Alternative Approaches to Individual Psychopathology

Question 1

Anti-Psychiatry in the 60s

Answer 1

psychiatric establishment doing more harm than good
David Cooper- Congress on the Dialectic of Liberation- rejected idea that psychiatric illness was an exclusively biological phenomenon
Brutality and violence
Homosexuality included until DSM-III in 1980

Question 2

The Rosenhan Experiment (1973)

Answer 2

pseudopatients feigned auditory hallucinations- 12 different hospitals in US- given meds and made to stay around 19 days even when acting fine after admission
asked to detect the pseudopatients afterwards- admitted 41 out of 193 identified as potential pseudo patients but he hadn’t sent any

Question 3

The Recovery Movement (1990s-2000s)

Answer 3

relies on insider knowledge rather than outsider knowledge (alcoholics anonymous)
The medical model tends to focus on mental health problems as illnesses, with a clinical focus on the assessment of pathology, diagnosis, treatment, symptom resolution and a return to a former state of functioning
The recovery paradigm, however, focusses on the person, not simply the symptoms and emphasises empowerment and self-management across the lifespan regardless of symptoms(Kirkpatrick, 2009).
Need balance between two- esp. for risk assessment and management

Question 4

Social Constructionism

Answer 4

Self- construct created in dialogue- Bahktin
DSM5 a construct- just language to explain phenomena in one way, not objectively real- only in comparison to other things

Question 5

Psychosis in Profile: Hearing Voices

Answer 5

Distressing voices are understood as a manifestation of solvable emotional problems
1) turning toward/empowerment, which involved developing a normalised account of voices, building voice-specific skills, integration of voices into daily life and a transformation of identity and

2) turning away/protective hibernation, which involved harnessing all available resources to survive the experience, with the importance of medication in recovery being emphasised.

Question 6

Open Dialogue

Answer 6

network therapy (Seikkula& Olsen, 2003, Seikkula, 2008, 2011) involves intensive engagement with the client, the entire family and any other loved ones and professional stakeholders involved.

These networks meet in the home setting and focus on developing agency in the lives of the patient and family, opening up alternative meanings to traditional psychiatry in familiar language.
no one voice is dominant or privileged above others

Referrals can be made for other types of therapy and medication is prescribed as needed, but premature conclusions and hasty decisions are avoided.

Psychotic voices are respected as potentially meaningful alongside all the others present, being heard and understood as providing meaning.

In two, five-year, follow-up studies of Open Dialogue (Seikkula et al.,, 2006), 80% of those who had acute psychosis for the first time in their lives reportedly experienced functional recovery. Roughly 80% were also asymptomatic and not taking medication