The Historical Context Of Mental Illness

Question 1

What is the pre historic view of mental health and what is the treatment

Answer 1

Mental illness is caused by supernatural and possession by demons —> use ‘trepanning’ to treat by drilling a hole in to a persona skull to allow the spirts to leave

Question 2

What is the Ancient Greece 400 bc view of mental health and what is the treatment

Answer 2

Hippocrates suggested that mental illness is caused by an imbalance in one of the four humours e.g. mania is caused by excess yellow bile —> purging or bloodletting used to restore balance in the four humours

Question 3

What is the 1880s view of mental health and what is the treatment

Answer 3

Mental illness is caused by psychological factors. For example Freud suggests mental illness was due to unconscious processes in the mind. —> talking therapies such a s psychoanalysis is used to treat.

Question 4

What are the 3 different definitions of abnormality

Answer 4

Statistical infrequency, deviation from social norm and maladaptiveness

Question 5

What is the definition of statistical infrequency and give a clinical example

Answer 5

This is a behaviour that is rarely seen in the general population e.g. schizophrenia is only 1% of population

Question 6

What is the definition of deviation from social norm and give a clinical example

Answer 6

Behaviour that seen as a departure from what one society/ culture defines as acceptable e.g.hearing voices maybe perceived as abnormal in one culture but is talking to ancestors or sprits in another

Question 7

What is the definition of maladaptiveness and give a clinical example

Answer 7

When a persons behaviour, thinking or emotional response prevents them from functioning well e.g. when panic attacks prevent you from leaving the house

Question 8

What is one strength and one limitation of the statistical infrequency definition

Answer 8

+ it provided a quantitative measure of abnormality which is therefore objective and can be applied in reliable way
- just cause an IQ test says someone is abnormal doesn’t mean they can’t fusion perfectly well within society

Question 9

What is one strength and one limitation of the deviation from social norm definition

Answer 9

+ this considers the desirability of a behaviour and is therefore more useful e.g. some behaviours may be are but desirable so therefore isn’t an illness
- the definition is ethnocentric as abnormality cannot be considered to be universal due to cultural differences in social norms

Question 10

What is one strength and one limitation of the maladaptiveness definition

Answer 10

+ it recognises the subjective experience of the individual as to whether or not they are suffering and therefore it has face validity when trying to diagnose someone with an illness
- it doesn’t really define abnormality as maladaptiveness may be the cause of the mental disorder rather than a symptom

Question 11

What are the strengths of defining abnormality (usefulness and academic knowledge

Answer 11

Useful= can receive medical or psychological help as well as wider assistance

Academic knowledge = helps understand our own experiences ad feelings more, allows others to understand our behaviour

Question 12

What are the weaknesses of defining abnormality (unethical, socially sensitive and ethnocentric)

Answer 12

Unethical= patients losing identify and may start seeing self in terms of the diagnosis alone having a greater negative impact -protection from harm
Social sensitivity = can lead to labelling and others may begin to see their behaviour a symptomatic of the illness even if its unrelated
Ethnocentric= not all cultures will have the same definitions of abnormality, s they may not receive the same help.

Question 13

How do psychiatrists gather info in order to diagnose someone

Answer 13

• clinical interview where they get self report of symptoms from patients
• psychological tests e.g. IQ tests or brain scans
• observation of behaviour

Question 14

Outline the DSM-V

Answer 14

It’s the handbook used by mental health professionals in the USA.
They’re currently on their 5th edition
160 experts came together to make it
It allows reliable diagnosis of 157 disorders

Question 15

Outline the ICD-11

Answer 15

Chapter 5 of ICD is about mental disorders
It’s produced by the world health organisation
It’s translated into 43 languages
With every update disorders are removed and added
It tends to be used outside of the USA

Question 16

What are the problems with the classification

Answer 16

• an overlap of disorders and symptoms can lead to a mis-diagnosis
  -are DSM / ICD completely accurate??
• diagnosis is based on self-report from patients set lack validity
  -problems with social sensitivity as what are the implications once you have a diagnosis

Question 17

What are the strengths of classification

Answer 17

• allows individuals to understand their symptoms
• leads to a treatment which could then improve their standard of living
• there is some level of reliability between clinicians however this isn’t always the case

Question 18

What’s the aim of rosenthan study

Answer 18

To test the hypothesis that psychiatrists can’t reliably tell the difference between people who are sane and those who are insane

Question 19

What is the research method of Rosenhans study?

Answer 19

Participant observation in naturalistic environment. Carried out in 12 psychiatric hospitals with 8 pseudo patients.

Question 20

What was the sample used in Rosenhans study?

Answer 20

The staff of the 12 psychiatric hospitals

Question 21

What is the first part of the method of Rosenhans study?

Answer 21

Pseudo patient phoned the hospital for an appointment. They said they heard voices (unfamiliar, same-sex, said words such as empty and thud). Once admitted they reported they were fine and had no more symptoms. They made notes on their observations and took part in all ward activities.

Question 22

What are the first results of Rosenhans study?

Answer 22

Seven out of eight diagnosed schizophrenic and one diagnosed bipolar. Time in hospital 7 to 52 days (average 19 days) once discharged” schizophrenic in remission”.
Writing was considered abnormal as well as queueing 30 minutes before lunch .
Of the hospital Attles pseudo patient asked staff members when they were next week presented at the staff meetings 71% of psychiatrist and 88% of nurses ignored pseudo patients. When similar study conducted by students at Stamford 0% of staff ignored – highlights stickiness of labels

Question 23

What is the second part of rosenthans method

Answer 23

One hospital used in part one was falsely informed that during next three months one or more pseudo patients would attempt to be admitted. Staff asked to write on a 10 point scale the likelihood that new patient were pseudo patient.

Question 24

What were the results for the second part of rosenthans study

Answer 24

Of 193 genuine patients 41 which judge to be pseudo patients and 19 of those were by both a psychiatrist and another staff

Question 25

What is the conclusion of Rosen Hans study?

Answer 25

Highlights problems based when identifying psychological illness. Even trained professionals make errors when identifying characteristics of mental illness.

Question 26

What are the essential symptoms of the affective disorder of depression?

Answer 26

Five or more symptoms present during same two week period
-Depressed mood for most of all day
-Lots of interest or pleasure in all or most activities

Question 27

Other potential symptoms of the affective disorder of depression

Answer 27

-Appetite change
-Insomnia or hypersomnia
-inability to relax or excessive lethargy
-Recurrent thoughts of death or suicidal ideation

Question 28

What is the duration required for a depression diagnosis?

Answer 28

Five or more symptoms during the same two period

Question 29

What are the essential symptoms of the psychotic disorder schizophrenia?

Answer 29

Delusions, hallucinations and disorganised speech

Question 30

What are the additional symptoms of schizophrenia?

Answer 30

-highly disorganised behaviour or catatonic behaviour
-Negative symptoms e.g. reduced emotional expression

Question 31

What is the duration of symptoms needed for schizophrenia diagnosis?

Answer 31

Two characteristic symptoms for at least one month

Also continuous signs of disturbance for six months, no major changes made and no drug use or medical conditions

Question 32

What are the symptoms of the anxiety disorder of phobias?

Answer 32

-Phobic stimulus, provoke immediate fear or anxiety
-stimulus is deliberately avoided
-Anxiety caused is disproportionate to its actual danger
-It causes impairments and areas such as work or social life.

Question 33

What is the duration of symptoms needed for a phobia diagnosis?

Answer 33

Distress is persistent and last six months or more