Chapter 12: Mental Disorder Part 1

Question 1

What does the 4P factor model describe?

Answer 1

Describes the four types of influences that contribute to the development and progression of mental health disorders:

• Predisposing
• Precipitating
• Perpetuating
• Protective

Question 2

What is a risk factor in relation to the 4P factor model?

Answer 2

Any characteristic or event that increases the likelihood of the development or progression of a mental disorder.

• May be biological, psychological, or social
• May direct or indirect and may not have the same effect on each individual

Question 3

What are predisposing risk factors of the 4P factor model? Give some examples:

Answer 3

Increases susceptibility to mental disorder (increases likelihood nut development not inevitable).
Eg. Genetics, personal traits, disorganised attachment

Question 4

What are precipitating risk factors of the 4P factor model? Give some examples:

Answer 4

Increases susceptibility and contributes to the occurrence (Eg. A major stressor or catastrophic event may trigger onset)

• Are immediate and cause the individual to experience symptoms ‘now’
• May cause different reactions (Eg. Poor sleep, substance use, stress, relationship breakdown)

Question 5

What are perpetuating risk factors of the 4P model? Give some examples:

Answer 5

Maintains or prolongs the occurrence of specific mental disorders and inhibits recovery.
-Causes symptoms to continue or progressively worsen
Eg. Continued substance use, ongoing bullying, an abusive relationship, physical illness
Eg. Poor response to medication due to genetics, rumination, impaired reasoning and memory, the role of stigma as a barrier to treatment

Question 6

What are protective risk factors of the 4P model? Give some examples:

Answer 6

Reduce or prevent the occurrence of a mental health disorder.
Eg. Adequate diet and sleep, cognitive behavioural strategies, support from others

Question 7

What are biological risk factors? List its types:

Answer 7

Factors that originate or develop within the body and therefore may not be under our control.
Types:
-Genetic vulnerability
-Poor response to medication due to genetic factors
-Poor sleep
-Substance use

Question 8

What does having a genetic vulnerability to a mental disorder mean?

Answer 8

Having a risk of developing a specific mental disorder due to one or more factors associated with genetic inheritance.

• Places an individual at a higher risk than that of the general population, but does not mean that they will definitely develop the relevant disorder (there is not a single gene for developing a disorder)
• A number of genes are likely to contribute in subtle wats to the onset and expression of a disorder under certain conditions

Question 9

Give an example of how individuals may have a genetic vulnerability to developing a mental health disorder:

Answer 9

• Those with a biological relative with schizophrenia are more likely to develop the disorder.
• The greater the genetic similarity, the greater the risk (Eg. Identical twins 50% chance)

Question 10

What are psychotropic medications?

Answer 10

Medications that are most commonly prescribed to complement other therapies as part of an overall treatment plan.

• Primarily used to control onset or severity of targeted symptoms so that the individual can function more effectively.
• These medications may inhibit, alleviate or reduce symptoms but they do not cure the underlying condition

Question 11

Given an example of when psychotropic medications would be used:

Answer 11

Taking psychotropic medications with psychotherapy and/or relaxation, which generally helps to ensure the effectiveness of that therapy, while also helping ensure the effectiveness of the medication.

Question 12

What does a poor response to medication mean?

Answer 12

Having little to no reduction in the number or severity of symptoms despite taking medication as prescribed.
-No medication in any field of medicine is likely to work 100% of the time.

Question 13

Give 3 reasons why someone may have a poor response to medication:

Answer 13

• Some genes are responsible for how our body processes medications and that genetic variations can cause different people to respond in different ways to the same medication (Eg. Variations in genes may affect the absorption, distribution, metabolism or elimination of a particular medication).
• Therefore, because of their genetic makeup, some people may not respond well, if at all.
• Build up could result in severe side-effects, others may eliminate the drug before it has a chance to work effectively, while others may be genetically predisposed to having significant and undesirable side effects from a medication (Eg. Because of the presence of too much or too little of the neurotransmitter or receptors targeted by the medication).

Question 14

Give some other reasons someone may have a poor response to medication:

Answer 14

-Other biological factors (Eg. Ae, sex, body weight, race, receptor sensitivity, diet)
-Other co-existing disorders the individual may have
-Other drugs or substances they might be using.
There are also psychological and social factors that can affect responsiveness to medication

Question 15

How can poor sleep quantity or quality be a biological risk factor for mental disorders? Give some examples:

Answer 15

-Difficulty in falling or staying asleep (which produces poor sleep) is one of the diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, and depression.
-A significant number of people with these types of mental disorders report poor sleep prior to its onset and/or following onset or diagnoses.
-Consequently, poor sleep is considered a risk factor for the development or progression of certain mental disorders.
Eg. Mood disorders, anxiety disorders, addictive disorders, personality disorders, schizophrenia, and other psychotic disorders.

Question 16

What is the relationship between poor sleep and mental disorders described as and why?

Answer 16

-Commonly described as bi-directional, or ‘two-way’.
-Poor sleep may contribute to or cause a mental disorder, or that a mental disorder may be the cause of poor sleep. This is a complex relationship that can make it difficult to isolate cause from effect.
Eg. Some people with depression experience its symptoms before the onset of sleep problems,whereas sleep problems appear first withothers.

Question 17

What does substance use refer to?

Answer 17

The use or consumption of legal or illegal drugs or other products.
-Substance use and mental disorders often occur together. There is a high prevalence of this co-existence in relation to a wide range of substances and disorders.
-People with a mental disorder experience substance use problems at far higher rates than the general population.
Eg. Alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs or illegal drugs.

Question 18

List 5 psychological risk factors for mental disorders:

Answer 18

• Rumination
• Impaired reasoning
• Impaired memory
• Stress
• Poor self-efficacy

Question 19

What are psychological risk factors for mental disorders?

Answer 19

Risk factors that originate or develop within the mind.

-This enables the potential to exert some control over their occurrence or influence.

Question 20

What does rumination involve?

Answer 20

Repeatedly thinking about or dwelling on undesirable thoughts and feelings, such as problems and bad moods, without acting to change them.

Question 21

What does rumination impede?

Answer 21

• Impedes problem-solving, often to the extent that a person cannot see a way of overcoming or minimising the impact of whatever is upsetting them.
• People who ruminate tend to take problem-solving too far and for too long.
• Sometimes people who ruminate about the problem so much that they never develop a solution to the problem

Question 22

What does reasoning involve?

Answer 22

Goal-directed thinking involving inferences and conclusions from known or assumed facts.

Question 23

What does probabilistic reasoning involve? How does it affect people with schizophrenia, what may it contribute to, and what may it result in?

Answer 23

Making judgments related to probability - the likelihood of something happening or being true.

• People with schizophrenia tend to have difficulty with PR in social situations
• Impairment of PR may also contribute to the development and persistence of delusions
• May result in cognitive bias of ‘jumping to conclusions’

Question 24

What does jumping to conclusions involve?

Answer 24

Making hasty judgments or decisions on the basis of inadequate or ambiguous info.