Mental Health Flashcards
Mental Health Problem
When difficulties experienced by a person are mild, temporary and able to be treated within a relatively short period of time
Mental Health
State of emotional and social well being in which individuals realise their own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and can contribute to their community
Mental illness
Psychological dysfunction that usually involves impairment in coping ability with feelings and behaviours that are atypical and inappropriate within their culture
Psychological dysfunction
Breakdown in cognitive, emotional and/or behavioural functioning, interfering with ability to adjust to challenges of everyday life.
Normal
A behaviour is normal when it helps a person to assimilate appropriately into their society and culture and to function independently as expected for their age
Abnormal
When a behaviour is statistically unusual, is not socially approved, causes distress to the person or interferes with an individual’s ability to function
Socio-Cultural approach to normality
Behaviour that is accepted in a particular society or culture, but not in others
Historical approach to normality
Behaviour that is accepted, however it depends on the period of time
Situational approach to normality
Behaviour that is accepted in a particular situation
Medical approach to normality
Abnormal behaviour is a biological cause and can be diagnosed and treated
Statistical approach to normality
Any behaviour characteristic in a large group of individuals is distributed in a particular way; that is, the normal distribution
Functional approach to normality
Normal behaviours help the individual function in society
Classification
Organising items into groups based on their shared characteristics
Categorical approaches
Organises mental disorders into categories, each with specific symptoms and characteristics
DSM-IV
Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders
Categorical system for diagnosing and classifying mental disorders based on recognisable symptoms that are precisely described for each disorder
Symptoms
Prognosis
Progression of symptoms
Prevalence
Prognosis
Outlook for patient in long term
Diagnostic criteria
Indicates symptoms that are characteristic of the disorder, therefore enabling assessment of the prescience of the disorder
Inclusions criteria
Symptoms that must be present for the disorder to be diagnosed
Exclusion criteria
Symptoms that must not be present for the disorder to be diagnosed
Polythetic criteria
Only some symptoms must be present in order for the disorder to be diagnosed
Axis I of DSM IV
Clinical disorders and other conditions that may be a focus of clinal attention
Describes all mental disorders
Axis II if DSM IV
Personality disorders and intellectual disabilities
Personality disorders
Pattern of inflexible and maladaptive ways of think, feeling and behaving that are often socially unacceptable and have been evident over a long period of time
Eg antisocial personality disorder
Intellectual disabilities
Significantly below average level on intellectual functioning
Difficulty in coping with everyday life
Eg. Dependent personality disorder
Axis III of DSM IV
General medical conditions that are not mentally based
Axis IV of DSM IV
Psychosocial and environmental problems
Potential stressors in everyday life
Can speed up development / worsen disease
Eg. Divorce, debt, trauma, losing a job…
Axis V of DSM IV
Global assessment of functioning
GAF
Assesses individual’s overall level of psychological, social and occupational function
Out of 100
Lower score=worse
ICD 10
International classification of diseases and related health problems
Categorical system for diagnosing and classifying disease and mental disorders based on recognisable symptoms
Dimensional approach
Quantifies an individuals symptoms/characteristics into a numerical value and is compadre with ‘statistically normal’ expected values
Graded dimensional approach
Giving a score out of 100 for their functioning
Diagnosis at a particular point in time
Transitional approach
Giving person several questionnaires/ assessments over time to assess change in mental health
MMPI
Scaled based on dimensional approach
Biopsychosocial model
Holistic approach to considering physical and mental health interns of the dynamic interaction and integration of biological, psychological and social factors