Psychological Disorders Flashcards
What is mental health?
A state of emotional and social wellbeing
What is a mental health problem?
Problematic patterns of thought, feeling, and behaviour
What is a mental disorder?
A clinically recognisable set of symptoms and behaviours
Usually require treatment to be alleviated (they are the more extreme end of disordered functioning)
What are the four contexts of psychopathology?
Historical
Social
Cultural
Theoretical
What are the five theoretical approaches to psychopathology?
Psychodynamic theories Cognitive-behavioural approaches Biological approaches Systems theory (e.g. family system model) Evolutionary perspectives
Explain the psychodynamic perspective
Three classes of psychopathology:
Neuroses: issues in living that involve anxiety (phobias) or interpersonal conflict - environmental
Personality disorders: chronic and severe disturbances that alter the capacity to work and to love - genetic
Psychoses: marked disturbances of contact with reality - genetic and environmental
Classes form a continuum of functioning from minimal to serious disturbance
Explain the Cognitive-behaviour perspective
Integrates understanding of classical and operant conditioning with a cognitive-social perspective
Cognitive: many psychological disorders reflect dysfunctional attitudes, beliefs and cognitive processes
Behavioural: many psychological problems arise from conditioned emotional responses (a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a negative emotion)
Explain the Biological perspective
Root of abnormal behaviour lies within the brain:
Neurotransmitter dysfunction
Abnormality of brain structures
Disrupted neural pathways (functional and structural connections between brain areas)
Genetics (predispositions/vulnerabilities to illness)
Diathesis-stress model; underlying vulnerability with symptoms appearing under stress
Explain the Systems perspective
Root of abnormality lies in the context of a social group (and families)
Each person is a member of a system(social group)
The group functions as a system and the system parts are interdependent
What happens in one part of the system influences what happens in others
Explain the Evolutionary perspective
Provides insight into psychopathology rather than a comprehensive system of understanding and treatment
Suggests that:
Random variations in genotypes can lead to less adaptive phenotypes
Less adaptive behaviour may have its roots in behaviour important for survival
There is an important interplay of genes and environment
What are the two classification systems and what is their fundamental difference?
DSM-5 and ICD-11
DSM-5 is American and only classifies mental disorders
ICD-11 was made by the WHO and classifies all diseases.
What is Schizophrenia
Debilitating disorder that involves disturbance in almost every dimension of human function –perceptions, thoughts, behaviour, emotions, and language
Impacts on social relationships and occupational functioning.
What are the two types of symptom clusters for Schizophrenia?
Positive symptoms: excesses of behaviours or presence of behaviours that are not usual seen. Most prominent in the acute phase
Negative symptoms: Absence or lack of normal behaviours and functions. Most prominent in the chronic phase.
What are some examples of positive symptoms?
Delusions–false beliefs held without any objective evidence (and even despite disconfirming evidence)
Hallucinations–false sensory perceptions
Disorganised speech or behaviour
What are some examples of negative symptoms?
Emotional flattening (flat affect –lack of emotion)
Apathy (lack of motivation)
Social withdrawal
Lack of spontaneous movement
