PSYCH U4 AOS2 Flashcards
what is the definition of mental health?
Mental health: is a state of wellbeing in which an individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.
what is the definition of a mental health problem?
Mental health problem: refers to a mild and temporary disruption to an individual’s usual level of social and emotional wellbeing. Adversely affects the way a person thinks, feels and/or behaves, but typically to a lesser extent then a mental disorder.
what is the definition of a mental disorder?
Mental disorder: Refers to a condition that causes disturbed thoughts, feelings and behaviour, personal distress, and impairs the ability to function effectively in everyday life.
what are internal factors that influence mental health?
are influences that originate inside or within a person. -
BIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL
Biological: often not under our control. Genes we inherit, biological sex (M/F), balances/imbalances of neurotransmitters, substance use, brain & nervous system functioning, hormonal activities, fight flight freeze response, responses to stress.
Psychological: Mental processes, ways of thinking, beliefs, attitudes, skills in interacting, learning, self perception, decision making, problem solving, understanding emotions, managing stress.
what are external factors that influence mental health?
EXTERNAL FACTORS: are influences that originate outside a person -
SOCIAL
Can include school and work related factors, the range and quality of our interpersonal relationships, our amount of support, exposure to stressors, level of educations, employment history, level of income, housing, risk of violence, access to health care, social stigma, cultural influences such as values and traditions
what are the characteristics of a mentally healthy person?
HIGH LEVELS OF FUNCTIONING, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING AND RESILIENCE TO LIFE STRESSORS
what is high levels of functioning?
Functioning refers to how well an individual independently performs or operates in their environment. A person with high functioning is able to actively engage, live independently and meet the challenges of everyday life. Maintain healthy relationships, be flexible and productive, emotionally balanced and effectively deal with stressors and contribute to society in meaningful ways
what is the definition of wellbeing?
Wellbeing refers to our sense of wellness or how well we feel about ourselves and our lives. The APS describes six different domains of wellness - intellectual, physical, emotional, spiritual, social, vocational.
what is social wellbeing?
Refers to our ability to have satisfying relationships and interactions with other people. Being able to establish and maintain positive relationships. Includes good communication skills and being able to give & receive support.
what is emotional wellbeing?
Refers to our ability to control emotions and express them appropriately. Ability to understand, share, regulate emotions, acknowledge & appropriately share both positive & negative emotions. Including awareness, regulating., expressing, attitude etc
definition of resilience?
Resilience is the ability to cope with and adapt to life stressors and restore positive functioning. Can bounce back from adverse or stressful situations and restore positive functioning. May involve adjusting or overcoming the stressor.
what are characteristics of resilience?
Strong belief in their ability to accomplish tasks and succeed, high self-esteem, with managing stress and adversity, being adaptable, flexible, having problem solving skills, have the ability to make realistic plans and carry them out. Resilient people tend to have good social support systems.
Able to adapt and cope with life challenges to restore positive functioning.
what is informed consent?
Informed consent is the process in which a researcher discloses appropriate information to a potential research participant so that the person may make a voluntary and informed choice about whether or not to participate. Decision to participate must be free of coercion and pressure from researcher to participate.
what are risks associated with informed consent in mental health research?
a person who experiences a mental disorder can have impairments in ability to pay attention, concentrate, reason, impairments with LTM & STM, decision making and other cognitive functions
If a person’s mental disorder is temporary or episodic, an attempt should be made to obtain consent when their symptoms do not interfere with their capacity to give informed consent.
Researchers also need to have a discussion with the person who experiences a mental health disorder (involved in the experiment) of the procedure they will follow if their mental health declines during the study.
Consent is not required from patients involuntarily hospitalised in the public health system
what is the placebo effect?
a change or improvement in wellbeing triggered by a belief in the treatment.
what is a placebo treatment?
a substance or treatment that appears to be real BUT is actually neutral or has no medical effect.
In an experiment, participants in the experimental group are exposed to the IV ‘treatment’ and participants in the control group are not, however, participants in EG may be influenced by their expectations (confounding variable), so in order to minimise this impact on the DV, the control group can be given a placebo treatment so they form the same expectations as the EG, thereby controlling the effects of this unwanted variable.
what are risks of placebo in mental health research?
participants are required to stop taking their medication during the study.
In addition, if they are assigned to the control group they would be receiving a placebo treatment which means their condition could decline significantly.
These people would also be denied access to a treatment that they most likely need and from which they could benefit.
what are protective factors?
factors that influence a person’s resilience and ability to recover from negative experiences, and decrease the likelihood that they will suffer from mental health issues.
what are biological protective factors?
ADEQUATE DIET AND SLEEP
what is adequate diet?
a balanced diet stabilises mood, brain functioning, and an individual’s ability to cope with stressors.
Evidence that diet plays a contributory role in specific mental health disorders, such as ADHD, depression, and schizophrenia.
An adequate diet must include sufficient protein, minerals, vitamins, water, fats, and carbohydrates
what is adequate sleep?
Enables the body and mind to rejuvenate so people can function effectively, releases growth hormones, consolidates neural pathways.
Vitally important for replenishing and revitalising the physiological processes that keep the brain and body operating at optimal levels.
what are psychological protective factors?
cognitive behavioural strategies
what are cognitive behavioural strategies?
Identify, challenges and modifies unhelpful thoughts and behaviours (that have a negative impact on mental health) to more adaptive/helpful ones.
Structured psychological treatments that recognise that a person’ way of thinking (cognition) and acting (behaviour), affect the way they feel.
They involve: educating patients about bodies’ natural reactions to threatening objects and situations; helping patients realise the difference between productive and unproductive thoughts; teaching relaxation and breathing techniques to manage stress and anxiety.
what is a social protective factor?
SUPPORT FROM FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND COMMUNITY: Social support refers to close, positive relationships we develop with others. They facilitate good health and morale because support from others cushions the impact of stressful events.
Talking about problems, expressing tensions, and having a sense of belonging and self confidence is very helpful.
These protective factors are critical in building resilience and enhancing the ability to cope in difficult circumstances.