Mental health psychology C3

• Prehistory = supernatural explanation

  Causes = supernatural forces

  Examples = hallucinations, delusions, aggression

  Treatments = trepanning (drilling holes in skull to remove evil spirits), exorcism (religious rituals), appeal to gods
• Hippocrates = humoral theory

  causes = imbalance in bodily fluids

  -blood = cheerful, outgoing, sociable = frenzied state = bloodletting, exercise

  -phlegm = calm, unemotional, lethargic = depression = induced vomiting, exercise

  -yellow bile = irritable, short tempered, angry = anxiety = induced vomiting

  -black bile = sad, pessimistic = depression = induced vomiting, exercise

  Treatments = remove excess
• Bloodletting = removing blood from body to restore balance
• Induced Vomiting = making patient throw up to get rid of bad fluid
• Freud = psychogenic approach

  causes = interaction of individuals psychological and social experiences

  Example = unresolved emotional conflict, trauma, early childhood experiences

  Treatment = talk therapy, resolve conflicts, CBT
• Biological = somatogenic approach

  causes = biological and physical abnormalities

  Examples = infections, hormones, genetics, brain

  = Schizophrenia caused by abnormal dopamine levels

  Treatments = medication, ECT
• Statistical infrequency:

  rare or unusual behaviour

  doesnt fit average

  Eg 1% of population have SZ
• Deviation from social norms:

  violates unwritten rules about what is acceptable or expected behaviour

  offending or immoral behaviour
• The DSM:

  handbook used to diagnose mental disorders by healthcare professionals

  Descriptions and symptoms of disorders

  reviewed and revisited

  Common language
• SZ spectrum and other psychotic disorders = schizophrenia

  Depressive disorders = Major depressive disorder

  Anxiety disorders = separation anxiety
• Strengths of the DSM:

  • Reliable
  • Efforts to improve
  • Consistency
  • Revisions and Updates
• Weaknesses of the DSM:

  • not consistent = concerns
  • Subjective judgement = self-report
• Rosenhan Study 1:

  Aim = see if psychiatrics could reliably tell the difference between people who are sane and insane

  Method = field
• Rosenhan Study 1:

  DV = behaviour of staff and patients

  Participants = 12 hospitals, 5 different states in the USA, public and private

  Pseudo patients = 8 fake patients, false names and false jobs, no history of mental health, 5 male, 3 female
• Rosenhan study 1:

  Procedure = contacted for appointment, hear voices such as 'thud' ' empty ' and 'follow', same sex as their voice, all 8 admitted, 11 SZ, 1 bi-polar, stopped displaying symptoms once admitted, made notes and tried to engage staff in conversation, didn't take medicine
• Rosenhan study 1:

  Results = staff made them feel sense of powerlessness and depersonalisation, limited privacy, ignored, verbal and physical abuse
• Rosenhan study 1:

  Conclusion = unreliable, more likely to diagnose healthy as sick than sick as healthy
• Rosenhan study 2:

  Aim = to see if the insane would be diagnosed as sane, as hospitals believed they wouldnt make same errors.

  Method = self-report, natural

  Participants = real hospital and staff
• Rosenhan study 2:

  Procedure = told hospitals some patients over next few weeks would be fake, asked to rate each patient on a 10 point scale of how likely they were to be fake, no patient denied treatment, no fake patients sent, every patient real and ill
• Rosenhan study 2:

  Results = number admitted=193

  Number one staff member thought fake = 41

  Number that doctor thought to be fake = 23

  Number that two members thought to be fake = 19
• Rosenhan study 2:

  Conclusion= unreliable, could not tell who was sane or insane, more likely to diagnose healthy as sick than sick as healthy
• Overall conclusion of Rosenhan:

  unreliable diagnostic system

  Cannot distinguish sane from insane

  powerlessness and depersonalisation is common
• Characteristics of an anxiety disorder:

  Anxiety disorder = specific phobias

  disorders that share features of excessive fear and anxiety related to behavioural disturbances

  fear about a specific object/ situation

  Provokes immediate fear or anxiety

  avoid with intense fear

  out of proportion to actual danger

  6months +

  more common in teens 13-17
• Characteristics of an affective disorder:

  Major depressive disorder

  a decrease in activity or reactivity, pessimism, sadness and related symptoms

  One or more interviews with a therapist

  Five or more symptoms for a 2 week period

  change from previous functioning, with one symptom being depressed mood or loss of interest

  Symptoms: depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, uninterested, weigh loss, insomnia or hypersomnia, agitation, loss of energy or fatigue, worthlessness, excessive guilt, unable to think or concentrate, recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal attempt
• Characteristics of a psychotic disorder:

  Schizophrenia

  Out of touch with reality/loss of contact

  delusions and hallucinations

  major disturbances of thought, emotion and behaviour

  males experience symptoms for a longer duration compared to females

  Symptoms: 2+, each present for 1 month or more

  Delusions, hallucinations, disorganised speech, disorganised behaviour, negative symptoms
• Positive symptoms: Type 1

  things that have been added to a 'normal' life experience, eg delusions. These are not part of everyday normal life and are an 'added extra'.
• Negative symptoms: Type 2

  things that have been taken away from what is considered a normal life, eg lack of pleasure or speech. these are things that we would normally seek or use frequently.