Psychological Disorders and interventions

Question 1

Psychopathology

Answer 1

• Maladaptive, disruptive or uncomfortable patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving
• Disrupted functioning at home, work, and in the person or in others
• Abnormal - deviance, distress and dysfunction

Question 2

Cultural context of psychopathology

Answer 2

• cant determine prevalence rates, generalisation of assessment, diagnostic approaches and treatments

Mental health literacy - “knowledge” and beliefs about mental disorders which aid in their recognition, management and prevention.

Beyondblue, mental health online

Question 3

Mental health

Answer 3

a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.” (WHO)

Question 4

Mental disorder

Answer 4

a clinically recognisable set of symptoms and behaviours which usually need treatment to be alleviates ( a serious departure from normal functioning)

Question 5

Contemporary approaches to psychpathology

Answer 5

• Biological/medical approach - biopsychosocial model, diathesis- stress model
• Psychological Models - psychodynamic perspective, behavioural perspective, cognitive behavioural perspective
• Biological factors - disorders from an underlying illness that can be diagnosed, treated and cured, these factors cause mental illness
• Psychological processes - wants, needs, emotions, attachment history, etc
• Sociocultural contexts - e.g gender, age, cultural values and traditions
• These influence what is ‘normal’

Question 6

Classification and diagnostic categiries in DSM

Answer 6

• Bio, psych, socio factors = predispose a disorder
• certain amount of stress = triggers onset of disorder
• Strength of diathesis creates vulnerability
• Weal diathesis = signs of disorder not seen unless stress is prolonged or extreme
• Abnormality is reflected in discrete symptoms

Question 7

Purpose of classification system

Answer 7

organisation of clinical info, communication and common language, differentiation of disorders, reliable and valid diagnosis, prediction of course natural development, treatment plan or recommendations.

Question 8

DSM-5 diagnostic system

Answer 8

• DSM-5 = bipolar, depression, anxiety, trauma, stress, dissociative, sleep-wake
• Interrater reliability = high for some disorders and low for others.
• Validity - stronger for some diagnoses than others
• Problems - same symptoms seen in different disorders, bias in diagnosis, not attentive to sociocultural variables and labelling is dehumanising.

Question 9

Key symptoms of some of the major psychopathological syndromes

Answer 9

Cognitive-behavioural theories - maladative schemas about the self, others and the world influence what we see, how we see it and how we react, reinforcing cycles of behaviours, thoughts and feelings.

Question 10

Dysthymia

Answer 10

a less severe type of depression

• Symptoms of dysthymia are evident over longer time periods (two years) but are not as debilitating as those of major depression.

Bipolar - characterised of the presence of one or more manic/hypomanic episodes, with major depressive episode occurring between the manic episodes.

Question 11

Theories of the aetiology of mood disorders

Answer 11

• Depression - biological vulnerability/environmental trigger - genetics, neural transmission - low serotonin, norepinephrine increase depression, effectiveness of drugs that give serotonin.

Question 12

Shizophrenia spectrum

Answer 12

• Schizophrenia refers to a profound disturbance in human function including: fixed false beliefs, perception, affect, behaviour : unusual mannerisms; lack of movement.
• Symtpoms can be positive - added to normal function (delusions)
• Negative - absense of normal function e.g flat affect.
• Biological bases - developed due to underlying biological vulnerability and stress
• Dopamine hypothesis; schizophrenia reflects elevated levels of dopamine
• Psychological and sociological factors - dysfunctional cognitions; urban living, being an immigrant, exposure to stressful family communication patterns (expressed emotions)

Question 13

Critiques of classification system

Answer 13

• does not allow there to be unique people
• Stigmatism
• Medical model
• Categorical vs dimensional
• Cultural bias

Question 14

Variaties of Psychological Treatment -

Answer 14

• psychodynamic
• Client centered/humanistic
• Behavioural and cognitive-behavioural
• Family
• Group Therapy
• Self-help and internet-based treatments

Question 15

Key principles and techniques of; psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioural, humanistic, group and family therapies

Answer 15

• Psychodynamic approach - freud, mental symptoms reflect unconscious conflicts that induce anxiety, insight refers to the situation in which a person comes to understand their unconscious conflicts, therapeutic change requires an alliance (relationship) between the patient and therapist.
• Humanistic approach - insight focused - assumptions that disordered behaviour can be treated by increasign awareness of motivation and needs

Question 16

Therapies

Answer 16

• Beck’s Cognitive Therapy focuses on dysfunctional beliefs, or negative schemas that influence the patient’s perceptions of situations and themselves, e.g cognitive triad in depression: self, world and future, cognitive restructuring through challenging beliefs.

Behaviour Therapies - classical and operant conditioning principles, therapist is a teacher.

Non directive therapy, therpay provides non-judgmental environment, conducive to personality change, 3 core qualities of therapist: geniuses, unconditional positive regard, accurate empathic understanding (active listening)