Defining Mental Health and Illness

Question 1

Mental disorders are characterized by their effects on what?

Answer 1

Mental disorders are characterized by their effect on thought, behaviour, and mood

Question 2

What are some ways of thinking about mental illness?

Answer 2

Problems with: spirituality, balance, somatic, personal, consciousness, social (status)

Question 3

The medical model

- Treatments?

Answer 3

A biological disease, causing malfunctions in the brain.
Has symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment.
Treatments include psychopharmaceuticals, ECT, etc.

Question 4

The psychological model

- Treatments?

Answer 4

Takes into consideration mental/psychic processes.
Mental disorder arises from internal processes that reflect the interaction of the individual and their environment.
Disorder found in the mind.
Treatments include various psychotherapies: psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, etc

Question 5

The behavioural model

- Treatments?

Answer 5

Mental disorder is primarily learned behaviour, rather than physiological illness or psychological conflict.
People conditioned to behave in mentally ill ways, my unlearn deviant behaviours.
Focused on the here and the now.
Most significant treatment is CBT

Question 6

The social model

Answer 6

Places emphasis on society and its structure as the genesis of mental disorder
Is it stress causing mental illness or the power structure labelling behaviour as ill?

Question 7

Reason for many models

Answer 7

Some explanations work better with different types of disorders
Some people find particular models offensive
Overlap models not entirely mutually exclusive
Groups may benefit from one model more than another

Question 8

Why is the term mental illness used instead of mental disorder?

Answer 8

We use the term mental disorder but there is as much physical in mental disorder as there is mental in physical disorders

Question 9

What is the only real division in the medical model?

Answer 9

Symptom (expression)

Question 10

How are mental disorders classified?

Answer 10

The DSM

Question 11

DSM

Answer 11

The official accepted account of disorders (1952)

Question 12

How has the DSM changed?

Answer 12

From psychodynamic to symptomatic

Hypothetical risk presented, rather than deterministic cause

Question 13

According to DSM: Mental disorders are classified by clinically significant disturbances in an individuals _______?

Answer 13

Cognition, emotion regulation, or behaviour

Question 14

According to DSM: What do mental disorders reflect a dysfunction in?

Answer 14

A dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning

Question 15

Where are mental disorders often associated with distress or disability?

Answer 15

Social, occupational, or other important activities

Question 16

Mental disorders are defined as ____, not cause

Answer 16

Defined as expression not cause

Question 17

What are some criticisms of DSM

Answer 17

Lack of hard science
Ignores context of person being diagnosed
Focused on symptoms rather than experience
Doesn’t address treatment, therapy
Pressure can change what counts as disease
Reliability is not the same as validity

Question 18

What are the difficulties of diagnosis?

Answer 18

Disorder formation done by committee
Race/gender/class/obesity biases
Differs between cultures
Context (criminal or pyromania)
Judgements
Can't be verified

Question 19

Deviance

Answer 19

Any act or behaviour that violates social norms with a given social system and interferes with a person’s ability to function in society

Question 20

Greenberg stated

Answer 20

There’s a conflict of interest - if I don’t determine clinical significance, I don’t get paid

Question 21

How common are mental disorders?

Answer 21

1/3-1/2 of population report symptoms of mental disorder at some point in their life

Question 22

Epidemic of psychopathology

- Why?

Answer 22

Recent increases in mental disorders

More astute diagnosis and greater public awareness, less stigma, medicalization

Question 23

Psychiatrist

• Degree?
• What can they do?
• What model do they favour?
• Who are they regulated by?

Answer 23

MD
Can prescribe medication, blood tests, brain scans, ECT
Often favour medical model
Ability to section
Regulated by Canadian Psychiatric Association

Question 24

Psychologist

• Degree?
• What do they do?
• Who are they regulated by?

Answer 24

PhD, Psy D, trained in clinical/abnormal psychology
Primarily utilize pyschotherapy, psychological testing (ex. personality tests, ink blots, scales, etc.)
Regulated by Canadian Psychological Association

Question 25

Other mental health professionals

Answer 25

Social workers, psychiatric nurses, addiction counsellors, life coaches, etc.
Not all of these are regulated professionals (ex. counsellors are not regulated)