General Flashcards
What are the 4 D’s of diagnosis?
deviance, distress, dysfunction, danger
What is deviance?
behaviours or emotions that are unusual in society
What is distress?
the extent to which the individual finds their behaviour and/or emotions upsetting
What is dysfunction?
the extent to which behaviour interferes with the person’s day-to-day life
What is danger?
behaviour which could harm others or the individual themselves
What is the ICD-10?
- used for diagnosing physical and mental conditions
- each disorder has a description of characteristic
- assessment involves several procedures such as clinical
interviews, observations and medical records
What is the DSM-5
- assesses individuals in terms of the type of disorder, general mental conditions, contextual factors and disability
- assesses patients along a spectrum
What can affect the reliability of diagnosis?
Patient factors, clinician factors, and classification systems.
How can patient factors affect the reliability of diagnosis?
Different information given by the patients to different clinicians.
How can clinician factors affect the reliability of diagnosis?
Classification systems may not be objective, so the clinician’s opinion on what disorder the patient may have is unreliable.
How can classification systems affect the reliability of diagnosis?
DSM 5 has a clear set of criteria which increases the reliability of diagnosis.
What can affect the validity of diagnosis?
Patient factors, clinician factors, classification systems.
How can patient factors affect the validity of diagnosis?
Patients may not disclose all relevant information.
How can clinician factors affect the validity of diagnosis?
Implicit bias.
How can classification systems affect the validity of diagnosis?
They may be biased.
What was the aim of Rosenhan’s first study?
To determine if the sane can be distinguished from the insane.
What was the procedure used in Rosenhan’s first study?
Pseudopatients were admitted to the hospital using the same entry criteria but acted normally as soon as they entered.
What were the results of Rosenhan’s first study?
Patients were ignored 71% of the time.
What was the conclusion of Rosenhan’s first study?
The diagnostic label changed the perception of the person.
What was the aim of Rosenhan’s second study?
To see if hospitals who knew they had pseudopatients could tell the sane from the insane.
What was the conclusion of Rosenhan’s second study?
They were unable to distinguish the sane from the insane.
What was the aim of Rosenhan’s third study?
To investigate patient/staff contact.
What was the procedure used in Rosenhan’s third study?
Pseudo patients approached staff and asked for ground
privileges
What are Rosenhan’s conclusions about patients in mental wards?
Patients are powerless while on the mental ward and the lack of eye contact depersonalises them.
What are the symptoms of schizophrenia?
Delusions, hallucinations, disorganised thinking/speech.
What are delusions?
False beliefs.
What are hallucinations?
Perception of something not actually there.
What is disorganised thinking/speech?
Jumbled thoughts/speaking.
How does schizophrenia typically onset?
Episodes develop gradually over time.
What is the prognosis for schizophrenia?
25% recover completely and 25% experience continuous symptoms.
What are some explanations for schizophrenia?
Excess dopamine, dopamine deficiency, genetics, social causation.
What is the role of excess dopamine in schizophrenia?
Build up of dopamine in the synapses leads to hypersensitivity of dopamine receptors.
What is dopamine deficiency in schizophrenia?
Low levels of dopamine in the mesocortical pathway and irregular serotonin activity.
What did Carlsson conclude about schizophrenia?
Glutamate deficiency may explain increased dopamine responsiveness; increased serotonin activity is found in people with schizophrenia.
What are the symptoms of OCD?
Obsessions and compulsions.
What are obsessions?
Persistent thoughts.
What are compulsions?
Tasks people do to relieve themselves of the obsessions.
What is the prognosis for OCD?
70% of people experience chronic and lifelong course, 5% have episodic symptoms.
What are some explanations for OCD?
Brain structure and cognition.
How does brain structure relate to OCD?
An overactive thalamus leads to the orbitofrontal cortex becoming overactive, causing cleaning and checking behaviours and anxiety.
What is the cognitive explanation for OCD?
People with OCD misinterpret their thoughts due to false beliefs and memory problems; they may be hypervigilant.
What is the drug treatment for OCD?
Anti-depressants act on serotonin levels at the synapse; anti-anxiety drugs increase the effectiveness of GABA.
What is CBT for OCD?
The patient is encouraged to test beliefs that activate anxiety and refrain from compulsive behaviour.
What is the role of the COMT gene in schizophrenia?
Regulates dopamine levels; depletion causes excess dopamine.
What is the role of the DISC1 gene in schizophrenia?
Abnormality leads to schizophrenia as it is unable to regulate GABA.
What are social causation factors for schizophrenia?
Urbanicity, social isolation, and family dysfunction.
What are the treatments for schizophrenia?
Drug treatment and CBT.
How do drug treatments work for schizophrenia?
Anti-psychotic drugs block receptor sites for dopamine.
How does CBT help in schizophrenia?
Reduces stress and helps manage symptoms through belief modification and normalising experiences.
What was Carlsson’s aim in his study?
To provide evidence for/against the dopamine hypothesis.
What was Carlsson’s procedure?
A literature review on methods and findings of studies related to neurotransmitters in schizophrenia.
What is the aim of POTS?
To compare CBT, SSRI, and a combination of treatments.
What was the procedure for POTS participants?
Participants were interviewed and measured using the CY-BOCS, and attended weekly sessions for CBT or SSRI.
What were the results of POTS regarding remission rates?
39% of CBT participants entered remission, while 21% of drug treatment participants entered remission.
What conclusion was drawn from POTS results?
The greatest drop in symptoms was shown in a combination of treatments.
What is the clinical key question regarding mental health disorders?
How do attitudes towards mental health disorders vary cross-culturally?
What does Cheon suggest about stigma of mental health disorders?
Stigma may arise from cultural differences in automatic reactions to mental illness, with greater stigma in Asia and Asian-America than in white Europeans and Americans.
What do African countries believe about the causes of mental health disorders?
They believe that psychological disorders may be caused by possession of supernatural spirits.
What did Luhrmann find regarding symptoms of mental health disorders?
Patients in the USA were more likely to report violent commands, while those in India and Ghana reported rich relationships with voices.
What did Carpenter-Song find about treatment acceptance among African Americans and Latinos?
They emphasize non-biomedical interpretations, making them less likely to accept medication as a treatment for mental illness.
What did Twesigye conclude about the prognosis of mental health disorders?
Prognosis will be poor as people receive little treatment, but there is a more positive prognosis for schizophrenia in developing countries compared to Western countries.
What is the aim of the clinical practical investigation?
To investigate whether news articles in online newspapers portray schizophrenia in positive, negative, or neutral terms.
What is the hypothesis of the clinical practical investigation?
Schizophrenia will be portrayed differently in a tabloid newspaper compared to a broadsheet newspaper.
What method was used in the clinical practical investigation?
Content analysis using codes: schizophrenia linked to crime, scientific information, and aim to raise awareness.
What were the results of the clinical practical investigation?
The tabloid newspaper associated schizophrenia with crime the most, while the broadsheet mainly aimed to raise awareness.
What conclusion was drawn from the clinical practical investigation?
The portrayal of schizophrenia in tabloid newspapers is more negative compared to broadsheet newspapers.
What are the strengths of the clinical practical investigation?
- Quick and easy to gather data
- Quantitative data collected - objective
What are the weaknesses of the clinical practical investigation?
- Reductionist - doesn’t explain why the media portrays mental illness in such a way
- Categories may be subjective due to unclear instructions.
What is a longitudinal study?
A study that observes the same participants on many occasions over a long period of time.
What is a cross-sectional study?
Researchers take a snapshot of behavior in a given population in a set period of time.
What is a meta-analysis?
Using the findings of different studies conducted by different researchers.
What was the aim of Bradshaw’s study?
To investigate how CBT can be used to treat a woman (Carol) with schizophrenia.
What was the procedure in Bradshaw’s study?
Carol’s symptoms were measured using RFS, GAS, hospitalisation, and GPI. A rapport was developed, and she was educated about CBT.
What were the results of Bradshaw’s study?
Carol showed improvement in psychological functioning and reduction of symptoms.
What conclusion was drawn from Bradshaw’s study?
CBT is successful in treating schizophrenia.
What is peer review?
The evaluation of articles before they are published.
What are the strengths of peer reviews?
- Ensures that published psychological knowledge is unbiased
- Helps to maintain standards in psychology.
What are the weaknesses of peer reviews?
- Costly to make amendments to already published research
- Some peer reviews may use anonymity to publish their ideas.
What was the aim of Vallentine’s study?
To study the usefulness of psycho-education within group work for offender patients in a forensic hospital setting.
What was the procedure in Vallentine’s study?
Participants were interviewed to understand their experience and look at improvements. Content analysis was used to identify themes.
What were the results of Vallentine’s study?
Patients valued knowing their illness.
What conclusion was drawn from Vallentine’s study?
There were positive and negative changes in various measures taken after the psycho-education group.
What are the HCPC guidelines?
Character, Health, Standards of proficiency, Standards of conduct, Standards of personal development, Standards of educational training, Standards of prescribing.
