Test 2 Pt. 1 (Ch. 3) Flashcards
mental health
state of well-being in which one realizes their abilities and cope with life’s stresses
-work productively and fruitfully, and contribute to community
mental illness
mental, behavioral or emotional disorder (excluding developmental or substance abuse)
-diagnosable currently or within past year and of sufficient duration to meet diagnostic criteria specified within 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V)
Any Mental Illness (AMI)
mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder
Serious Mental Illness (SMI)
mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder resulting in serious functional impairment
-interferes with 1+ major life activities
interactionist perspective of mental illness
focuses on social construction of mental illness
–definitions of “normal” and “deviant” behavior in social situations lead to definitions of mental disorders from diagnoses
-labels may cause one to define oneself as ill and behave in ways that confirm self-definition
conflict perspective of mental illness
focus on how mental illness may be associated with deprivation and inequality
-includes unequal access to appropriate care and 2-class system
–affluent patients with less severe mental illnesses get higher quality private care
–severely ill patients, reduced to poverty by illnesses, are shunted into budget-starved public institutions
functionalist perspective of mental illness
mental illnesses challenge ability to provide effective treatment
-evident in societies marked by rapid social change, in which people don’t have attachments to others, are often separated from their families
-systems of treatment have been changing and it’s not clear of how people w/ mental disorders should be helped
medical model
asserts mental illness as a disease w/ biological causes, disturbance of normal personality analogous to bodily disturbance caused by phys. disease
medical model cons
focuses on people and immediate enviro. (childhood), disregards wider enviro. as possible source of problem
-lead to impractical criteria of recovery
–people may have insight into inner tensions but are unable to function adequately when they return to outer tensions of home, job, or society
-mental illness, which may or may not be caused by one’s body, may be caused, alleviated, or worsened by conditions in social enviro.
-something of person is abnormal and problem lies in their emotional make-up
mental illness as deviance
represents departure from social expectations
-Thomas Scheff (1963): residual deviance
–most social conventions are recognized, and violation of them carries labels w/o treatment
-people are confused and scared by own behavior and others during stress
–may accept role suggested to them -> hard to change behavior and return to “normal” role
problems in living
Thomas Szasz
-calls attention to relationship between diagnosis and repression
-doesn’t claim that social and bodily disturbances in mental illness exist but it’s misleading to call them illness
–should be seen as manifestations of unresolved problems
-concerns justice and individual freedom, diagnosis involves judgement based off norms of psychiatrists
-liberty can be sacrificed through too great a concern for the “cure” of “mental illness”
DSM-V
separated mental disorders from behaviors that deviated form societal norms but weren’t a result of mental illness
-attributes mental dysfunctions to biochemical, genetic, or profound internal bodily causes
pros of diagnostic labels
pros
-reflect cultural values, not sci. analysis, which may be seen as normal or admirable
-interviewers with training in diagnoses can spot people with serious mental disorders accurately
cons of diagnostic labels
-pigeonholes into which certain behaviors are placed arbitrarily
-misused, makes us see certain behaviors as “sick” or something to be eliminated > understood
-gives public agencies right to incarcerate people against their will for not conforming
-causes people to define themselves as rule breakers and undesirables -> fulfill image
Faris and Dunham (1938)
-highest rate of mental illness near center of city, where population was poor, of mixed ethnic and racial background, and highly mobile
-lowest rates of mental disorder in stable, higher-status residential areas
Midtown Manhattan Study
-people not under treatment -> parent’s SES, lower-class parents 2x percentage of upper-class
drift hypothesis
holds that social class isn’t a cause but a consequence of mental disorder
-people w/ mental disorders tend to be in lower classes because their illness prevented them from functioning @ higher class lvl
race and mental illness
American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Whites experiencing more mental illness than others
-more likely to have access to health insurance -> more likely to be diagnosed
-hostile and character-based discrimination w/ disrespect seems to place African American and Caribbean adults at risk for mental health problems
women and mental illness
women
-more likely to:
–experience depression (postpartum, peri-menopause), eating disorders, and phobias
–be prescribed mood-altering psychotropic drugs, seek help from and disclose mental health problems to their primary health care physician
-premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)
-positive relationship w/:
–gender-based violence, socioeconomic disadvantage, low income and income inequality
–low or subordinate social status and rank, unremitting responsibility for care of others while maintaining a job
women and mental illness
women
-more likely to:
–experience depression (postpartum, peri-menopause), eating disorders, and phobias
–be prescribed mood-altering psychotropic drugs, seek help from and disclose mental health problems to their primary health care physician
-premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)
-positive relationship w/:
–gender-based violence, socioeconomic disadvantage, low income and income inequality
–low or subordinate social status and rank, unremitting responsibility for care of others while maintaining a job
men and mental illness
more likely to suffer from autism and schizophrenia and seek specialist mental health care
-principal users of inpatient care
2 major approaches to treatment of mental disorders
1) medical
2) psychotherapy
history of medical approaches
pre-1930s
-psychosis treated by confining patient in straitjacket, administering sedatives, wrapping patient in sheets, or immersing them in continuous flow tub for hours
1940s and 1950s
-electroconvulsive therapy -> depressed patients, schizophrenics, long-term memory loss
1960s and 1970s
-drug therapies
deinstitutionalization
act of discharging patients from mental hospitals directly into community
–chronically mentally ill people not dangerous to self or others
-based on belief that patients would have a higher quality of life if treated in communities rather than mental hospitals
-funding of community mental health centers was cut back, tend to congregate in central-city neighborhoods which are unable to give services
-find housing in single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels or cheap rooming houses
–forms of housing are far less available today
-family have become tired, discouraged, or unable to help, social workers overburdened
-mentally ill cannot communicate needs adequately, tend to be afraid of strangers -> reject offers of shelter and efforts to help
statistics
1 of every 5 Americans (18+ yrs.) suffer from mental illness
-45 million adults suffer from AMI
-suicide every 13 min. in U.S.
-44,000 people each yr. in U.S. kill themselves
-800,000 people take their own lives every yr.
–65% of these suicides occur in developing countries
-women use suicide methods that’s less lethal (poisoning, 30%) vs. men (guns, 56%)
-prevelance rate for schizophrenia is 5/1000
-out of 1,660 adult residents in the midtown Manhattan study, 23% were significantly impaired in mental functioning
