Case Study: Mental Disorders

Read the article titled “Adam Lanza”, located at http://www.biography.com/#!/people/adam-lanza-21068899#synopsis.  Next, view the article that discusses Lanza’s psychiatric treatments  titled “Lanza’s Psychiatric Treatment Revealed In Documents”, located at  http://articles.courant.com/2013-12-28/news/hc-lanza-sandy-hook-report1228-20131227_1_peter-lanza-adam-lanza-nancy-lanza.

Write a three to five (3-5) page paper in which you:

1. Compare  and contrast three (3) key similarities and three (3) differences  between mental illnesses and mental disorders. Provide one (1) example  of each similarity and difference to support your response.
2. Speculate  whether or not Adam Lanza’s engagement with violent video games was a  stressor that caused him to act out his obsession with mass murders.  Next, hypothesize whether or not Adam Lanza would have been a good  candidate for treatment of his mental illness if he had not committed  suicide. Justify your response.
3. Since Lanza was diagnosed at a  young age with a mental illness, suggest one (1) action psychologists  should have suggested that could have prevented the assault that  occurred at Sandy Hook elementary. Support your response.
4. Differentiate  between the key characteristics associated with functional mental  disorders, minor mental disorders (i.e., neuroses), and manic-depressive  behavior. Next, support or criticize the notion that one disorder is  more severe than the other. Justify your response.
5. Use at least three (3) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar type Websites do not qualify as academic resources.