midterm1 study Flashcards
mental health WHO definition
“a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his/her own potential, can cope with normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his/her own community”
mental health PHA definition
“the capacity of each and all of us to feel, think, and act in ways that enhance our ability to enjoy life and deal with the challenges we face. It is a positive sense of emotional and spiritual well-being
in general a person is mentally healthy when
Meets basic needs (autonomy)
Assumes responsibility for behaviour and self – growth (self-actualization)
Has learned to integrate thoughts, feelings, and actions
Can resolve conflicts successfully (capable of adapting to change*)
Maintains relationships
Communicates and Respects others
what is mental health
A positive attitude toward Self
Self-actualization
Integration
Autonomy
Accurate perception of reality
Acceptance and giving of love
APA definition of mental illness
A clinically significant behaviour (i.e. alteration in cognition, mood and behaviour) in an individual that results in distress or disability with increased risk for suffering, death, pain or loss of freedom.
incomprehensibility
The inability of the general population to understand the motivation behind the behavior.
When observers are unable to find meaning or comprehensibility in a behavior, they are likely to label it as mental illness.
6 risk factors for mental illnesss
family history of mental illness
age
sex
substance abuse
chronic diseases
family, workplace, life event stressors
stigma
definiton
3 processes
Goffman stigma
Stigma refers to negative, unfavourable attitudes and the behaviour they produce. It is a form of prejudice that spreads fear and misinformation, labels individuals and perpetuates stereotypes.
Three processes (Link & Phalen, 2001)
Labelling
Attribution of Characteristic
Loss of Status
Self-stigma, Associative-stigma (Goffman, 1963)
Myths and misconceptions contribute to stigma (ex. the media – people with mental illness are violent)
In reality: much more likely to be victimized by acts of crime, hate, and discrimination than to perpetrate them
resilience
resilience is a process and outcome of complex, cultural systems, rather than as an individual capacity to overcome adversity.
12 determinants of health
Income and social status
Social support networks
Education
Employment/working conditions
Social environments
Physical environments
Personal health practices and coping skills
Healthy child development
Biology and genetic endowment
Health services
Gender
Culture
asylums
Asylums, designed to be retreats from society, were built with the hope that, with early intervention and several months of rest, people with mental illness could be cured
Those who could not be cared for in the community, however, often ended up in jails, where they received minimal shelter at best and abuse at worst
early Canadian asylums
Beauport, the first asylum in Canada, and was opened in Quebec in 1845
asylums predominantly housed patients who were poor and had no family support.
increased admissions to asylums led to overcrowding and less than humane conditions in many asylums.
19th century Pinnel
19th century: Phillip Pinel “frees mad people from chains”
Asylums as best institutions to observe, protect, care for and cure mad people.
First taxonomy of mental illnesses
Abolishment of certain treatments (e.g., bleeding) and creation of others (e.g., straightjacket)
20th century asylums
Mental hygiene movement & its evolution into eugenics movement (60’s)
Linked to degenerescence & evolution theories
Tx: Euthanasia, famine, sterilization (women particularly)
Sterilization continued well into 80s and 90s – to “protect the mentally ill
