Mental Health and Wellbeing Flashcards
Normality vs Abnormality
Given CIRCUMSTANCES, is this behaviour “Normal”? “Abnormal”? What about the TIME SPAN of this behaviour?
Normal: We like things that are average
Abnormal: We shun from deviations from average
Statistical Infrequency/Social Norms
If behaviour is deemed as abnormal, but then everyone/ more ppl start to do it, it eventually becomes normality
Sociocultural influences on how normality is viewed, as well as time, eg homosexuality
Personal Suffering
Humans vary in the was they handle things, its subjective
But not all abnormailty leads personal suffering
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychological disorders (DSM)
Naming of all kinds of psychological disorders
Why?
+Name for ur experience
+If there is a name, that means ur not alone in this experience– community
+If there is a name/label, possibilty of treatment?
-“Forcing” ppl in box,stripping of uniqueness, diagnosis becoming identity
-Self-fulfilling prophecy:label causes people to act the way people of that label are considered/expected to act
-Stigma: Image portrayed to fam, friends and urself– shame and dont seek help
Schizophrenia
Eugen Bleuler (1911) coined the term “schizophrenia”: A loss of harmony between various groups of mental functions
Positive Symptoms
What disorder adds to a person (doesnt mean positive things, just means addition)
Negtaive Symptoms
What disorder takes away from person
Delusions of thought (Positive symptoms of schizophrenia)
Insertion: You have thoughts but dont know where theyre coming from, theyre “not urs”, someones put them inside our head
Broadcast: Afraid ppl can hear what ur thinking
Withdrawal: belief that ones throughts are being removed
Control: Anbother entitiy is in control of your thoughts, emotions, reactions etc
Reference: Object/event is trying to tell you smthg, a reference to u. Cld be caused by u too
Anhedonia
Inability to experience pleasure
Alogia (negative symptomps of schizophrenia)
Poverty of speech content– issues with verbal fluency, reduced speech output
Behavioural seclusiveness (negative symptom schizophrenia)
Impaired social interactions
Diagnostic criteria
Criteria of symptoms to diagnose someone with a disorder
Hallucinations
perceptual experience that occurs in the bsencw of external stimulation (auditory hallucinations most common in those with schizophrenia)
Delusions
Beliefs that are contrary to reality and are firmly held even in the face of contradictory evidence (not just “odd belief”, it is clearly absurd)
Paranoid delusions
flase belief that other people or genicies are plotting to harm the person
Grandiose delusions
Belief that one hokds a specila power, uniqze knowldge or is extremely importatn. Belief of urself being smth much bigger eg King, Jesus. Cld result in ur doing v messed up things to prove u r
Causes of Schizophrenia: GENES
Both geenticvulnerability and envornmetal stress are necessary for schizpphrenia to develop, genes dont show entite pitcture
Causes of Schizophrenia: Dopamine Hypothesis
Durgs that increase the levels pf Neurotransmitter dopamine can produce schizoührenia like symptoms whereas those that block dopamine reduce the symptoms. Overabundance or too many dopamine receptorscoupd be cause on onset and maintenance of shcizophrenia
Causes of Schizophrenia : Brain anatomny
sxhizophrenia associated wiht loss of brain tisssue Redution in gray matter
Bipolar Disorder
Common features to schizophrenia and depression.
High and low moods, which can both be disabling.
Mania (extremnely unstable and euphoric mood with excess in energy amd acitvity, reckless behaviour and feeling of invincibility) and Depression (hopelessness, lose interest and pleasure in acitivites etc)
Expressed Emotion and Missattribution
Expressed Emotion: emotions and attitudes expressed by relatives/ caregivers towards a family member with schizophrenia –> being overinvolved, criticism, hostility
Missattribution: Defining person as the illness rather than as “having” the illness and blaming behavioral changes to person on them
Depression
More than sadness:
-dysfunctional, impairing daily life/functioning
-chronic
-outside socially and culturally accepted norms
More common in females:
-Rumination–> women generally internalize issues whereas men generally externalize (eg drug use)
-hormones
Cognitive Theory/ Attribution
(Theories of Depression)
Original behaviorla theory of learned hopelessness
Perceived lack of control over bad events
No matter what I do, this is an uncontrollable (negative) event –> passiveness –> no longer trying –> depression
Attribute negtaive events to themselves : stable, global and internal
whereas someone without depression: unstable, specific and external
Becks Cognitive theory of Depression
Theory of what he believes drives depression
1- Cognitive Triad
(Becks Cognitive theory of Depression)
Negatives views of self, your experiences and future
- Schemata
(Becks Cognitive theory of Depression)
Stable patterns with which we conceptualize the world
Smthg bad happens enough times you start to see and notice a “pattern” and this creates a negative “schemata”
- Faulty information processing /cognitive bias
(Becks Cognitive theory of Depression)
Arbitrary inference: drawing unjustified conclusions
Personalisation: assuming things/comments are direct at oneself (usually negative),even when they arent
Overgeneralisation: seeing things as “always” and “never”
Becks Depression Inventory (BDI)
Not a tool for diagnosis of depression, just a measure of severity
Suicidal Behaviour: Risk factors
Previous attempts
Family history of poor mental health
Personality disorders
Substance abuse
Bipolar disorder:
-unemployed
-Depression (rather than mania
-living alone (lacking social connections)
-male
LGBT
The integrated motivational-volitional model of suicidal behaviour
- Pre-motivational phase:
Environment and life events happen/ are not looking great. Not thinking of suicide just yet - Motivational phase:
Not coping well, problems continue, memory bias, thoughts about future, resilience and attitudes challeneged –> feeling defeated - Volitional phase:
Planning, access to means, impulsivity etc
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
Recurrent obsession which are not pleasurable, knowing that these are unreasonable. Consistently living with these obsessive thoughts despite knowing lengths that they have to go are unreasonable but is a viscious cycle–> behaviour has to be done to reduce anxiety. Behaviours can take up a lot of time and stress, hindering a person from going about their daily life/ activities and functioning