Psychological disorders Flashcards
(52 cards)
Psychopathology literally translates to
‘sickness of the mind’ but more formally refers to patterns of thought, feeling or behaviour that significantly disrupt personal, social (family and friends) and occupational functioning and cause significant distress to the person and significant others
According to Thomas Szasz (1974), psychopathology is a
myth
‘mental illness’ is a
socially constructed and stigmatic label to punish people when they do not conform to social or cultural norms; thus, it is on cultural norms that we distinguish ‘normal’ from ‘abnormal’ behaviour.
Two limitations of the assertion that ‘mental illness is not real’ is that
(i) the symptoms of many mental disorders are recognised cross-culturally (i.e. they are not just socially constructed because they are independent of cultural factors), and (ii) the disruption to a person’s well being is significant enough to warrant differentiating normal from abnormal behaviour and for creating ‘categories’ or types of mental illnesses.
mental disorder’ more specifically refers to a
clinically recognisable set of symptoms and behaviors that usually need treatments to be alleviated; also, mental disorders are simply ‘mental health problems’ at more intense levels
Mental health problems refer to the
normal and wide range of emotional and behavioral abnormalities that affect almost all people at some point throughout their lives, and can include cognitive impairment and disability, phobias, panic attacks, drug-related harm, anxiety, personality disorders, depressive disorders and symptoms of psychoses
Mental health refers to a
state of emotional and social wellbeing where the individual realises their own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and contribute to the community
There are five main theoretical approaches to psychopathology:
(i) psychodynamic, (ii) cognitive-behavioural, (iii) biological, (iv) systems and (v) evolutionary; each of these are best used in complement as they are not mutually exclusive and competing theories
neuroses refer to
normal and everyday problems in living; they occur in almost all people at some point in their life but do not stop people from functioning reasonably well
personality disorders
where a person exhibits more enduring maladaptive patterns of thought, feeling and behaviour that are leading to chronic disturbances in interpersonal relationships and occupational functioning; that is, they have difficulty maintaining meaningful relationships and employment, they interpret interpersonal events in highly distorted ways and are chronically vulnerable to depression and anxiety
psychoses refer to
gross disturbances in mental functioning to the point where there is a loss of touch with reality (e.g. hallucinations and delusions)
neuroses and personality disorders stem mostly from
environmental experiences (esp. traumas experienced in childhood)
psychoses stem mostly from
biological factors with some stressors from environment
from the behaviourist point of view, mental disorders develop because
of associations with a previously neutral stimulus that has become paired with an emotionally arousing one
from the point of view of cognitive psychology, there is an
emphasis on dysfunctional attitudes, beliefs and cognitive processes (e.g. irrational beliefs and maladaptive cognitive processes)
In the biological approach,
mental disorders result from brain dysfunction in specific parts of the brain or in the functioning of neurotransmitters
The cognitive-behavioural perspective
integrates classical and operant conditioning (behaviorism) with theories of social cognition
In the systems approach, mental disorders and abnormal behaviour are
explained in terms of the social context or social system that that individual belongs to
According to the evolutionary perspective,symptoms of mental illness have evolved because
they are useful to ensuring the species survives and reproduces, but individuals with extreme levels of these symptoms require therapy
according to the ‘diathesis-stress model’, a mental illness occurs under an episode of stress because
of an underlying vulnerability that is either biological (e.g. genetic predisposition) or environmental (e.g. childhood trauma)
One common type of ‘disruptive, impulse-control and conduct disorders’ is
conduct disorder.
Conduct disorder is
characterised by the persistent violation of societal norms and the rights of others; symptoms include physical aggression toward people and animals, chronic fighting, persistent lying, vandalism, stealing, resent taking direction, lack of empathy and compassion
One common type of ‘neurodevelopmental disorder’ is
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
ADHD is
characterised by inattention, impulsiveness and hyperactivity that is inappropriate for the child’s age;
