Psychology Unit 3 Mental Health Flashcards
ISSUES IN MENTAL HEALTH TOPIC 1
The Historical Context Of Mental Health
Animism (Paleolithic cave dwellers)
Summary
- trepanning- provide an exit for demons/ evil spirits trapped in the skull
- spirits enter through magical powers/ lack of possessed individual’s faith
Humourism (Hippocrates, c. 460-377BC)
Summary
- Hippocrates first identified mental illness as a scientific phenomenon
- Madness resulted in imbalance of 4 humours
- Balance= cure for madness
Humourism (Hippocrates, c. 460-377BC)
The Four Humours
- Blood= Sanguine
- Phlegm= Phelgmatic
- Yellow Bile= Choleric
- Black Bile= Melancholic
Animalism (18th Century)
Summary- Bedlam
- Chained to the walls and kept on long leashes
- “Scalps shaved+blistered; they were bled to a point of syncope (unconsciousness)”
- The insane lost the capacity to distinguish humans from beasts
- Fear was seen to be the best emotion to restore the distorted mind
- Madness resulted from Animalism
Individual/ situational
Animism, Humourism, Animalism
Animism
- individual- lack of faith led to spirits
- situational- assumed everyone with mental illness believed it was due to spirits
Humourism
-individual- human body+bodily fluid amounts varied with mood
Animalism
-situational- putting people in fearful situations will restore their humanity
Psychology as a science
Animism, Humourism, Animalism
Animism- not- not falsifiable, cannot prove/ disprove spirits
Humourism- is- falsifiable, can check (objective)- biological factors
Animalism- not- not falsifiable, no way to prove if we have lost our ‘humanity’
Defining abnormality
1-Statistical infrequency
2-failure to function adequately
3-deviation from social norms
4-deviation from ideal mental health
Statistical Infrequency
- Common is normal
- Whether a lot of people do it or not
Failure to Function Adequately
-Cannot function properly eg cannot keep a job or maintain a relationship
Deviation From Social Norms
-Each society has its own norms- so it is about whether someone fluctuates from this or not
Deviation From Ideal Mental Health
-Not following anything ‘normal’ Eg: Cannot process emotions Cannot understand society No stable moods
Problems with Defining Abnormality
1-Statistical infrequency
2-failure to function adequately
3-deviation from social norms
4-deviation from ideal mental health
Statistical Infrequency
-Talking to yourself- not seen as normal, but lots of people do it just will not admit it
Failure to function adequately
-Different reasons for not being able to hold down a job- eg disability/ upbringing
Deviation from social norms
-Cultural differences- ethnocentric
Deviations from ideal mental health
-Everyone feels these tyres of ‘abnormal’ fluctuations
Categorising Mental disorders
DSM-5
DSM-5
- 300 disorders
- categorised: type of disorder, lifespan (eg childhood-adulthood), internalising vs externalising- cognitive/physiological depression vs disruptive/physical ADHD
Rosenhan 1973
On being sane in insane places
Aim
To see if mental hospitals in the USA in the early 1970s could tell the sane from the insane
Rosenhan 1973
On being sane in insane places
Study 1 Sample
- 8 sane people
- phoned to make appointments at 12 different mental hospitals
- all reported same symptoms: unfamiliar, same sex voice say ‘empty’, ‘hollow’, ‘thud’
- one diagnosis of manic-depressive psychosis, all other diagnosed with schizophrenia
Rosenhan 1973
On being sane in insane places
Inside the mental hospital
- pseudo-patients stayed for 7-52 days (avg 19 days)
- once admitted, stopped simulating symptoms, took part in activities, took notes on staff
- sanity was not detected by staff
- 35/118 patients voiced suspicions “you’re not crazy”, “you’re a journalist”
- reports of staff brutality
- patients saw psychologists/psychiatrists 6.8 mins on average per day
Rosenhan 1973
Stanford university
The experiment within study 1
- 4 hospitals= pseudopatient asked Q- when they will be presented at the staff meeting
- staff responses were recorded: eye contact? Averted? Paused? Or stopped?
- also carried out with a young female approaching staff at Stanford Uni: looking for Encina Hall, a psychiatrist, an internist
Rosenhan 1973
Findings from experiment within study 1
-Mental hospital- number of attempts (nurses+attendants)= 1,283
-nurses+attendants moved on w/ head averted= 88%
BUT
-university student ‘looking for psychiatrist’- moved on w/ head averted= 0%
Rosenhan study 2
On being sane in insane places
- told hospitals over next 3 months 1 or 2 more pseudo-patients would attempt to be admitted
- staff rated on 10-point scale likelihood of there being another pseudo-patient
- staff told to treat all patients the same when diagnosing so wouldn’t miss out on medication
- 0 pseudo-patients attempted to be admitted
Rosenhan 1973
On being sane in insane places
Results of patients being a potential pseudo-patient
- number of patients judged= 193
- no. patients judged by 1 staff member as being pseudo-patient= 41
- no. patients judged by 1 psychiatrist as being pseudo-patient= 23
- no. patients judged by 1 staff member+ 1 psychiatrist as being pseudo-patient= 19
Rosenhan 1973
Ethnocentrism
- IS ETHNOCENTRIC
Only conducted in American hospitals
Rosenhan 1973
Ethical considerations
BROKEN
- deception- deceived hospitals+staff
UPHELD
- confidentiality- no names/ details of staff recorded or released
Rosenhan 1973
Validity
IS VALID
- high ecological validity- actual hospitals, immersed in hospital atmosphere
NOT VALID
- low validity- inaccurate when sending away patients in study 2 with genuine symptoms in fear of misdiagnosing another pseudo-patient- cannot tell if someone is 100% sane/insane
Rosenhan 1973
Reliability
NOT RELIABLE
- all 5 doctors may not come to the same diagnosis as each other
Eg one pseudo-patient was diagnosed with manic-depressive psychosis, others were diagnosed with schizophrenia
Rosenhan 1973
Usefulness of research
NOT USEFUL
- hospitals were wrongly diagnosing people as being insane
IS USEFUL
- now know it is possible hospitals in 1970s were misdiagnosing people
Rosenhan 1973
Individual vs situational
SITUATIONAL
-staff could have been treating patients a certain negative way as a result of the hospital environment they were in
Application
Characteristics of disorders
Characteristics of an affective disorder: (DSM-5)
DEPRESSION
- depressed mood most of the day, nearly everyday
- lack of concentration
- restless/ less activity
- thoughts of death, suicide/ attempt
- 5% body weight increase/decrease - diet change/ no appetite
(5+ symtoms+first symptom in same 2 weeks= major depressive episode)
Characteristics of a psychotic disorder
SCHIZOPHRENIA
- delusions }
- hallucinations }
- disorganised speech } POSITIVE SYMPTOMS
- catatonic behaviour (not responding in expected way) }
- diminished emotional expression ]
- flat affect- in appropriate/blunt response ] NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS
- alogia- speech poverty ]
(Two or more symptoms in one month)
Characteristics of phobia
3 types of phobia
- agoraphobia
- social phobia
- specific phobia
Agoraphobia
- fear of open spaces, inescapable situations
- feel like ‘prisoners’ of their own home
- accounts for 10-50% of all phobias
- common in women, early adulthood
Social phobia
- 10% of all phobias
- in women+adolescents
- fear of being in situation where one is exposed to possible scrutiny/ act in humiliating way
3 types of social phobia
- performance (public speaking)
- limited interaction (authority)
- generalised (agoraphobia)
ISSUES IN MENTAL HEALTH TOPIC 2
The Biochemical Explanation of Mental Health
Biochemical explanation of depression
- low levels of serotonin (a neurotransmitter) in nervous system
- serotonin carries electrical signals from one nerve cell to another
- low serotonin= molecules absorbed too quickly into pre-synaptic nerve too soon
- too little serotonin= body doesn’t respond appropriately to messages
Biochemical explanation of schizophrenia
- high levels of dopamine (neurotransmitter) in nervous system
- excess dopamine reaches post-synaptic nerve cells
Aim of treatment
DEPRESSION
- blocking the reuptake of serotonin into the pre-synaptic nerve cells
- ensures enough serotonin available for messages to get carried along the nervous system
Aim of treatment
SCHIZOPHRENIA
- blocking receptors in post-synaptic nerve cells
- prevent an overload of dopamine reaching the post-synaptic nerve cell
Gottesman 2010
Aim
To investigate the probability of a child being diagnosed with a mental disorder if either or both parents had this disorder
Gottesman 2010
Sample
- Denmark
- anyone between 10 and 52 (in Jan2007) with clear link to biological parents
- almost 2.7 million people and parents
Gottesman 2010
Procedure
- data from the Civil Registration System
- identified four groups of people:
=2 parents with schizophrenia, bipolar or depression
= 1 parent with schizophrenia, bipolar or depression
= neither parent with schizophrenia, bipolar or depression
= ‘general public’ had no data available on whether parents had psychiatric illnesses or not
Gottesman 2010
Findings of parents being admitted (with schizophrenia)
Both parents- 27.3%
One parent- 15.6%
Neither parent- 0.86%
General public- 1.12%
Patients with schizophrenia
BROWN
Brain abnormality as an explanation of schizophrenia
- brains 6% lighter
- enlarged ventricles
- (thinner parahippocampal corticles)
than people without schizophrenia
Biological treatment- drug therapy
DEPRESSION
- Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI)
- block reupatke of serotonin in pre-synaptic neurone= more serotonin in synapse
- treats depression and anxiety
ISSUES IN MENTAL HEALTH TOPIC 3
The behaviourist explanation of mental illness (non-biological explanations)
ISSUES IN MENTAL HEALTH TOPIC 3
The behaviourist explanation of mental illness (non-biological explanations)
Watson+Raynor- Little Albert
Classical conditioning- phobia
- made phobic of rats
- repeating pairings of a loud noise+white rat
