic childhood experience[1]. The diagnosis is not constructed as a set test and so the mental health professional is required to test a patient using a mental status exam. The various symptoms of the illness can be treated through a range of treatments ranging from talk therapy to medications, but this does not always smooth out the outcomes resulting in a chaotic, imbalanced life. A great amount of controversy surrounds DID and is disputed by mental health professionals, some even believing that it does not exist[1]. Whatever the case, DID is displayed powerfully throughout the miniseries ‘Sybil’ in which a young emergency teacher finds herself with DID in response to horrific childhood memories[4].
The situation above leaves an opening for Iago to fulfill his vital plan to bring down Othello through Desdemona. Cassio was a mental wreck and told Iago that his reputation was ruined. Iago told him that he can get his rank back through Desdemona and get back on Othello's good side. "Confess yourself freely to her, importune her help to put you in your place again (p. 54)." Once Cassio talks to Desdemona, Iago will speak with Othello and get him to think of his wife's trust. In Act three Scene three Iago is speaking to Othello and warns him to look out for Cassio and Desdemona. Othello asks Iago if it was just Cassio that left from speaking with his wife.
Understanding the development of multiple personalities is difficult, even for highly trained experts; making a diagnosis of DID take time. It’s estimated that individuals with dissociative identity disorder has spent seven years in the mental health system prior to diagnosis. This is because of the similarities of symptoms of many psychiatric diagnosis of treatment that they seek. The DSM-IV provides the following criteria to diagnose dis...
In fact, Desdemona holds herself in such high regard that she almost seems incapable of believing that anyone else may not. Luckily for her, Othello similarly holds her in high regard, at least until Iago begins to manipulate him. Even before Othello, Desdemona’s own father, Brabantio, thought highly of her. When she elopes with Othello, he never believes that she ran away from home willingly. He believes that Othello had enchanted her until she herself says otherwise. Upon this realization, Brabantio, warns Othello against Desdemona, telling him:
While they have arduous intentions, none of them ever defend themselves. Desdemona is a passive victim who lets Othello abuse her, Emilia allows herself to be abused by Iago, and Bianca lets Cassio take advantage of her. Desdemona demonstrates weakness in her love for Othello and by taking his abuse. At the beginning of the play, Desdemona feels she must accompany Othello to Cyprus in war.
The World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD 10) includes 10 common forms of personality disorder there is a common connection between the personality traits of all. Every single person has their own ways of thinking, feeling, reacting, and relating to certain things. In the instance when one of those elements does not work correctly and is essentially dysfunctional warrant the diagnosis of personality disorder. There is a fine line between the diagnosis of personality disorder and a mental disorder, which makes it hard to diagnose at times.
Due to her father’s nobility, Desdemona’s high social standings translate to her angelic character which the Venetian culture pressures her to fulfill. Because of high expectations placed on Desdemona, Brabantio disbelieves Desdemona’s elopement with Othello, where he concludes “is there not charms/By which the property of youth and maidhood/May be abused?” (I.i.193-95). Utilizing the magic motif, William Shakespeare conveys Brabantio 's skepticism in his daughter’s deliberate abandonment, by logically reasoning supernatural forces must be at fault. By disregarding Desdemona’s desires for leaving, Brabantio assumes his daughter possesses virtuous qualities, making her incapable of defying him. Brabantio considers only one possibility for Desdemona’s elopement with the Moor: Magic. Compared to Desdemona’s father, Othello’s lieutenant, Michael Cassio also views her as possessing cherubic qualities. When Desdemona enters a room Cassio demands “hail to thee, lady, and the