C3: Mental Health Flashcards
Rosenham 1: aim
Rosenham wanted to test the validity and reliability of the diagnostic system. The aim of this study was to see if psychiatrists can reliably tell the difference between people who are sane and those who are insane
Rosenham 1: method
Cover participant observation as the study lacks a direct manipulation of an independent variable
Rosenham 1: what did he argue the research method was
A field experiment stating the independent variable was the words that the pseudo patients said that they could hear
Rosenham 1: participants
The staff and patients of 12 hospitals from 5 different states in the USA
Rosenham 1: were pseudopatients the participants
These were not the participants. These were 8 fake patients in which comprised of Rosenham and his confederates
Rosenham 1: female to male ratio
3:5
Rosenham 1: what were the words recalled by the patients
‘thud’, ‘empty’ and ‘hollow’
Rosenham 1: how many pseudopatients were diagnosed with schizophrenia
11
Rosenham 1: how many pseudopatients were diagnosed with manic depressive disorder
1
Rosenham 1 results: responses to requests made to psychiatrists
13 responses to a toal of 185 requests = 7%
Rosenham 1 results: responses to requests made to nurses and attendants
47 responses to a total of 1,283 requests a 3.6%
Rosenham 1 results: psychiatrists leaving the ‘cage’
Emerged 6.7 times per day
Rosenham 1 results: head averted by psychiatrists
71%
Rosenham 1 results: amount of time spent with psychiatrists, psychologists
Average= less than 7 minutes a day
Rosenham 1 results: length of hospitalisation
Ranged from 7-52 days. Average of 19 days
Rosenham 1 results: number of patients questioning the pseudopatient’s sanity
35/118 patients noticed the pseudopatients were faking
Rosenham 1 results: number of pills recorded
2100
Rosenham 1 conclusion:
Unreliable. The doctors and psychiatrists could not reliably tell who was insane and who was sane. They were more likely to diagnose a healthy person as sick. This is also known as a type one error
Rosenham 2: aim
To investigate whether hospitals could diagnose the insane as sane.
Rosenham 2: method
A self report study in a natural environment
Rosenham 2: participants
Real hospitals and their real staff
Rosenham 2: what was the key thing about this procedure
Rosenham did not send any pseudopatients to the hospital
Rosenham 2 results: number of patients admitted and judged
193
Rosenham 2 results: patients who are alleged by at least one member of staff to be a pseudopatient
41
Rosenham 2 results: patientd who were alleged by a doctor to be a pseudopatient
23
Rosenham 2 results: patients who were alleged by two members of staff to be pseudopatients
19
Rosenham 2 conclusion:
Rosenham had again shown that the diagnostic system was unreliable. The doctors and psychiatrists could not reliably tell who was insane and who was sane. This is also known as a type two error
An example of a anxiety disorder
A phobia
An example of a psychotic disorder
Schizophrenia
An example of an affective disorder
Major depressive disorder
What is the definition of delusions of grandeur
Beliefs that they are someone grand or famous such as The Messiah, Albert Einstein or Elvis Presley or beliefs that they have special magical powers
What is the definition of delusions of persecution?
Beliefs that people are plotting against them, that they are being spied upon, talked about by strangers or deliberately victimised
What is the definition of auditory hallucinations?
Voices are heard in the absence of external stimuli, which are often critical, warning of danger or giving commands
What is the definition of disorganised speech?
Inappropriate speech
What is the definition of inappropriate affect?
Silliness and laughter which are out of context, eg laughing when hearing terrible news
What is the definition of flat emotions?
No emotional response can be elicited to any stimulus; face is immobile, eyes are lifeless, speech is toneless, often staring vacinity
What is the definition of apathy?
Loss of interest in normal goals
What is the definition of loss of drive?
Feeling drained of energy and unable to initiate or complete a course of action
What is the definition of cataleptic stupor?
Standing motionless like a statue in bizarre situations
What is the definition of excessive motor activity?
Moving in odd and disturbing ways that are apparently purposeless and not influences by external stimuli
What is the definition of echolalia?
Repetitive echoing of words spoken by others, or the accentuated imitation of the mannerisms of other people
What is the definition of positive symptoms?
Generally things that have been ‘added’ to what we consider a ‘normal’ life experience, for example delusions. These are not part of normal everyday life and an added on extra
What is the definition of negative symptoms?
Generally things that have been ‘taken away’ from what we might consider a ‘normal’ life experience, for example a lack of pleasure or speech. These are things that have been ‘taken away’ from what we might consider a ‘normal’ life experience, for example a lack of pleasure or speech. These are things that we would normally seek or use frequently
How does the medical model view mental health?
As a biological malfunction or disruption
According to the medical model, what are the 3 main aspects that contribute to the explanation or dysfunctional behaviour?
- Biochemistry
- Brain structure and abnormality
- Genetics
What does the biochemical explanation of mental illness focus on?
The nervous system
Gottesman study: aim
To build on previous research into the likelihood of developing severe mental health disorders when one or both parents experienced them, using a larger sample
Gottesman study: participants
A population based cohort of 2.6 million people born in Denmark and who were alive in 1968 o reborn later than 1968, with a link to their mother or father established from the Civil Registration System
Gottesman study: .. couples who both had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and their …children
196, 270
Gottesman study: how many couples had bipolar disorder and how many of their children
83, 146
Gottesman study: .. couples where one parent had schizophrenia and their … children
8006, 13,878
Gottesman study: .. couples where one parent had bipolar disorder and their … children
11,995, 23,152
Gottesman study: method
Natural experiment where the IV is the type of mental disorder parent’s experienced and the DV is the rate of diagnosis of mental health disorders in their children
Gottesman study: data was collected and stored regarding:
- Date of birth
- Sex
- Vital status
- Identity of parents
- Identity of siblings
Gottesman study: where was the sample taken from?
Danish Civil Registration System
Gottesman study: who was the study approved by?
Danish Data Protection Agency
Gottesmen results: what was the % risk of children developing the disorder where both parents had schizophrenia, and what did it increase to when considering schizophrenia-related disorders?
27.3%, 39.2%
Gottesmen results: what was the risk of the child getting the schizophrenia when only one parent had it?
7%
Gottesmen results: if not parent had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, what was the likelihood of developing the disorder?
0.86%
Gottesmen results: if both parents had bipolar disorder, what was the risk a child would get this, what would it increase to when unipolar depression was included in the analysis?
24.9%, 36%
Gottesmen results: if one parent had bipolar, or if neither was diagnosed with it was was the likelihood of their children getting bipolar?
4.4%, 0.48%
Gottesmen results: is one parent had schizophrenia and the other bipolar, what was the risk of the children developing each disorder?
Schizophrenia: 15.6%
Bipolar: 11.7%
Gottesmen results: what was the calmative risk of developing either bipolar or schizophrenia for the general population?
Schizophrenia: 1/7 chance
Bipolar: 14.1%
What is classical conditioning?
Emotional response can become associated with any neutral stimulus through classical condition
What is operant conditioning?
Individuals learning behaviour is dependent on consequences of their behaviour on the behaviour of others
Szasz study: aim
To revisit the original suggestions made in ‘The myth of illness’ 50 years on
Szasz study: method
Review article viewing changes on the beliefs and concepts surrounding mental health and changes within mental health system over a 50 year period
Szasz study: article summary
- Medical model has been validated by the Government and entrenched in law to protect the patient ‘from himself and others’
- No legally valid approach to mental illness in US
- Mental illness is not a biological disease
- Diagnosis is not based on scientific research and is used to hospitalise and control people without their consent
- Diagnosis based on subjective judgement by a psychiatrists, not verifiable like taking a temperature or blood test
- Medical model is inhumane, and we should look more at socioeconomic and psychoanalytic explanation
