Introduction, Theories, and Etiology Flashcards
What are the 4 D’s of abnormal behaviour? (ways of looking at abnormal behaviour)
Deviance, distress, dysfunction, danger
What is deviance?
Straying away from social norms-extremely abnormal behaviour
Is deviance always associated with a mental disorder?
No! Can be associated with a person who is a professional at art, sports etc.
Sexual deviance can also be seen as abnormal, but is not classified as a mental disorder (unless it causes harm or danger)
What is distress?
Defined as how much of a stress response a person has (ex: overeating, guilt, anxiety).
Is distress always associated with a mental disorder?
No. Distress can manifest itself in other situations, psychopaths, sociopaths and people with certain personality disorders do not experience distress, people can put themselves in danger and not be distressed
What is dysfunction?
People behaving in a way that is abnormal, resulting in people not performing normally.
Is dysfunction always associated with a mental disorder?
No. Some people experience dysfunction and are still able to function normally.
What is a better way to define dysfunction in a sense of mental disorders?
Harmful dysfunction-when dysfunction affects abnormal behaviour, functioning and everyday life.
What is danger?
Abnormal behaviour defined as presenting a danger to others or oneself.
Is danger always associated with a mental disorder?
No. Sky diving is dangerous but not abnormal, relatively few people with mental disorders are actually violent, people without mental disorders are also dangerous. (this is probably the weaksest dimension)
What is the main version of the 4 D’s we should function on when classifying mental disorders?
Harmful dysfunctions-difficulty functioning in various areas of life or a lack of functioning all together.
What is the definition of a mental disorder?
A syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behaviour that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning
What are some exclusion criteria from the definition of a mental disorder?
1) Expectable and culturally sanctioned responses to a particular event (ex: grief with death)
2) Deviant behaviour such as political dissension
, religious, and sexual norms.
3) Conflict between the individual and society (such as voluntary effort to express individuality)
What is the difference between grief and depression?
Grief can still have aspects of happiness attached and people can still live their everyday lives. Depression does not have this
How was deviant behaviour used to diagnose mental illnesses in the past?
Example: the Soviet Union in 1970 would diagnose people as mentally ill if they went against communism.
What are some examples of a conflict with society being diagnosed as mental illness?
People used to be given counselling because they wanted to express themselves differently from the norm (sexuality, divorce etc). Homosexuality was a mental disorder till 1972. ADHD-is it a mental disorder or a societal problem? (90% of Ritalin is directed towards an American market)
How are mental disorders decided?
By people who vote to include it after some research is done. A lot end up being disorders because of a conflict between the individual and society
What is psychopathology?
Process and study of abnormal behaviour-what are the factors that bring about, maintain, and create abnormal behaviour? The structure of human mental health problems.
Why are some issues added into the DSM-5 even if they’re not necessarily a mental disorder? (But a psychogical problem instead)
Because some counselling agencies in the states require people to be diagnosed with a disorder before they get counselling (ex: Marriage counselling).
What separates depression from normal sadness?
Have to have 5/9 symptoms, with at least one of them being sadness persisting daily longer than two weeks, or anhedonia (inability to derive pleasure from life).
How many Canadians experience mental illness or addiction in a given year?
1/5 (but for uni students it’s double)
How many Canadians have had a mental illness by the time they reach 40 years of age?
1/2
What percentage of mental health problems have their onset during childhood?
70%
At what age are you more likely to experience mental illness or substance use disorder?
15-24
Which gender has higher rates of addiction, versus which has a higher rate of mood and anxiety disorders?
Men and women respectively- however, this gap is changing as gender roles change.
How much more likely are people in the low income group to report fair-poor mental health?
3-4 times. (lower education is also strongly tied)
How much higher is the mortality rate in people with mental disorders?
2.2 times that of people without.
How many years can mental illness cut off of a person’s life?
10-20 years
How many Canadian’s die per year by suicide?
4000 (11 per day)
How is the link between poverty and mental illness bidirectional?
We don’t know which causes which. Does poverty cause mental illness or does mental illness cause poverty?
What is the leading cause of disability in Canada?
Mental illness
How many Canadians are unable to work due to mental illness?
355000 disability due to mental disorders or behavioural issues, 175000 full-time workers absent due to mental illnesses
What is comorbidity?
The presence of more than 1 condition during the same period of time- more the rule than the exception.
What are epidemiologists currently looking at with regards to mental disorders?
The functional impairments rather than the absolute numbers, as the most severe disorders are concentrated in small segments of the general population
What is disease burden?
Extent of functional impairment and loss associated with mental health. Measured by combining mortality (premature death) and disability (lost years of a healthy life, years of living with disability).
What are health economics?
Costs to society associated with diseases (also associated with disease burden)
What percentage of the population has Schizophrenia?
1%, ages 17-30, men
What is the cognitive behavioural paradigm focused on?
Thinking
What are the 3 main principles of the cognitive behavioural paradigm?
1) Thinking affects emotions and behaviours
2) Thoughts can be monitored and changed
3) Altering thoughts can cause the person to experience desired emotional change
What are mental disorders heavily caused by?
How people cognitively appraise events (including internal ones)-Thoughts, behaviour and emotion in a triangular shape.
What ended in the 1990s?
Age of “deep theories” ended (an attempt to explain the entirety of human behaviour)
What are DALYs?
The years of regular living that you lose to mental disorder
What are garden variety disorders?
Thing that majority of people have-moderate levels of mental disorders that affect everyday functioning.
What percentage of disability do mental illnesses cause in developing countries?
47%
What was the total cost of mental illness in Canada in 2011?
51 billion
What is the bulk of mental illness costs related to?
Production loss-cost was around 20.7 billion in lost workers
What are the only mental disorders indicated by the physical brain structures (testable)?
Dementia and Alzheimers.
What 2 disorders are the greatest cause of death and disability?
Alzheimers and Drug use.
Which disorders hit people the hardest?
Anxiety and depression
Why is it so important to adopt a perspective?
- Easier to identify and treat mental disorders
- Research leads to discoveries on how to medicate, techniques, and ways of approaching disorders
- Helps to approach an element of consistency when approaching mental disorders
What is theory?
A way to gather data that is already available, arrive at an explanation as to why things are happening, make predictions on what else might be important in the field of study, suggest new methods
What happens if a theory cannot predict future outcomes?
Has to be thrown away or integrated in a new one
What makes a good theory?
Falsifiable-can be experimented with, proved wrong, testable.