Explaining MH & Disorder Flashcards
Biopsychosocial Model
Crisis: since disease is defined in terms of somatic parameters, physicians needs not be concerned with psychosocial issues which lie outside of Mexico is responsibilities (Engel)
BPS model is a way of understanding how suffering, disease & illness are affected by multiple levels of organisation, from societal to molecular
Engel’s critique of biomedicine
A biochemical alteration does not translate directly into illness, other factors involved
Biological alterations do not shed light on symptoms e.g. complex disorders
Psychosocial variables are more important to determinants of susceptibility, severity & course of illness
Biological treatments are influenced by psychological factors e.g. placebo effect
Adopting a sick role is not necessarily associated with the presence of biological alteration
Genetic factors
Some disorders strongly determined by genetic makeup
Most have been found to be polygenic & also influenced by environment
Concordance studies
Around 50% of enduring personality traits & cognitive factors genetically determined
Epigenetics
Environments influence on genes
Genes cause endophenotypes, clinical factors suggestion susceptibility to disorder
Kandel; ability of genes to be turned on & off allows us to learn, diathesis-stress model, reciprocal gene-environment model
Caspi; neither genes nor environmental factors can solely explain onset of depression
RGEM; genetics may contribute to individual experiencing stressful life events, increase genetic vulnerability= increased chance of stress
Role of Biology
GABA; benzodiazepines, anxiety
Dopamine; schizophrenia
Serotonin; depression
Damage in discrete brain regions doesn’t usually lead to psychopathology
Widespread & more subtle pathology seen
Genetic variants can lead to functional changes in neurochemical/ neuronal makeup
Can alter behaviour, damage can lead to impaired ability to regulate ourselves
Psychosocial influences
Baxter et al (1992)
CBT for OCD showed brain changes observed through imaging
Placebo effect
Drug treatments vs therapy
Behavioural & cognitive influences
Conditioning & cognitive processes; involvement of learning, increased complexity
Seligman; learned helplessness, attribution of degree of control, important for mental wellbeing
Bandura; social learning, observational learning, importance of social context
Prepared learning; genetic disposition towards fearing particular objects
Cognitive science & the unconscious
Ability to process & store info unconsciously
Implicit memory
Supportive of some of Freud’s theory
Stoop task; explores unconscious biases, takes longer to say words in particular colour
Emotions
Fear & physiology; what causes it & why
Emotion of fear; subjective feeling of terror, strong motivation for behaviour, complex arousal response
Emotion is an action tendency; experience linked to action e.g. avoidance
Different from mood
Emotion & psychopathology
Anger & your heart
Effects of suppression, mania, panic attack’s, effect on heart rate & cognitive processes
Evolutional perspective; universal fears
Don’t experience emotion without brain changes
Sociocultural influences
Gender; higher prevalence of major depression & anxiety based disorders in women, more conduct disorders & ADHD in men
Culture; stigma, westernisation
Ethnicity; schizophrenia in individuals of African descent
Poverty; conduct disorders, substance abuse & dependency problems
Life-span development
Effect of experiences on vulnerability to psychopathology, different times in life
Erickson; 8 major crises in life, determined by biological maturation & social demands
Challenging environments have different effects on the brain depending on stage of development, even prenatal effects
Different paths can be investigated to see what components may help build resilience or increase vulnerability
