Mental Health- Alternatives to the medical model Flashcards
Behaviourist Explanation
Which kind of disorder can you apply behaviourism to?
Affective, Psychotic, Anxiety?
Anxiety disorders (phobias)
Behaviourist Explanation
What are the DSM symptoms of anxiety disorders?
- Person recognises it is ridiculous/ excessive
- Stimulus triggers immediate repsonse
- Avoiding stimulus affects every day routine
If under 18, have to have had consistent symptoms for 6 months
Behaviourist Explanation
What is Mowrer’s Two Process theory?
Used behaviourism to identify the initiation of phobias and their maintenance
Behaviourist Explanation
How does initiation of a phobia occur due to classical conditioning?
- Neutral stimulus is associated with unpleasant experience- fear elicits conditional response
Behaviourist Explanation
How does maintenance of a phobia occur due to operant conditioning?
They’re maintained through negative reinforcement- stay away from object= a drop in anxiety levels
Behaviourist Explanation
How can the social learning theory be used to explain phobias?
Observing a role model who is acting scared= vicarious reinforcement
* adult may get attention from acting scared (positive outcome)= more likely to imitate anxious repsonse and gain attention
Cognitive Explanation
Which disorder does the cognitive explanation apply to?
Affective disorders (depression)
Cognitive Explanation
What is Beck’s cognitive triad?
Patients with depression make a series of cognitive errors- a pessimistic and irrational view that the patients hold about:
* The self- worthlessness feelings
* The future- negative future
* The world- negative situation
Cognitive Explanation
What is over-generalisation?
Viewing one unfortunate event as part of a never-ending defeat/ struggle
Cognitive Explanation
What is filtering?
Giving greater consideration and focus to negative aspects- ignoring positive ones
Cognitive Explanation
What is catastrophisation?
Make mountains out of mole hills- situation is worse than it actually is
Cognitive Explanation
What is dichotomous thinking?
All-or-nothing thinking- world viewed in black and white
Humanist Explanation
What are the assumptions of the humanist approach?
- Individuals have freewill to determine their own good mental health through positive thinking/ self-actualisation
- It rejects the reductionist ideas mental health problems are down to purely one factor
Humanist Explanation
What is Maslow’s Hierarchy?
A theory of what factors stimulate us to behave the way we do day to day- needs must be met for adequate function
Humanist Approach
Who is Carl Rogers?
Founder of the Humanist Approach
Humanist Approach
What is Carl Rogers most famous for agreeing with?
Maslow’s Hierarchy and self-actualisation
Humanist Approach
What does self-actualisation mean?
Fulfillment of one’s potential - needing a supportive environment to reach
Humanist Approach
What does self-conceptualisation?
How you view yourself
Humanist Approach
How can Carl Roger’s theory be explained in relation to mental illness?
Someone who has a negative self-conceptualisation (depression) fails to reach self-actualisation
Szasz
What is the general aim of Szasz’s research?
To challenge the concept of mental illness and reject the image of helpless patients, in terms of restricting their lives
Humanist Approach
What Szasz claim about mental health as a medical or legal concept?
Regular changes in what constitutes a mental illness demonstartes that mental illness is just a made-up conceptthat can be changed when society deems it necessary to redefine ‘abnormal behaviour’
e.g. homosexuality
Humanist Approach
What did Szasz argue about how mental illness is a metaphor?
‘Mental Health’ conditions are being used to explain symptoms/ behaviours that are likely due to other medical (bodily) illnesses that have been missed
Humanist Approach
What did Szasz say about how having an illness should not make someone a patient (helpless)?
The creation of the label of ‘schizophrenia’ has justified negative conceptualisation, enabling suicide as opposed to self-actualisation
Humanist Approach- BSD
Which of the behaviourist theories of learning does Systematic Desensitisation rely on?
Classical Conditioning (unconditioned response, stimulus, conditioned response)
Humanist Approach- BSD
What is meant by counter conditioning?
Patient is taught a new association that runs counter (opposite) to original one- they’re taught through classical conditioning to associate phobic stimulus with new response
Humanist Approach- BSD
What are the 4 stages of Systematic Desensitisation?
- Functional Analysis- patient and therapist discuss to discover reasons for, how and which phobias they’re scared of
- Construction of an Anxiety Hierarchy- Therapist and patient develop hierarchy of phobic situations together
- Relaxation Training- Teach patient relaxation techniques- self hypnosis, breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation
- Gradual Exposure- patient is gradually exposed to fear, starting with least threatening thought, followed by teaching how to relax around the fear
