Mental Health - Historical Context, Medical model and Alternatives

Question 1

Historical context - Animism?

Answer 1

.Mental illness caused by evil spirits.

.Treatment = creating holes in skull to release evil spirits.

Question 2

Historical context - Humourism?

Answer 2

.Body made up of 4 bodily humours; Blood, Phlegm, Yellow Bile and Black Bile.
.Illness = imbalance with humours
.Treatment = restoring balance, Diets, Purgatives, Bloodletting and Sexual abstinence.

Question 3

Historical context - Animalism?

Answer 3

.Illness - Individual losing reason thus no longer distinguishing them from animals.
.Treatment = restore reason, through fear; chaining, scalps shaven, whipped and Bled.

Question 4

Historical context - What was Rosenhan and Seligman’s 4 definition’s of abnormality?

Answer 4

.Statistical infrequent behaviour
.Failure to function adequately (live a normal life)
.Deviate from societies norms
.Deviation from Ideal mental Health

Question 5

What is the DSM - 5 ?

Answer 5

.Diagnostic and Statistic Manuel - used for identifying Mental illness in USA.
.22 different categories including, sleeping, eating and OCD.
.For each disorder includes; Diagnostic criteria, gender differences and cultural differences.

Question 6

Rosenhan study - Background / aim ?

Answer 6

. See if mental hospitals in 60’s could tell sane from insane.

Question 7

Rosenhan study - Sample ?

Answer 7

Study 1 - 8 Sane participants

Study 2 - 0

Question 8

Rosenhan study - Procedure ?

Answer 8

Study 1 -
.Send 8 patients to appointments, reported hearing voices.
.went into hospital and stopped Simulating symptoms, all the time writing notes about ward staff and patients.
.Before being released after 7 - 52 days.
Study 2 -
.Told hospital one or more Pseudopatients would be admitted, however none where.
.Staff rated on scale fo 1 - 10 how likely they were to be a Pseudo patient.

Question 9

Rosenhan study - Results ?

Answer 9

Study 1 -
.Sanity not detected by staff.
.Normal behaviours like not taking, interpreted as sings of mental illness
Study 2 -
.41/ 193 patients judged as pseudopatients by one member of staff, 23, by a psychologist, and 19 by both.

Question 10

What are the characteristics of an effective disorder eg Depression under DSM - 5 ?

Answer 10

5 or more of these symptoms for 2 weeks -

.Insomnia, Depressed mood, restlessness, Fatigue, suicidal thoughts, lack of concentration.

Question 11

What are the characteristics of an Psychotic disorder eg Schizophrenia under DSM - 5 ?

Answer 11

2 or more of symptoms for 1 month -

.delusions, Hallucinations, Disorganised speech, Disorganised,

Question 12

What are the characteristics of an Anxiety disorder eg Phobia under DSM - 5 ?

Answer 12

.Strong persistent irrational fear.

.three phobias; Specific phobia, agoraphobia (open spaces), Social phobia.

Question 13

What is the Biochemical explanation of mental illness?

Answer 13

.Depression = low serotonin, meaning the messages can’t be transmitted across a synapse.
.Schizofrenia = excess of dopamine
.Treatment - Restoring normal levels of neurotransmitters.

Question 14

What is the Genetic explanation of mental illness?

Answer 14

.Suggests disorders are carried from parents to children.
.evolutionary theory, further suggests phobias eg of snakes are genetic due to allowing someone to survive longer.
.Treatment = embryo manipulation

Question 15

What is the Brain abnormality explanation of mental illness?

Answer 15

.Differences in Brain causing mental illness
eg depression; Smaller hippocampal volume
.Treatment = Drug therapy / surgery

Question 16

Gottesman study - Background / aim ?

Answer 16

To investigate in a large sample the probability of a child getting a disorder if the parents have it.

Question 17

Gottesman study - Sample ?

Answer 17

.2.5M / Anyone in Denmark / aged 10 - 52

Question 18

Gottesman study - procedure ?

Answer 18

Created 4 groups of people . -

1. Both parents admitted to psychiatric hospital
2. One parent admitted to psychiatric hospital
3. No parents admitted to psychiatric hospital
4. General public with no data available for their parents

Question 19

Gottesman study - Results ?

Answer 19

Percentage of people admitted to Psychiatric hospital in groups.
1 - Schizofrenia 27.3% / Bipolar 24.9%
2 - Schizofrenia 7% / Bipolar 4.4%
3 - Schizofrenia 0.86% / Bipolar 0.48%
4 - Schizofrenia 1.12% / Bipolar 0.63%

Question 20

What is the Behaviourist explanation of mental illness?

Answer 20

.Classical conditioning - Neutral stimulus becomes associated with unconditional stimulus that produces eg fear, thus creating fear in the neutral stimulus.
.Operant conditioning - Positive/ negative reinforcement shapes behaviour.
.Social learning theory - Child may copy someone who is already phobic

Question 21

What Is the cognitive explanation of mental illness?

Answer 21

Negative cognitive triad - assumes mental illness is caused by faulty or irrational thinking process, suggests a person will seek out negative reinforcement of their beliefs.
Faulty cognitions - Negative thoughts/ unrealistic expectations cause and sustain mental disorders.
Unrealistic expectations which when not met cause depression.
Treatments = Change negative thoughts and replace with realistic ones

Question 22

What is the Humanistic / Pyschodynamic explanation of mental illness?

Answer 22

.Unconscious memories will manifest in our behaviour.
.Conflict between ID Ego and Super Ego, or Ego defence mechanisms can cause mental illness.
Treatment = Bring unconscious conflicts and thoughts to conscious mind to be resolved.

Question 23

What is the behaviourist application?

Answer 23

.Systematic desensitisation - gradually introducing them to the stimulus while calming them.
.Flooding - introducing the stimulus all at once
.Introducing a sick drug while they drink alcohol so they associate sickness with alcohol.

Question 24

What is the cognitive application?

Answer 24

Rational emotional therapy - 
.Identifying the problem eg phobia 
.Identifying the belief causing this 
.Consequences 
.Disputing 
.Effects