Mental Health Flashcards
Mental Health
A state of emotional and social wellbeing in which an individual realises their own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and can contribution to their community
Mental Health Problem
A mental health problem adversely affects the way a person thinks, feels and/or behaves, but typically to a lesser extent and of a shorter duration than a mental disorder.
Examples of mental health problems include sadness associated with grief and symptoms associated with stress.
Mental Disorder (Diagnosable)
a mental health state that involves a combination of thoughts, feelings and/or behaviours which are usually associated with significant personal distress and impair the ability to function effectively in everyday life.
The essential characteristics of a mental disorder (use the 3D’s)
- The disorder occurs within the individual and results from dysfunction within the individual
- There is clinically diagnosable dysfunction in thoughts, feelings and/or behaviour.
- Causes significant personal distress or disability in functioning in everyday life
Two Type of Factors (Mental Health)
Internal factors: are influences that originate inside or within a person such as genetics, beliefs, attitudes, ability to deal with stress, the way a person thinks etc
External factors: are influences that originate outside a person such as social relationships, social support available, education levels, housing etc
Internal Factors (Mental Health)
Biological factors involve physiologically based or determined influences often not under our control such as the genes we inherit, whether we are male or female or substance use
Psychological factors involve influences associated with mental processes such as beliefs, attitudes, ways of thinking
External Factors (Mental Health) Examples
Examples of external factors that can influence mental health include school and work, the amount and type of support available from others when needed, exposure to stressors, level of education, level of income and/or housing
Characteristics of a Mentally Healthy Person
These include:
- High levels of functioning
- Social and emotional wellbeing
- Resilience to life stressors
High levels of functioning (Characteristic)
People with a high level of functioning tend to be/have:
- successful relationships with others
- productive at school/work and achieving goals
- control of their emotions, both positive and negative emotions.
Someone with high levels of functioning will show adaptive behaviour (adapting to the demands of daily living relatively independently)
Social Wellbeing (Characteristic)
Social well-being refers to our sense of ‘wellness’ or how well we feel about our relationships and interactions with others.
A person with high levels of social wellbeing would be able to:
- develop and maintain healthy relationships with family and friends
- socially interact with others in appropriate ways
- respect and understand other individuals
Emotional Wellbeing (Characteristic)
Emotional wellbeing refers to our ability to control emotions and express them appropriately and comfortably.
A person with high levels of emotional wellbeing is able to:
- develop awareness and understanding of their own emotions
- regulate their emotions and exercise control when appropriate
- accept mistakes or setbacks and learn from them
- take responsibility for their actions
Resilience (Characteristic)
Resilience is the ability to cope with and adapt well to life stressors and restore positive functioning (‘bounce back’).
It can be shown through adjusting to the stressor (accepting it) or through overcoming the stressor (addressing and fixing the issue)
People described as resilient usually display characteristics like:
- a strong belief in their abilities to accomplish tasks and succeed
- high self-esteem
- approaching change and stress with optimism and opportunity
- adaptability and flexibility in life
Ethical Implications (Mental Health Problems/Disorders)
People with mental health problems or disorders are particularly vulnerable research participants as they may have one or more cognitive impairments that reduce their capacity to make decisions and judgments about their participation in the research, making them more susceptible to harm in the particular circumstances of the research.
Informed Consent (Mental Health Problems/Disorders)
Someone with a mental disorder might be vulnerable to giving informed consent without fully comprehending what that means or involves as they may have one or more cognitive impairments that diminish their capacity to make a decision about their participation in research.
Ethical Issues in using Placebos
The main issue with using placebo treatments in mental health research is that sometimes patients in the control group have to stop taking their active medication or therapy to take a placebo instead. This can be harmful for patients as it could mean that their symptoms reappear or their mental health condition becomes worse in the absence of the real medication or therapy they would normally be using.