OCR Psychology - Historical Views of Mental Health

What is the Supernatural explanation of mental health?

When people believed mental health was caused by demonic possession

What was trephination?

When holes were drilled into people’s heads to release evil spirits

What four humours caused mental illness by being imbalanced?

blood, phlegm, yellow bile + black bile

How would they treat depression? (4 humours)

Certain diets + laxatives

What were emetics?

Drugs used to induce vomiting

What is the Psychodynamic explanation for mental illness?

Unconscious conflicts, desires + early childhood experiences can cause mental illness

What is the social norms definition of abnormality?

When standards of acceptable behaviour are set by what society views as normal

What is a strength of the social norms definition?

It takes into account culture

What is weakness of the social norms definition?

As social norms change over time, it’s a an unstable definition

What the statistical infrequency definition of abnormality?

Behaviour that occurs infrequently in the population is viewed as abnormal (2 standard deviations from the mean)

What is a strength of the statistical infrequency definition?

It’s an objective way of measuring abnormality

What are weakness of the statistical infrequency definition?

Some infrequent behaviours are desirable + the cut off point is arbitrary

What is the failure to function adequately definition of abnormality?

When someone is unable to cope with the demands of everyday life independently

What is a strength of the failure to function adequately definition?

It takes into account whether someone is coping with everyday life + whether they need help

What is a weakness of the failure to function adequately definition?

It is subjective

What definition is the best?

Failure to function adequately as it looks as whether someone needs help

What is the ideal mental mental health definition of abnormality?

Jahoda said being able to resist stress, having a positive view of yourself, having an accurate view of reality + more are needed for ideal mental health

What is a strength of the ideal mental health definition?

It’s useful to have criteria to judge whether someone is functioning well or not

What is a weakness of the ideal mental health definition?

Most people would be abnormal according to this as it is unrealistic + difficult to measure

What are the two classifications used to diagnose mental disorders?

ICD-10 + DSM-5

What chapter in ICD-10 is used for mental disorders?

Chapter 5, section F

How does ICD-10 categorise mental disorders?

It groups disorders into categories + outlines the symptoms

What is the ICD-10 code for affective disorders?

F30 - F39

How does DSM-5 categorise mental disorders?

It groups them into families

What does section two of DSM-5 do?

It gives details about specific symptoms + how long a person needs to present them to require a diagnosis

What else does ICD-10 look at?

Physical illness

What is inter-rater reliability in diagnosis?

When two or more clinicians agree when categorising a mental disorder

What inter-rater reliability was found for anxiety + mood disorders with DSM-4?

+0.67

What increases the validity of categorising mental disorders?

People with the same mental illness displaying similar symptoms + reactions to treatment

What is predictive validity?

When a diagnosis predicts how someone will behave in the future + respond to treatment

What did Neighbors et al.’s study suggest?

As African Americans were more likely to be diagnosed with mood disorders, there is a bias in diagnosis

What was the aim of Rosenhan’s study?

To see whether the sane could be distinguished from the insane

What is a pseudopatient?

Someone pretending to display symptoms of a mental disorder

What was the sample in Rosenhan’s 1st study?

The patients + staff in the hospitals

How many hospitals were used in Rosenhan's 1st study?

12 in 5 different states, all varying in size + funding

How many pseudopatients were used in Rosenhan’s 1st study?

8 - including Rosenhan

What was the symptom that the pseudopatients were experiencing?

Hearing voices saying, “empty, hollow + thud”

What research method did Rosenhan use in his 1st study?

Participant observation

What are the results of Rosenhan’s 1st study?

All the pseudopatients were admitted + released after an average of 19 days, with a diagnoses of schizophrenia in remission

How often did staff mingle with the patients?

11.3% of the time

What did Rosenhan conclude in his 1st study?

Staff in psychiatric hospitals are unable to distinguish between the sane + insane / DSM is not a valid measurement of mental illness

What questionnaire did the staff complete in Rosenhan’s 2nd experiment?

A questionnaire where they rated patients who wanted to be admitted on a 10 point rating scale

How many staff members felt confident that they had recognised pseudopatients in Rosenhan’s 2nd experiment?

11

What are the staff’s results in Rosenhan’s 2nd experiment?

41 / 193 were judged as pseudopatients

What were the psychiatrists results in Rosenhan’s 2nd experiment?

19 / 193 were recognised as pseudopatients

How many pseudopatients were there in Rosenhan’s 2nd experiment?

0

What is a conclusion of Rosenhan’s 2nd experiment?

People can be incorrectly diagnosed

What is the stickiness of labels?

When psychiatric labels influence how people's behaviour is interpreted

What is Rosenhan’s example of the stickiness of labels?

The pseudopatients were released with schizophrenia in remission and not sane + all their behaviour was labelled as abnormal

What the average amount of time that staff spent with patients per day?

6.8 minutes

What is depersonalisation?

When you feel emotionally disconnected from people

Why did Rosenhan suggest that the staff was abusive?

They felt they were in a position of power above the patients

What was the patients’ main cause of depersonalisation?

Lack of time spent with staff

Were Rosenhan’s studies generalisable?

To an extent as a range of hospitals were used, but they were in all in America

Was Rosenhan’s 1st study reliable?

To an extent as patients reported the same symptoms, but results may differ if repeated today as DSM has improved

What is an application of Rosenhan’s 1st study?

It raised awareness to the flaws in psychiatric diagnoses + treatment which led to improvements

Why is Rosenhan’s research socially sensitive?

It could have led to distrust of psychiatry + diagnoses

How have mental hospitals improved?

Contact time between staff - patients has increased / staff have been trained to improve communication with patients (less depersonalisation)

What is an affective disorder?

A disorder that affects someone’s emotions / mood

What is an example of an affective disorder?

Depression

What fraction of people are likely to experience depression in their lifetime?

1 / 5

What is the most common age range for the onset of depression?

20 - 30

How much more likely are females to diagnosed with depression compared to males?

2x (5.5% vs 3.2%)

Where is it more likely to develop mental illness?

Urban areas

How does ICD-10 describe depressive symptoms?

Low mood (nearly everyday), loss of interest in things they used to enjoy + low energy levels

What does a diagnosis of mild depression need?

2 / 3 key symptoms

What does a diagnosis of moderate depression need?

4+ symptoms

What does a diagnosis of severe depression need?

7+

What is a phobia?

Irrational / excessive fear of an object / situation

What are specific phobias?

A fear of a particular object / situation

What is an example of a specific phobia?

Arachnophobia - fear of spiders

What % of females have a phobia at one time?

3%

What % of males have a phobia at one time?

2%

What are 3 symptoms of specific phobias?

Avoidance, panic + irrational thoughts

What is an example of an irrational thought?

Believing all spiders are dangerous + deadly although they are not in the UK

What is required for an ICD-10 diagnosis of a specific phobia?

2 / 14 symptoms + significant emotional distress

What are psychotic disorders?

Disorders that lead to abnormal thinking

How much more likely are males to develop schizophrenia than females?

1.4x

What is the average age of onset for schizophrenia?

18 for men + 25 for women

What does the term “positive symptoms” mean?

Additional symptoms from the disorder

What does the term “negative symptoms” mean?

absence of behaviour due to the disorder

What is an example of a positive symptom of schizophrenia?

Auditory hallucinations

What is an example of a negative symptom of schizophrenia?

Poverty of speech

What are cognitive deficits?

When a person’s mental processes are affected negatively

What is a cognitive deficit of schizophrenia?

Disorganised thought / speech

What is thought insertion?

A cognitive deficit where people believe thoughts are being inserted from outside

Which system that categorises mental illnesses recognises different subtypes of schizophrenia?

ICD-10

What subtypes of schizophrenia does ICD-10 recognise?

Paranoid (powerful delusions) + hebrephrenic (mostly negative symptoms) schizophrenia

What is required for a diagnosis of schizophrenia according to ICD-10?

2 clear cut symptoms that have lasted for one month minimum