Mental Health & Mental Illness

what is a mental health continuum?

• spectrum/range of symptoms that contribute to mental health

• minimal symptoms —> impairment caused by symptoms

what is resilience?

• ability and capacity to secure resources needed to support well-being

• ability to secure needed resources

• capacity for regulating one’s own emotions and overcoming negative, self-defeating thoughts

  • essential to recovery

what is the root of most mental disorders?

intercellular abnormalities

what is diathesis?

biological predisposition

Mental Health Parity Act

• Parity = Equivalence

• provide equal treatment coverage for psychiatric disorders

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

• Coverage for most uninsured Americans through expanded Medicaid eligibility (for very poor)

• health insurance exchanges to offer more choices

• “Insurance mandate” for coverage

what is incidence?

number of new cases in a given time

what is prevalence?

number of cases regardless of when they began

lifetime risk

risk that one will develop a disease in the course of a lifetime

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5)

Official medical guidelines of the American Psychiatric Association for diagnosing psychiatric disorders