Issues in Mental Health Flashcards
What did the Christians (1000 BC) believe about the mentally ill and how were they treated?
Madness was a term for psychotic and neurotic illnesses and was seen as a punishment from god
It was recorded in the bible that music calmed the soul, perhaps the first documented treatment for madness
What do Modern day say about the mentally ill and how it should be treated?
Follow the medical model with mental health being diagnosed and treated.
Biological treatments such as drug therapy
What are the 4 definitions for abnormality?
Statistical Infrequency
Deviation from Social Norms
Failure to Function inadequately
Deviation from ideal mental health
What is statistical infrequency?
Behaviour is abnormal because it’s statistically rare
Argued that people 2 standard deviations above or below the mean are abnormal
What is a strength and weakness of statistical infrequency?
S= Objective (based on frequency of occurrence so no bias)
W= Arbitrary numbers (Numbers are made up and potentially meaningless)
What is deviation from social norms?
Someone that doesn’t follow the rules of what is acceptable behaviour in a society is considered abnormal
What are the 5 criteria that could affect social norms?
Culture Situation & Context Age Gender Historical Context
What is a strength and weakness of deviation from social norms?
S= Definition means it’s easy to identify who is behaving abnormally
W= What is deemed normal by a society changes all the time
What is failure to function adequately?
If someone is not functioning in a way that enables them to live independently then they are potentially failing to function adequately.
What is a strength and weakness of failure to function adequately?
S= gives a definition that takes into account how other people feel
W= Subjective as people have different ideas o what it means to function adequately
What is deviation from the Ideal Mental Health?
Defines dysfunctional behaviour by determining if the behaviour the individual is displaying is affecting their mental well being
What is a strength and weakness of deviation from ideal mental health?
S= only definition which attempts to define what is normal / ideal
W= What is classed as ideal is subjective
What are the 2 main approaches of categorising mental illness?
ICD (International classification of diseases)
DSM (diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders)
What do the 2 main approaches of categorising mental illness do?
Give a list of symptoms which indicate a certain disorder
They have categories and are always updated to keep up with societal norms
What is a controversy of the ICD and DSM?
Some people think they cause harm by labelling illnesses
What is the key research for historical context of mental health?
Rosenhan
What is the aim of Rosenhan’s study?
Rosenhan wanted to get the reliability of the diagnosis of mental disorders
How many experiments was Rosenhan made up of?
3
In experiment one of Rosenhan’s study, what did the pseudo patients say they could hear the voices saying?
Empty
Hollow
Thud
What did the pseudo patients do once admitted?
Acted normally
Didn’t swallow any medication
Took notes on their ward of other patients
Could only leave when discharged
Who was actually being tested in Rosenhan’s first experiment?
People in the hospital
What is one finding from Rosenhan’s first experiment?
11 admitted for schizophrenia and 1 for bipolar
Why did rosenhan get those results in experiment one?
bias towards calling a healthy person sick (TYPE 1 error)
What happened in experiment 2 of Rosenhan’s study?
Staff at a research and teaching hospital doubted rosenhan’s findings and thought they’d be able to identify a pseudopatient so rosenhan tested it.
