Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 651, Psychological Disorders.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 651.
I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan.
Coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Our website is eslpod.com.
Go there today and do what you need to do.
This episode is called Psychological Disorders...
It's something I'm very familiar with.
It's a dialogue between Brett and Dr Molly using a lot of vocabulary that you would find in a psychology class or right here at the Center for Educational Development.
Let's get started.
Hi, Dr. Molly.
Could I speak to you for a few minutes?
Certainly.
Have a seat.
I'm really enjoying your psychology class, and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.
Sure.
Go ahead.
Well, I have a friend who is nervous all the time, especially around other people.
Could he have a serious problem?
It's hard to say without knowing your friend, but he may have an anxiety disorder or some type of phobia.
I was afraid of that.
Well...
I have another friend who has mood swings all the time and washes his hands 50 times a day.
Again, I don't know your friend so it's hard to make a diagnosis.
But he may have a bipolar disorder and may also be obsessive compulsive.
That sounds really serious.
Well, I have another friend who doesn't eat and sits around all day playing with fire.
That's bad, isn't it?
It could be.
Your friend may have an eating disorder and his interest in fire may indicate that he has pyromania.
But it's very hard to say.
Did I mention that he likes to steal things too?
People who feel compelled to steal may have kleptomania.
Who are all of these friends you're talking about?
Do I know them?
No, definitely not.
Hmm.
Would your friends like to make an appointment with a therapist?
It sounds like it may be a good idea.
No, no.
My friends wouldn't like that.
He has a real fear of doctors.
The title of this episode is Psychological Disorders.
These are basically illnesses or diseases of the mind.
Brett begins by saying, Hi, Dr. Molly.
Could I speak to you for a few minutes?
Dr. Molly says, Certainly.
Have a seat.
Please sit down.
Dr. Mali is a professor of psychology.
Brett says, I'm really enjoying your psychology class.
Psychology studies the way the human brain affects our thoughts, our behaviors.
It's a study of emotions and so forth.
Brett says he's really enjoying Dr. Mali's psychology class.
And he was wondering if he could ask her a few questions.
He wants to ask her a few questions.
Dr. Molly says, sure, go ahead, meaning begin.
Brett says, well, I have a friend who is nervous all the time, especially around other people.
Could he have a serious problem?
To be nervous means to be worried, overly concerned about something, anxious.
Dr Mollie says it's hard to say without knowing your friend meaning it's difficult for me to determine that.
But
He may have an anxiety disorder or some kind of phobia.
Anxiety is the noun for anxious.
It's similar to nervous, worried.
A disorder is a general term referring to some illness or sickness.
Here we're talking about a mental, not physical, health condition, an anxiety disorder.
A phobia, P-H-O-B-I-A, is a very strong fear of something.
If you have arachnophobia, you are afraid of spiders.
If you have agoraphobia, you are afraid of open spaces, big public spaces.
Agora is the old Greek word for the marketplace where people would come and buy and sell things in the middle of town.
Anyway, Dr. Molly thinks perhaps that Brett's friend has an anxiety disorder or some kind of phobia.
Brett says, I was afraid of that.
That's what I feared.
Well, I have another friend who has mood swings all the time and washes his hands 50 times a day.
A mood is the way you are feeling.
You can have a good mood.
You can be in a bad mood.
Swing, S-W-I-N-G, here means something that changes quickly, that goes up or down very quickly.
So mood swings are rapid changes. unexpected changes in someone's emotions and feelings.
One minute they're laughing, the next minute they're crying.
One minute you are very happy and then the next minute you are very sad.
It sounds like what you would go through if you were watching the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team last year.
Anyway, Mood swings, then, are something that seem to be affecting another one of Brett's friends.
By the way, the word swing has a couple of different meanings in English, as does the word disorder.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations of both of those terms.
Brett's friend also washes his hands 50 times a day.
So he has mood swings and is always washing his hands.
Dr. Molly says, again, I don't know your friend, so it's hard to make a diagnosis.
To make a diagnosis, D-I-A-G-N-O-S-I-S, is when a doctor determines what is wrong with the patient, with the person who he or she is examining.
To diagnose as a verb means to determine what medical problem you have, although we use the word more generally to mean to figure out what's wrong, what isn't working.
Your mechanic, the person who fixes your car, may diagnose a problem in your motor, in your engine.
Doctors diagnose illnesses.
Dr Molly says that it's hard to make a diagnosis, but your friend may have a bipolar disorder and may also be obsessive-compulsive.
Bi, B-I, usually means two when it's at the front of a word in English.
Bipolar is someone who is extremely happy and suddenly extremely depressed.
A disorder, remember, is an illness or disease.
So this friend of Brett's may have bipolar disorder.
He also may be a graduate student.
Those two things often mean the same thing.
Dr. Malley says his friend also may have obsessive-compulsive tendencies.
He may be someone who is obsessive.
That's someone who is always worrying about one particular thing, who can't stop worrying about it.
Someone who's compulsive is always repeating the same activity.
Someone who has to do something 20 times or 30 times.
If you saw the movie with Jack Nicholson and... What was her name?
The actress.
You know.
Helen Hunt.
That's it.
The movie was called As Good As It Gets from 1997.
Wonderful movie.
It is about someone who is obsessive-compulsive, has an obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Brett says, that sounds really serious.
Well, I have another friend who doesn't eat and sits around all day playing with fire.
That's bad, isn't it?
Dr. Molly says it could be your friend may have an eating disorder.
An eating disorder is when people either eat too much or they don't eat enough.
She continues, his interest in fire may indicate that he has pyromania.
Pyromania P-Y-R-O-M-A-N-I-A comes from pyro, meaning fire, and mania, meaning madness or craziness about something.
In this case, it is someone who is fascinated by fires and often starts fires things that can be very dangerous.
Dr. Mollie says it's hard to say, it's difficult to know what this person's problem is.
Brett said, did I mention that he likes to steal things too?
That he likes to rob or steal things from other people?
Dr. Mollie says people who feel compelled to steal may have kleptomania.
To feel compelled to means that you have a strong urge or strong desire to do something, that you have to do something or that you should do something.
Kleptomania.
Molly finally says, Brett says, No, definitely not.
Molly says, hmm, would your friends like to make an appointment with a therapist?
It sounds like it may be a good idea.
A therapist is a person who provides treatment and care for someone who has a mental illness or illness, a mental disorder, or simply someone who is having psychological difficulties.
Actually, the term therapist is also used more generally to mean someone who helps someone recover from an illness.
We have physical therapists who help people who have had injuries to their arms or legs, for example, to learn how to use them properly again.
Of course, we think that Brett's quote-unquote friends are really descriptions of Brett himself.
People often say, I have a friend, when they really mean themselves.
Brett says, no, no, my friends wouldn't like that.
They would not like to see a therapist.
They have a real fear of doctors.
A real fear of is a strong fear of, similar to a phobia.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Hi, Dr. Molly.
Could I speak to you for a few minutes?
Certainly.
Have a seat.
I'm really enjoying your psychology class, and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.
Sure, go ahead.
Well, I have a friend who is nervous all the time, especially around other people.
Could he have a serious problem?
It's hard to say without knowing your friend, but he may have an anxiety disorder or some type of phobia.
I was afraid of that.
Well, I have another friend who has mood swings all the time and washes his hands 50 times a day.
Again, I don't know your friend, so it's hard to make a diagnosis, but he may have a bipolar disorder and may also be obsessive-compulsive.
That sounds really serious.
Well, I have another friend who doesn't eat and sits around all day playing with fire.
That's bad, isn't it?
It could be.
Your friend may have an eating disorder and his interest in fire may indicate that he has pyromania.
But it's very hard to say.
Did I mention that he likes to steal things, too?
People who feel compelled to steal may have kleptomania.
Who are all of these friends you're talking about?
Do I know them?
No, definitely not.
Hmm.
Would your friends like to make an appointment with a therapist?
It sounds like it may be a good idea.
No, no.
My friends wouldn't like that.
He has a real fear of doctors.
I feel compelled to thank our script writer, who does such a wonderful job each week, Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2011 by the Center for Educational Development.
