Issues In Mental Health Flashcards
Name the four historical views
-supernatural
-humorism
-psychoanalysis
-somatogenic hypothesis
Describe the supernatural view
Mental health conditions were due to devils that needed to be released from the body
What was a treatment for the supernatural view
Trepanning- drilling a hole into the skull to allow the demons to escape
Describe the humorism view
Mental issues were a result of unbalanced bodily fluids (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile) in a person since mental is a response to physical
What is a treatment for the humorism view
Bloodletting- cutting veins causing blood to leave body to restore the balance
Describe the psychoanalysis view
Mental illness is caused by psychological factors within unconscious mind so would require help to access the issue
What is a treatment for the psychoanalysis view
Psychoanalysis- talking therapy to connect with the unconscious mind
Describe the somatogenic view
Mental illness was due to brain disruption, neurotransmitter levels focus
What is a treatment in the somatogenic view
Electronvulsive therapy- electron current in the brain
Define abnormality
-deviation from social norms by not abiding by social behaviours
-failure to function adequately as not holding a job, relationship, money, interact effectively
Evaluate the definitions of abnormal
-deviation-
can lead to political control to section people
legal systems introduce new laws preventing deviation
era dependant since dif gen have dif views
ethnocentrism as dif cultures will have dif view
-failure to dunction-
may represent normal behviour if disabled ect
ethnocentric as may look dif in dif cultures
What two manuals are used to categorise mental health issues
DSM- united states
ICD- united kingdom
What is the issue of the two main diagnostic manuals
lack of scientific objectivity
ethnocentric
Evaluate the validity of diagnosing mental disorders
-language barriers can led to misdiagnosis
-stigma on mental health can lead to no diagnosis
-cultural relativism/ ethnocentrisims as dif cultures diagnose dif
-gender biases as open to interpretation to diagnose same symptons in male or female
Evaluate the reliability of diagnosing mental disorders
Consistency if it can produce similar results when used again
inter-rater reliability between two psychologists
test-retest seeing does the same person consistently receive the same diagnosis over time
State aim, research method and participants of Rosenhans study
test hyp that psychiatrists cannot reliably tell the difference between sane and insane
Field study in naturalistic env using participant observation
12 psychiatric hospitals across 5 states in america
sending 8 pseudo patients
Explain procedure 1 and 2 of Rosenhans study
pt1- pseudo patients admit themselves to hospital giving false name and job with same symptoms of hearing voices saying “thud, hallow, empty” linking to existential symptoms, all other life experiences kept same. patients had to leave hospital on their own means. when admitted they drop all acts of insanity, saying no longer had the symptoms. wrote notes of their observation
pt2- hospital though pseudo patients were coming so rated each patient as if they were sane or insane
What shows the reliability and validity of diagnostic testing in rosenhans study
all symptoms given by pseudo patients were not at all mentioned in the DSM, so the disorders given as schizophrenia and bipolar had not one clear symptom indicating they had it, showing diagnosing is not valid since DSM does not accurately measure what its set out since misdiagnosed
7 patients were given schizophrenia and 1 given bipolar diagnosis, shows unreliability since all has same symptoms but the diagnosis not the same so not consistent diagnosis, showing how diagnosing is subjective and open to interpretation
What was the average amount of days pseudo patients stayed in the hospitals
19 day on everage
Explain the effect of being diagnosed linking to mental health after leaving the hospital
the stickiness of labels shown as even once able to leave they are labeled as schizophrenic in remission
Explain how others saw the sanity
other insane patients recognised the pseudo patients as sane and yet the staff trained did not recognise it, shows the low level of recognition of their patients
Explain events showing the stickiness of labels within the hospital
pseudo patients normal behaviour was seen as aspects of their illness
pacing due to bordem= nervous behaviour
having a notebook= engaging in writing behaviour
waiting for lunch= oral acquisitive syndrome
Explain how Rosenhan compares the groups results
To see if the response to a simple question is affected by the percieved characteristics of the person asking.
university- all requests were acknowledged + responded
hospital- ignored + felt invisible, rarely stopped leading to depersonalisation
What did the pseudo patients notice about staff behvaiour
10% of time was spent with patient 90% stayed in ward office
medical staff pent under 7 minutes a day
cleaners would be physically aggressive and swear in full view of patients
no doors on bathrooms
other patients medication flushed down toilet
Give quantitative data from Rosenhans study
num of patients suspected wrongly by one psychiatrist and one other staff member- 19 people
Give a conclusion for Rosenhans study
Psychiatrist are unable to reliably identify sane pseudo patients
Psychiatrist fail to reliably detect insanity
within insane environment all behaviour is perceived as a distorted manner, giving stickiness of label
Define anxiety, affective and psychotic disorders
anxiety- continuous feeling of fear which has a negative impact on daily life
affective- illness effecting mood on a persistant way
psychotic- losing contact with reality
Define anxiety
anticipation of a future concern and is associated with muscle tension and avoidant behaviours
Give some characteristics of an anxiety disorder
situation is age inappropriate
hinder ability to function normallu
provokes immediate anxiety
high level of persistant distress
how long must the characteristics of an anxiety disorder be present for
6 months or more
Define depression disorder
illness that negatively effects how you feel, think and act
Give some characteristics of depression
-depressed mood
-loss of interest of once enjoyed activities
change in appetite
trouble in sleep
loss of energy + fatigue
difficulty thinking
negative thoughts
feeling guilty
How long must characteristics of depression be prevalent for
2 weeks, patient must display 5 symptoms at least 1 must be main
Define schizophrenia disorder
brain disorder causing hallucinations trouble thinking and emotions
Give some characteristic of schizophrenia
positive (in addition to normal situation)- hallucinating auditory or visual, paranoid delusions
negative (loss of normal function) - decrease in ability to express emotion
Disorganisation- confused thinking or speech, trouble with logic
impaired congnition- problems with attention, concentration or memory
Define biomedical model
Define biochemical model
medical- biological reasons for mental disorders, assumes mental disorder can be understood as illness in the same as physical,
chemical- chemical reasons for mental disorders in neurotransmitters become imbalanced
What are the two chemical explanations for mental disorders
the monoamine hypothesis of depressions
the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia
What are the three biomedical explanation for mental disorders
genetic explanation for mental disorders
brain abnormality and depression
brain abnormality schizophrenia
Explain the monoamine hypothesis of depression
-after a stressful event there is reduction in serotonin -levels
-disregulated dopamine and noradrenalin levels
-low mood symptom of depression
Explain the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia
different parts of the brains are responsible for different symptoms of SZ:
-high levels of dopamine in lower areas of the brain responsible for speech, can cause auditory hallucinations
-reduced levels of dopamine in prefrontal cortex is responsible for thinking and decision making, this can cause incoherent thoughts or speech
Explain the genetic explination
monozygotic twins 58% concordance of having disorder when parent or sibling has
dizygotic twins 12% concordance of having disorder when parent or sibling has
what does the proof of genetic explanation support
nature-supports biological relation due to concordance rate
nurture- not 100% for genetics so environmental factors must play a part
Explain brain abnormality and depressions
frontal lobes responsible for thinking have a smaller volume in depressed patients found by MRI scan
amygdala regulates emotions which are disrupted leading to symptoms of depressions
Explain brain abnormality schizophrenia
left hemisphere of brain does not function properly
force applied with the left and right hand, given antipsychotic medication
untreated group were weaker in right hand though not in the left (cross lateral)
after treatment they were stronger in both
Explain the results of gottesman resulsts
risk of developing schizophrenia if both parents had disorder 27.3% - super high risk
risk of developing schizophrenia if one parent had disorder 7%
if both parents have SZ there is 67% risk of developing another psychotic disorder
what is the sample of gottesman
2.6 million people in Denmark
both parents with disorder, one parent with disorder, neither parents (control), no data available
aim of gottesman
to investigate the genetic transmission of psychological disorders if both parents have the same disorder
What can you conclude about the results in gottsemans study
findings provide evidence to support the genetic explanation of mental illness.
useful and informative
Evaluate gottsemans study in Generalisibilty, reliability and ethics
ethnocentric- sample only from Denmark, so not rep of other cultures, we don’t know the impact of genetics in other countries
large sample- 2.6 million so representative of Denmark
quantitative data incr ext, use of data base can be checked for consistency in future,
doesn’t break any ethical guidelines. socially sensitive exploring reasons for mental health
Link debates to gottesmans study
nature/nurture= both
indiv/sit=both
determinism= genetics are inherited
reductionism= doesn’t take into account env, behaviour is simplified to genetics
psych as science= quant, advanced tech, brain scans, objective
useful= genetic counsellers, ethno so limited
Explain biological treatments for schizophrenia
-ECT therapy, electrodes placed on head and shock to decrease blood flow and metabolism in temporal lobes, reactivates certain areas of the brain
-Drug therapy, chemo, assuming there is a chemical imbalance in brain
Give evaluation of biological treatments for schizophrenia
ECT:
effective treatment, quicker than drugs
unethical, protection from harm, side effects, memory loss, traumatic
Drug therapy:
effective treatment, prevents being institutionalised
dependant on medical regime, unethical as doesn’t help patient just reduces symptoms
What is the behaviourist approach and its link to mental illness
we are all born as blank slates, all behaviour is learnt through classical conditioning, opernat and social learning theory
all mental illnesses are learnt and maintained and reinforced
What is the cognitive approach and its link to mental illness
the human mind is like a computer, inputing information, processing and outputting behaviour
all mental illness are result of faulty processing
What is the psychodynamic approach and its link to mental illness
all behaviour stems from early childhood experiences, as our thoughts and feelings are influenced by our unconscious mind
mental illness is influenced due to trauma
Explain classical conditioning (equations)
-behviourist
before learning—-> unconditioned stimulus gives natural response
during leaning —–> unconditioned stimulus + neutral stimulus gives unconditioned response
after learning ——> conditioned stimulus gives conditioned response
this can cause phobias
explain operant conditioning
-behviourist
humans learn by consequence and reinforcement
when a person gambles and wins it will be habit
Explain maintaining disorders
-behviourist
negative reinforcement is removal of distressing experience
so if someone avoids their phobia it is never dealt with, so reinforces their phobia
What theory did Beck put forward
-cognitive
negative cognitive triad
-ve view on self, on world and future
occurs in a person with depression
during faulty processing
cognitive approach
Explain a psychodynamic explanation for behaviours
unconscious memories and feelings we have will manifest into abnormal behaviours and personality disorders
Explain unresolved conflicts
-psycho dynamic
unconscious feelings arise from unresolved conflicts experienced as a child
id ego super ego will have effect in behviours too muhc
Explain cold rejecting mothers
-psychodynamic
treatment causes an ineffective ego so id cant be controlled, id takes over leading to a loss of contact with reality as the person doesn’t know difference between reality and fantasies as they return to a child like state when older
link to schizophrenia
Explain the key points of szasz research
-fifty years of change in mental health
-mental or legal concept
-perspective on human life
-MI in eye of beholder
-MI doesnt make them a patient
What are the conclusions of szasz research
psychiatry is a pseudoscience
MI is a myth
MI is now a legal concept as gov funded
MI is in eye of beholder
people should have right and liberty of their own lives, be active players
over 5o years more medicalised + politicised
there are alternatives to medical model
Evaluate szazs work
no data from participants so free from ethical issues.
his beliefs about mental illness controversial and socially sensitive.
MI is in social context so nurture and situational debates
holism, looking at whole person not just genetics
unscientific
free will all people should be active players in their life
usefulness in academic knowledge
Explain a non biological treatment for one disorder
systematic desensitisation for phobias
aim to gradually get the individual to face their phobias, replacing their fear response with calmness
stage 1- deep relaxation: breathing tech + imagery
stage 2- told to imagine situation that create anxiety, forming hierarchy
stage 3- exposure to hierarchy using relaxation tech before proceeding further
Support the non biological treatment
little girl with specific fear of loud noises, did the three stages, her ratings changed on final session:
7 to 3 for balloons and for 9 to 3 for party poppers
effective treatment for phobias
