Terminology

Question 1

Mental Health

Answer 1

someone’s mental and emotional well‐being (or lack thereof), level of distress, this is a broad term

Question 2

Disorder

Answer 2

an abnormality of functioning (physical or mental), a specific type of MH

Question 3

Symptom

Answer 3

self‐reported, subjective experience, patient is aware. Example = Sz may report hearing voices that are not there

Question 4

Sign

Answer 4

objective, observed in the individual, patient is not aware. Example = Sz may give an idea that does not reflect the reality around them e.g. delusion, but the patient is not aware it is not reality. Sign and symptoms are in contrast

Question 5

Disease

Answer 5

illness characterised by typical signs or symptoms, normally with a known cause, cluster of signs and symptoms.

Question 6

Abnormal

Answer 6

departure from the norm (statistical or behavioural), outside the norm of statistically ‘normal’ behaviour

Question 7

Syndrome

Answer 7

a cluster of signs and symptoms that occur together (not necessarily a disorder), e.g. show signs of Sz before they happen/diagnosed – strange beliefs

Question 8

Aetiology

Answer 8

study of causation or origin of anything, including disease.

Question 9

Nosology

Answer 9

the study of systems of classification of disease

Question 10

Pathology

Answer 10

the study of the (biochemical) mechanisms that cause disease, such as viruses, tumour, bacteria etc

Question 11

Psychopathology

Answer 11

the study of mental disorders

Question 12

Epidemiology

Answer 12

the study of the prevalence of disorders in the population

Question 13

Trait

Answer 13

a durable, observable characteristic e.g. if someone is anxious, they may have feelings of worry or threat  can lead to difficulty sleeping or lack of self-care

Question 14

Genotype

Answer 14

the set of genes in our DNA responsible for a trait, cannot see. May have a trait that has a genetic link e.g. impulsivity but whether we develop that trait or not is not a consequence of the genetic genotype, it is due to the interaction of that gene with the environment – phenotype

Question 15

Phenotype

Answer 15

the observable characteristics of genes interacting with environment. When there is an interaction with a genetic predisposition and the right environment, you get that expression of phenotype. Brown eyes is an observable characteristic.
Example of genotype and phenotype: Flamingos are observed to be pink as where they live their diet is rich in Alkali. However, if they are taken away from that environment they would appear as white

Question 16

Nomothetic

Answer 16

Relating to a particular classification/kind/group. A ‘qualitative’ difference between someone with and without a disorder e.g. quality of life. Labelling. Puts people into categories and assumes everyone is the same

Question 17

Idiographic

Answer 17

Relating to the individual. Individuals expression of the disorder, so when we say a low mood, how low is that mood to that individual? It is not about the quality it is how extreme it is. Each individual will have a scale of mania etc. This model views everyone as unique, describes people as they are, does not label.