Intro, Classification, and Paradigms Flashcards
Things that play a role in mental health
Together, these effect behaviour (ex: someone with social anxiety will hate public speaking):
- Emotions
- Thoughts (anxiety, self-criticism, obsessions)
- Sensations (stress, fatigue)
CAMH (centre for addiction and mental health) statistics
•1/5 Canadians per year will experience mental illness
•By age 40, approx 50% of people will experience mental illness
• The leading cause for disabilities in Canada is mental illness
•70% of mental health problems start in adolescence
*Ages 15-24 are the most likely to have mental illness
National Colleges Health Assessment
NCHA: a survey of university students (now discontinued in BC) which asked questions about subjective feelings
•Over 50% of students felt overwhelming anxiety and fatigue (not from exercise)
•36% of UBC students were so depressed it was difficult to function
•Factors impacting academic performance: work, stress, sleep difficulties, anxiety, and depression
Video on multiple personality disorder
MPD is a social construction: we now call it Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID):
Questions about Gretchen’s experience
•Why does the personality switch happen, how many personalities can someone have, did she experience trauma/brain injury
How to find answers
•Science will be the most important method in class but things such as media can be just as informative
Hypothesis:
•Coping mechanism, genetics?
Where does information on mental disorders come from
1) Scientific research: careful systematic observation of the world, creating, testing, and changing hypothesis
•Goals: finds if study is consistent with other observations, tests for confounds, and emphasizes objectivity: not based on our own experiences (bias and inaccuracy) leading to more accurate predictions (principles vs intuition of science)
•Objections: research is often funded by organizations that influence values and results (ex: pharmaceutical companies)
2) Clinical experience
•Historical component
•Clinical experience helps us understand and treat individuals, while being shaped by science
3) Society and culture
•Social environment has impacts on the types of experiences we have (the way we are raised, our culture’s norms)
•Ex: coming to class is a culturally bounded activity
How scientific research, clinical experience, and society and culture work together to impact research
Scientific research: valuing peoples’ lives creates ethics/limitations on research
•Ex: interested in the causes of schizophrenia: hypothesis that it could be related to lack of nourishment for a mother during pregnancy, but we can’t conduct studies on this due to ethical limitations
Clinical: respect in clinical settings because this is something we value
Society and culture: different treatments in different places
•Ex: in South Korea, treatment for depression involves placing a patient in their casket so they can fully experience death
Ways to test abnormal behaviour
Observational Design Experimental Design Clinical Population Case Study Nonclinical Correlational Study Randomized Controlled Trial
Observational design
Examines one (usually two or more) variables with no manipulation
•Ex: personality traits, psychological symptoms, genes
•Adv: examines many factors that can’t be manipulated, easy to set up (low time/cost)
•Dis: no statistical controls for confounds (uses data to limit the amount of confounds), hard to determine casualty, easy to establish a correlation
Experimental design
Examines one or more DVs through manipulation of an IV
•Adv: more statistical control of confounds, stronger evidence for causality
•Dis: can’t examine as many variables
Clinical population (?)
Looking at a certain population that has indication or classification of struggling with a clinical problem (psychological disorder)
•Adv: can have a mixed clinical population (?)
•Dis: more of an ethical concern than other measures (ex: getting informed consent)
Two types:
1) Nonclinical population: looking at people in the community as people in nonclinical samples may still meet criteria for relevant clinical disorders
2) Non-human analogues (animal studies):
•Adv: more flexibility on what we can study on animals
•Dis: physiological and psychological differences can have inaccurate representation
•Now there is also computer simulations (?)
Case study
In depth observation of one person, usually done in an interview to support data or:
•Standardized tests: given for level of mood, dissociation symptoms, etc.
•Collateral information: from loved ones, coworkers, etc.
•Adv: in depth understanding of whole person (how different factor interact),
generates possibilities for many issues
•Dis: not generalizable, room for experimenter bias/subjectivity
•Ex: Gretchen findings (other personalities know about her, she has no control, scared)
Nonclinical correlational study (?)
Observational design of a nonclinical sample to compare them clinical populations
•Ex: finding differences in genes/personality
•Things important in clinical population may be just as prevalent in nonclinical (ex: clinical depression: nonclinical still experience extreme sadness and can provide insight in how to cope)
Examines variables of potential clinical interest such as
•Genes (SLC6A4: for serotonin transporter 5-HTT)
•Personality traits (attachment style)
•Experience/behaviour/attitudes (substance use, sex)
•Clinical symptoms/diagnosis (?)
Adv: larger subject pool, ability to study many factors
Dis: difficult to examine causation/applicability
•Are nonclinical populations a good representation of clinical populations?
Randomized controlled trial
Experimental design in a clinical sample where the researcher randomly assigns participants to different groups to test how certain treatments (IV) impact symptoms/other outcomes (DV)
•Types of control groups: placebo (active ingredient is not there: sugar pills vs antidepressants)
•Obj: harder for therapy (what is the placebo for talk therapy), ethics (is it safe to give a placebo to people who are suffering from clinical problems), solved by head to head comparison
Adv: examine effect of manipulation/treatment
Dis: cost, generalizability
Classification advantages
The classification of behaviour and experiences are crucial for research and clinical work because
1. Communication costs time and energy (having clear classification saves this)
2. For more efficient communication (scientists sharing findings, clinicians sharing assessments with doctors)
3. Provides a structure to information
(group behaviours into disorders, and disorders into classifications of disorders)
4. Ensures clarity for definitions and concepts (formal nomenclature: system for naming things)
5. Define the scope and domain of the topic (what we focus on in psych 300 vs what is filtered out/irrelevant)
6. Behaviours, thoughts, and feelings are generally continuous (traits are on a spectrum varying in intensity)
7. Treatments are usually yes or no (either we need to provide it or not: discreet)
8. Allows for easier organization of action/response (?)
9. Helps make treatment consistent (DSM)
Classification disadvantages
- Loss of information (contextual/individual details aren’t as considered)
- Prioritizing some information over others (therapist puts certain emphasis on aspects)
- Arbitrary/cut off (what do you do with clients right under cut point)
- Misapplication of classification labels (stigma around certain disorders such as schizophrenia)
