background and core concepts-lecture 1

Question 1

mental health

Answer 1

• state of wellbeing
• the ability to- engage in productive activities and avoid destructive activities, make proactive contribution and engage in fulfilling relationships. adapt with stressful situations

Question 2

mental health problems

Answer 2

mood fluctuations, feelings of anxiety, trouble sleeping

Question 3

mental illness

Answer 3

• a recognised medically diagnosable condition
• significantly impairs cognitive, affective and relational abilities

Question 4

can people with/without mental illness have optimal mental health

Answer 4

• ppl can have good mental health while living with mental illness
• ppl can have poor mental health even if they dont have a mental illness

Question 5

clinical presentation of mental illness

Answer 5

• symptoms- patient can report
• signs- directly observable
• comprehensive assessment may involve multiple methods- self report, assessment, interviews etc

Question 6

key features of mental illness

Answer 6

causes distress and impairs functioning
changes in (affect)- mood and emotion, (behaviour)- sleeping and eating and social behaviour, (cognition)- flexibility, concentration, memory, attention span

Question 7

how to diagnose psychological conditions

Answer 7

• diagnostic system- assess someones symptoms
• use the system to understand the person- by looking at which symptoms go together, may reoccur, boundaries between disorders
• we can look at causes, progression, best treatment, prognosis

Question 8

validity

Answer 8

is the diagnosis accurate
improves if disorders are distinct- but often they are not- overlp in symptoms
unique and causal factors can be identified for particular disorders- but often overlap
valid diagnosis informs treatment
and treatment can help confirm a diagnosis- but not all patients are the same or respond the same

Question 9

reliability

Answer 9

• will diagnosing this person again lead to the same conclusion
• inter-rater reliability- degree to which 2 clinicians agree on diagnosis
• intra-rater relaiability- how consistently clinicians apply a diagnostic category

Question 10

standardisation can help

Answer 10

• using the same tests
• using a standardised interview proess- asking the same questions can lead to results which can be better understood
• aim for an acceptable level but higher for more common disorders

Question 11

co-morbidity

Answer 11

• when someone has 2 or more conditions
• are diagnoses reliable and valid- generally reliable but poorer validity, incorrect diagnosis lead to ineffective treatments

Question 12

aetiology- the causes

Answer 12

• broken down into paradigms

biological

• genetic paradigm, evolutionary paradigm, neuroscientific paradigm

pyschological

• cognitive- behavioural pradigm

other

• personality- psychodynamic, trait
• humanistic- counselling
• social- society, families

biopsychosocial

• combining many of the above

Question 13

biology- genetic paradigm

Answer 13

• many characteristics are partly heritable
• heritability- refers to % of variability in a phenotype within a pop that can be attributed to genetic variability
• genotype and phenotype relates to variability at pop not individual level: estimated numerically (0-1 or %)

Question 14

concordance rates

Answer 14

concordance- rate of probability that 2 people will develop the same characteristic

Question 15

family studies

Answer 15

if 1 family member has x what is the liklihood other family members will also have X
but shared/non shared environment

Question 16

twin studies

Answer 16

MZ twins share 100% genes, DZ twins share 50% genes

Question 17

adoption studies

Answer 17

(reciprocal) gene-environment interaction, how the 2 interact

Question 18

the evolutionary paradigm (biology)

Answer 18

• the study of evolution of the mind using principles of natural selection
• natural selection- why would a condition have occured and what use is it to our ancestors
• adaptive properties which has helped us survive/spread genes

Question 19

neuroscientific paradigm (biology)

Answer 19

• neurotransmitter function- derotonin/dopamine/noradrenaline/GABA- medications act on these
• brain structure (atrophy/damage/cognetical defect)- brain imaging/post mortem/injury studies/ effects of psychosurgery
• autonomic and sympathetic nervous system

Question 20

cognitive behavioural paradigm

Answer 20

cognitive- what we attend to, schemas we form, cognitive distortions/negative interpretations
behavioural- how we learn, classical, operant, modelling

Question 21

other aetiological approaches

Answer 21

• personality- psychodynamic- early experience
• humanistic- self actualised, here and now
• social- stressful life events, broader factors- heavy drinking culture, expressed emotions in families

Question 22

diathesis stress model

Answer 22

• integrates paradigms
• diathesis- biological factors, social, psychological
• plus stress- biological trigger, social, psychological
• leads to disorder

Question 23

approaches to treatment

Answer 23

biological- psychoactive medication
psychological therapies- diff therapies take diff approaches- psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive and behavioural
integrating approaches- medication and therapies