Lecture 7 Psych Med (Mental disorders)

Question 1

Why is the concept of mental disorders controversial? I mean, yeah, there is no biological base but expand on this (4)

Answer 1

1. There is no independent biological test that can definitively tell us whether this person has a disorder or not
2. The mental disorders are defined by a cluster of mostly self-reported symptoms and many of these aren’t obvious to observers so like, it makes us iffy about whether they exist. Like the guy in the tute - he seemed super normal but had anxiety
3. People are uncomfortable with the concept of mental disorders because if mental disorders are something really different from normal functioning then where do you draw the line for abnormality?
4. People who don’t understand mental disorders think that the suffers are somehow responsible for their disorder

Question 2

What is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders?

What has it allowed and why is it criticised?

Answer 2

DSM is the standardisation criteria for mental disorders. It is a diagnostic system that we will use.

It has allowed research into mental disorder epidemiology.

It has been criticised because of the increasing number of disorders with each edition of DSM (the actual number of ppl hasn’t gone up but the disorders have - mostly because of the refined criteria and split of groups)

There is unease about it because of the high prevalence of mental disorders from the survey. We don’t bat an eyelid about heart problem prevalance being 40-50% but have such resistance to mental disorder prevalance being so high

Question 3

What are the four major categories of mental disorders? Plus….

Answer 3

1. Mood disorders (depressive and bipolar)
2. Anxiety disorders; OCD and PTSD
3. Substance related disorders
4. Schizophrenia and psychotic disorders

Also have like eating disorders etc

Question 4

Go read John Kirwan’s experience about dealing with depression

Answer 4

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Question 5

Impact of mental disorders:

1. Is it less than or greater than the impact of a chronic physical condition?
2. Why do mental disorders impact so much? (2)

Answer 5

The impact of mental disorders is equal to or greater than a chronic physical condition. This is because it affects the very mental processes that we use to adjust to life’s demands. Mental disorders affect the brain and the way it functions so the way we are normally able to adapt is changed. They also affect heaps if they occur at early adulthood because they can alter life’s trajectory. There’s also this stigma and shame around them

Question 6

The etiology of mental disorders

What two things cause a mental disorder?

Answer 6

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