Human Growth and Development (2/3) Flashcards
Mental Health
Normality
the baseline for understanding the human condition
Wellness
the goal of counseling, not the absence of psychpathological symptoms
(contrasts medical model that focuses on symptoms/deficits)
Mental Health Counseling
- espouses a holistic, wellness orientation
- views remedial and psychopathological issues from a positive, developmental orientation
- views individual as embedded in larger systems
- stresses greater reliance/focus on education and prevention and less on remediation
Psychological dysfunction
a breakdown in cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning
- unexpected in cultural context and associated with personal distress/substantial impairment in functioning
Psychopathology
the scientific study of psychological disorders
Prevalence
how many (what percent) of the population has the disorder
Incidence
how many new cases occur within a given time frame such as a year
Prognosis
anticipated course of a disorder
Etiology
what causes a disorder (why does it begin?)
- involves biological, psychological, and social dimensions
Equifinality
there may be multiple paths to a given outcome
- ex. depression may be caused by physical injury, grief, substance abuse
Comorbidity
an individual has two or more disorders at the same time
Adaptive functioning
defense mechanisms are used to cope with stressors
- Mechanisms leading to optimal adaptation include anticipation, humor, sublimation
- failure to regulate stress may lead to break with reality resulting in delusional projection or psychotic distortion
Causal Models
One-dimensional
this model assumes that a disorder is caused by one factor (such as a chemical imbalance)
Research does not support this linear model!
Causal Models
Multidimensional Models
these models assume that a disorder is caused by the interaction of several factors/dimensions
Causal Models: Multidimensional Models
Context of the individual includes:
Biology
1
genetic factors appear to make some contribution to all psychological disorders by influencing cognitions, behaviors, emotions
Causal Models: Multidimensional Models
Context of the individual includes:
Biology
2
Nervous system influences psychological disorders primarily through neurotransmitters
Causal Models: Multidimensional Models
Context of the individual includes:
Behavior and cognitive factors
how we acquire/process/store/retrieve info influences behavior
- we acquire and learn behaviors through conditioning and social learning
Causal Models: Multidimensional Models
Context of the individual includes:
Emotions
Emotion: short-lived
Mood: more persistent period of emotionality
Causal Models: Multidimensional Models
Context of the individual includes:
Cultural/social/interpersonal behaviors
gender influences the incidence of some disorders
the amount and kind of social relationships and contacts help predict longevity by reducing the incidence of certain physical disorders potentially by influencing the immune system
Ego-dystonic traits
the individual perceives the symptoms or traits as unacceptable and undesirable
Ego-syntonic traits
the individual perceives the symptoms or traits as acceptable
Clinical assessment
the process of determining the psychological, biological, social factors which may be associated with psychological disorder