Biomedical Approach to Mental Health (Level 5) Flashcards
What does the biomedical approach assume about behaviour?
That all behaviour (whether human or animal behaviour) is driven by genetics and an individual’s biological or chemical composition.
What does the phrase “correlation does not imply causation” refer to?
The inability to legitimately deduce a cause-and-effect relationship between two events or variables solely on the basis of an observed association or correlation between them.
What does the fact that there are biological correlates of behaviour mean?
That there are physiological origins of behaviour such as neurotransmitters, hormones, specialised brain areas, and genes.
What does biological relativity require, as opposed to symmetry of causation?
Circular causality
What does the biomedical model posit, in addition to emphasising pharmacological treatment to target presumed biological abnormalities?
That mental disorders are brain diseases.
What is critical realism, initially developed by Bhaskar (1944 - 2014)?
A philosophical approach to understanding science, and in particular social science.
How can the discipline of psychopathology be understood in short?
As an in-depth study of problems related to mental health.
On what does descriptive psychopathology exclusively rely?
On the information communicated by a patient or relative, as well as on what is observed by an examiner.
What is experimental psychopathology?
The study of the causes, characteristics, and treatment of psychological dysfunction.
On what do theory and research in experimental psychopathology focus?
On the assessment and treatment of both childhood and adult disorders.
What is the crucial assumption of a fresh and novel, non-experimental approach to psychopathology called network theory?
The notion that psychiatric symptoms are input for other symptoms.
What do bipolar disorders comprise?
Recurrent episodes of elevated mood and depression.
With which symptoms do patients with bipolar disorder typically present for treatment?
With depression or anxiety or with mixed features, including concurrent mania and depression.
What is an example of a symptom of the highs of cyclothymia?
Elevated mood (hypomania).
Of what do the lows of cyclothymia consist?
Mild or moderate depressive symptoms.
What can recurrent depressive disorder cause?
Consistent feelings of hopelessness and sadness.
Which condition is milder yet more enduring than major depression?
Recurrent depressive disorder
What are two core features of a major depressive episode, despite a strong case being able to be made to pay increasing attention to symptoms of fatigue, sleep disturbance, anxiety, and neurocognitive and sexual dysfunction in the diagnosis and evaluation of treatment outcome?
“Depressed mood” and “loss of interest or pleasure in nearly all activities”.
What are the most common types of mood disorders?
Major depression, dysthymia (dysthymic disorder), bipolar disorder, mood disorder due to a general medical condition, and substance-induced mood disorder.
What are seven examples of common signs of mood disorders?
Constant feelings of sadness or anxiousness, an overwhelming sense of hopelessness, low self-worth or feeling inadequate, relationship problems, loss of interest in activities that once brought pleasure, excessive guilt, and sleep issues.
Why is the stepped care model used by NHS talking therapies services?
To make a clinical decision as to which sort of treatment is currently the most appropriate for the person they are assessing.
What is stepped care?
A way of providing and monitoring care and treatment.
What is the aim of stepped care?
To provide you with the most effective, yet least resource intensive treatment for you.
