History of Mental Illness Flashcards
What are the three ways of defining abnormality?
Statistical Infrequency - Behaviour that is rarely seen in the general population is considered abnormal.
Deviation from Social Norm - behaviour that can be seen as a departure from what one society or culture defines as normal.
Failure to Function Adequately (maladaptiveness)- When a person’s way of thinking, emotional responses or actual behaviour is dangerous or prevents them from functioning well.
What is Trephination and when was it used?
Trephination is the act of drilling holes into a person’s skull.
In Ancient Egypt, it was believed that mental illness was caused by evil spirits trapped inside individuals, and that trephination would allow these spirits to be released.
The treatment was still used in the 1800’s to treat depression, schizophrenia and mania.
What did the Ancient Greeks believe caused mental illness?
Hippocrates theorised that madness was caused by the imbalance of 4 bodily humours and could be cured by balancing these 4 humours. The 4 humours include blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm.
How was mental illness treated in the 1300’s to 1400’s?
The burning of witches was most common practice at this time. Hysteria and epilepsy were two illnesses that were frequently confused with witchcraft or demonic possession and , as these were more prevalent in women, more women were burned than men. The burning of witches began to fade in the 1500’s due to a greater understanding of epilepsy.
How was mental illness treated in the 1800’s?
Mental asylums - Housing and confining the mentally ill. Most inmates were institutionalised against their will, lived in filth and chained to walls, and were commonly exhibited to the public for a fee. Mental illness was seen as a physical illness and therefore treatments such as purges, bleedings, emetics, and shocking patients back to normal by dousing them with either hot or ice cold water.
how was mental illness treated in the 1900’s?
Psychiatry became a recognised medical specialty, although the origins of mental illness had not changed much.
Around this time modern psychology was responsible for the acceptance that mental illness is a result of influences on the mind, which can vary from biological influences to the unconscious conflicts of Freud’s theory. Talking therapies were starting to be brought forward, however the predominant approach to mental illness is the medical model, which are treated with chemical and medical techniques.
What do we use to help categorise mental illness?
The DSM-5 (Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental disorders)
How does the DSM-5 work?
The DSM-5 contains information regarding every official psychiatric disorder. Each diagnostic listing contains detailed information regarding the specific criteria required for a diagnosis, as well as an overview of that particular disorder.
Clinicians go through the diagnostic features and decide which symptoms best reflect the behaviour displayed. The subtypes are then used to help eliminate certain mental disorders and to help build the most accurate diagnosis.
What are some weaknesses of categorising mental health issues?
- Highly subjective - can change from one health professional to another.
- Requires self-report from individuals who may not perceive their behaviour as abnormal or dysfunctional.
- There is a significant overlap between disorders.
- Ethnocentrism - it depends on the culture to how the behaviour is perceived.
- Hard to diagnose reliability due to individual differences and bias
- Ignores biological symptoms as it only focuses on behavioural symptoms
What are some strengths of categorising mental health issues?
- Helps to establish a reliable way to categorise and diagnose behaviours
- Helps to direct the most appropriate treatment for the individual
- Helps the individual come to terms with and understand why they are different.
