historical context of mental health

Question 1

outline one historical view of mental health

Answer 1

One historical view of mental health comes from Hippocrates in 400BC and it was a biological cause of mental health.
They proposed the idea that mental health was due to an imbalance of the four humours; black bile, yellow bile, blood and phlegm. In order to treat this there was bloodletting and purging.

Question 2

what are the two main ways of categorising mental disorders?

Answer 2

the ICD and the DSM

Question 3

using the DSM what are the three ways to make a diagnosis?

Answer 3

diagnostic classification
diagnostic criteria sets
descriptive text

Question 4

summarise what happens during diagnostic classification

Answer 4

one way of categorising mental disorders is the American DSM-5. This starts off with the diagnostic classification which is a list of all the different disorders, similar disorders are grouped together.

Question 5

summarise what happens during the diagnostic criteria set

Answer 5

each specific disorder has a diagnostic criteria set which list the required symptoms and features which support or rule out the diagnosis. They also state how long the symptoms should have lasted for.

Question 6

summarise what happens during the descriptive text

Answer 6

has additional information that should be taken into account like cultural related issues

Question 7

what are the strengths of using the DSM-5?

Answer 7

• validity : by having factors that should be ruled out as well as symptoms that are required should make diagnosis more accurate
• reliability : as all US doctors use the same diagnostic criteria this should increase reliability
• effective treatment : valid and reliable diagnosis should mean patients receive the correct medication/treatment

Question 8

what are the weaknesses of using the DSM-5?

Answer 8

• validity: there are no biological tests for any disorder, they are based on the subjective opinion of the psychiatrist, this means bias can occur
• reliability : low inter- reliability
• medicalisation of normal behaviour : depressive symptoms shown after significant bereavement would be diagnosed as depression rather than as the normal part of the grieving process

Question 9

what are the three general theories of the cause of mental health?

Answer 9

supernatural
biological
psychological

Question 10

what are the three definitions for abnormality?

Answer 10

statistical infrequency
deviation from social norms
failure to function adequately

Question 11

outline statistical infrequency

Answer 11

works on the idea that abnormality should be based on infrequency
if it occurs rarely then it is abnormal
human attributes fall into a normal distribution

Question 12

what is a strength of statistical infrequency?

Answer 12

high reliability : objective since mathematic so standardised
population validity : looks at the whole population so it can give us a useful insight for particular characteristics

Question 13

what is a weakness of statistical infrequency?

Answer 13

validity : is it accurately measuring abnormality just because something is rare does not mean that it is abnormal
abnormal behaviours can occur frequently

Question 14

outline deviation from social norms

Answer 14

social norms are accepted ways of behaving within a society, they are the unwritten rules that members of a society regard as being normal and acceptable

Question 15

what is a strength of deviation from social norms?

Answer 15

validity : does distinguish between desirable and undesirable behaviour
flexible dependent on situation and age

Question 16

what is a weakness of deviation from social norms?

Answer 16

temporal validity : change over time, changes in legislation mean that norms vary dependent on the time. This is sometimes hard to judge and means there is a lack of consensus between generations
ethnocentrism: social norms tend to be dictated by the majority within a culture and this means that there are sections of society where behaviour is seen as normal within an ethnic community, but not within the culture as a whole

Question 17

outline failure to function adequately

Answer 17

a person is considered abnormal if they are unable to cope with the demands of everyday life and live independently in society

Question 18

what is a strength of failure to function adequately?

Answer 18

validity : consideration of how the individual feels, the definition is focused on the individual
measurable since the GAF is a scale and allows for the extent of the failure to function to be measured, this can be made in a relatively objective way
observable: can be seen by others around the individual meaning problems can be picked up by others

Question 19

what is a weakness of failure to function adequately?

Answer 19

validity/ reliability: abnormality does not always stop the person functioning, some abnormal behaviours are missed if someone is appearing fine
vividness/unconventionality are subjective