Week 1: Mental Health Flashcards
What is mental health?
a state of mental well-being that enables people to:
- cope with the stresses of life
- realize their abilities
- learn well and work well
- contribute to their community
What is the dual factor model for mental health?
- psychopathology
- well-being
What are the four perspectives on mental health?
- empirical perspective
- developmental contextual perspective
- social constructionism perspective
- systems theory
What is empirical perspective?
derived from experimentation
What is empirical perspective as applied to mental health?
may involve quantifying or measuring different dimensions
What is developmental contextual perspective?
bidirectional interactions between biological and environmental variables shape development
What is developmental contextual perspective as applied to mental health?
- mental health is influenced by biological and environmental factors
- mental health also influences biological and environmental factors
What is is social constructionism perspective?
any knowledge of reality is created by language, culture, and/or society and is not objectively or universally valid
What is social constructionism perspective as applied to mental health?
- mental health disorder are often based on social norms or values
- culture and society shape a person’s response to symptoms/illness
- mental illnesses manifest differently across cultures
- different beliefs across cultures about the causes of mental illness may influence preferred treatment approaches
What is systems theory?
any entity or phenomenon is viewed as part of a set of elements that interact with and depend on one another
What is systems theory as applied to mental health?
- systems are self-organizing: patterns emerge from interaction of the components, and this organization promotes continuity
- small changes can create cascading effects
- systems may be re-organized or destabilized by environmental changes
- processes are non-linear
What do clinical psychologists do?
- assessment
- intervention
- research
- consultation
- teaching
What do clinical psychologists do in assessment?
- interviewing
- observation
- questionnaires
- diagnosis
What do clinical psychologists do in intervention?
- therapy
- counselling
- organizational/systems change
What do clinical psychologists do in research?
- observational
- experimental
- program evaluation
What do clinical psychologists do in consultation?
- individual
- organizational
What do clinical psychologists do in teaching?
- supervision
- training
- course instructor
What are the social determinants of health?
- stress, bodies, and illness
- income and income distribution
- housing
- disability
- Indigenous ancestry
- gender
- race
Stress, bodies, and illness
high levels of stress and long term stress impacts multiple domains (psychological, physiological) and living conditions
Income and Income Distribution
suicide rates are doubled and life span is 20% lower in low income vs. high income neighbourhoods
Housing
Canada has one of highest levels of low paying jobs and one of the highest family poverty rates
Disability
employment disparities between people with disabilities
Indigenous Ancestry
5-6x suicide rates in Indigenous compared to other Canadians due to various contributors such as food insecurity, housing, income, employment and education
Gender
women experience more household responsibility, wage gap, career paths, morbidity, and mental health issues
Race
multicultural countries are affected by racism due to economic and social deprivation, socially-inflicted trauma, inadequate or degrading medical care, degradation of ecosystem but are unaware
