Mental Illness Flashcards
mental illness
you compare the person with an average member of a community and see how they differ.
4 recurring themes of mental illness/abnormal behavior
1) harmful behavior (behavioral that is harmful to the individual themselves or ideas of harming others)
2) unrealistic thoughts and perceptions (abnormal perceptions or false beliefs)
3) inappropriate emotions (experience of emotions aren’t congruent with the environment)
4) unpredictable behavior (categorized as sudden mood shifts between clashing emotions)
early approaches to treatment of mental illness
psychological approach: suggests mental illness arises from emotions like stress, grief, fear, anxiety, and other negative emotions
tactics (humanistic) to treat mental illness could be giving support and love
attempts to analyze the thoughts and behaviors of the individual (analyzes dreams and correlates with what symptoms are showing)
natural law: individuals suffering from mental illness are reaping the consequences of a previous sin
Supernatural Approach
believed mental illness was a result of demonic forces invading the body and mind
believed in sympathetic magic
1) homeopathic: the belief that actions done to a model or image of a person would affect the actual person (voodoo doll)
2) contagious magic: an item that was part of or close to a person could have influence on them even if they were apart
treatments were medicine man who would perform different rituals/practices to treat that person (herbal/dances/trephination)
the return of supernatural approach: witch hunts of 1450 to 1750
witch hunts occurred between 1450 and 1750 with legal persecution of witches being enforced
symptoms that had unknown causes were deemed to be the result of witchcraft, resulting with many people with mental illness being persecuted as witches
mental illness during the renaissance
witch hunts were still rampant during the time of the renaissance, and many people with mental illness were thought to be bewitched, resulting in a lot of individuals being put in hospitals called “lunatic asylums”
patients were often beaten, given little food, chained up, received bloodletting, and were a circus show
Philippe Pinel 1745 - 1826
came from a family of physicians
became interested in mental illness because his friend was afflicted and Pinel could not treat him
in 1793, he was appointed as director of the Bicetre Asylum
he wanted all prisoners to be unchained. the first person he released from chains was convicted of killing a guard and of being a violent person, but when unchained, he was completely normal
he maintained case studies detailed medical records for patients and records of individual progress
Pinel’s success
he was appointed as a director of La Salpetriere, the largest asylum in Europe, housing 8000 women
he implemented the same procedures there
he was given a hero’s funeral, which was attended by many influential people
Benjamin Rush
surgeon general in the army under George Washington and one of the original signers of the DOI
modern human rights activists (abolished slavery, public humiliation of offenders, advocated for the education of women, greater emphasis on practical education)
he argued that prisoners should never be on display for amusement and curiosity
promoted humane treatment of mentally ill in the US
He wanted prisoners to walk around and to be able to be outside in their institutions.
Dorothea DIx
school teacher, but due to illness, she started teaching part time at a Boston prison.
she started a campaign to improve the conditions of prisons for the mentally ill
she brought reform to 18 states and the prison systems within them
visited with Queen Victoria and Pope Pius the 8th
convinced them that these people were in dire need of better treatment
Emil Kraepelin
german psychiatrist and did his postdoctoral with Wundt
attempted to do for mental disorders what Wundt had done for sensations - CLARIFY THEM
in 1883, he published a list of mental disorders
it was adopted all over the world and has lasted until recent times
classifications based on mental disease on what caused them, how much they involved the brain and nervous system, their symptoms and their treatment
the DSM was a direct descendant of Kraepelin’s earlier work
Psychopharmacology
ancient Egyptians, greeks, romans, chinese, and arabic physicians used alcohol, opium, and hemp
Kraepelin was among the first to systematically study the effects of drugs on the various cognitive and behavioral functions
while wind’s lab, he studied the effects of “poisons” on various mental functions
Lightner Witmer
earned doctorate under Wundt
training coincided with Titchner’s
he became a charter member of the APA
started teaching courses for public school teachers
believed psychology should provide practical information which is when he started his career as a clinical and school psychologist
made big progress for those with special needs
founder of clinical psychology
Franz Mesmer 1734- 1815: hypnotism
animal magnetism: a hypothetical force that is evenly distributed through the bodies of healthy people and unevenly in unhealthy people
claimed magnets could cure the mentally ill, in addition to a select few “natural” healers
findings were claimed illegitimate, but many noted medical professionals urged him to continue
Physical symptoms can result from experiences
Behavior is not always rational
Causes of behavior not always conscious
Traumatic memories could affect later behaviors
Study of connection between hypnosis & hysteria
marquis de puysegur (founder of effects of hypnosis)
artificial somnambulism: sleep-like trance that Puysegur created in his patients
had patients imagine various motor activities in an essential state paralysis
patients experienced posthypnotic amnesia where they couldn’t remember what had happened to treatment
first to discover the impact of hypnosis
