W3 Abnormality

Page 6: Understanding Normal and Abnormal

  • Rosenhan’s study questions mental health diagnoses:

    • Healthy subjects reported auditory hallucinations, mostly diagnosed with schizophrenia.

    • Raised the question of normal vs. abnormal behavior.

Page 7: Cultural Views on Abnormality

  • Normal: Average behaviors are accepted.

  • Abnormal: Deviations are often shunned, including crime or unusual social behaviors.

    • Importance of sociocultural contexts and norms that vary over time.

    • eg homosexuality

Page 8: Complexity of Abnormality

  • Human variability in handling emotions (e.g., anxiety, depression) complicates definitions.

  • Subjectivity of experiences.

  • Not all abnormal behaviors cause personal distress (e.g., notorious criminals).

Page 9: Key Features of Abnormality

  • Distress: Affecting self or others

  • Judgment: Labeling as "not normal"

  • Dysfunction: Impacts personal or societal function

  • Deviation: Violations of social norms

Page 10: Commonality of Disorders

  • Acknowledgment that many individuals experience mental disorders:

    • Current: Some,

    • Yearly: More,

    • Lifetime: Approximately half.

    • Consequences include death, disability, and work losses.

Page 12: Understanding Diagnostic Labeling

  • Purpose: Understanding mental health for treatment

  • Facilitates communication and understanding of conditions

  • Observational patterns lead to classification of mental health issues.

Page 13: Evolution of Diagnostic Manuals

  • DSM Overview:

    • DSM-I = prevalence of mental health conditions, 2 sections

    • DSM-II = first revision, 10 diagnostic sections

    • DSM-III to DSM-IV = more detail and reliable diagnosis, inclusion of clinically significant distress of impairment

    • DSM-5 = describes 22 major categories containing more than 200 different mental disorders

Page 14: Benefits of Diagnostic Labelling

  • Provides recognition and name for experiences.

  • Fosters a sense of community and belonging.

  • Availability of treatments once disorders are identified.

Page 15: Challenges of Diagnostic Labelling

  • Risks of oversimplifying individuals into categories.

  • Issues of individuality, stigma, and the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Page 18: Understanding Schizophrenia

  • Presentation on how individuals perceive mental illness.

  • Contributions from Kraepelin in defining schizophrenia as a distinct disorder.

Page 19: Schizophrenia Demographics

  • Prevalence:

    • Affects about 1% of the population

    • Equal distribution among genders with later onset for women.

  • Recognizes global occurrences with variations in outcomes.

Page 20: Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia

  • Delusions:

    • thought insertion, broadcast, withdrawal, control

    • paranoia, reference, grandeur

  • Hallucinations

    • parroting, arguing, commenting

    • bizarre behaviour, disorganised speech

Page 22: Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia

  • Examples include:

    • Alogia

    • Social withdrawal

    • Apathy and anhedonia.

Page 23: Diagnostic Criteria for Schizophrenia

  • Overview of ICD-10 subtypes.

  • DSM-5 criteria detailing symptoms required for diagnoses:

    • Must exhibit 2 or more symptoms for at least one month.

    • At least one symptom must be: delusions, hallucinations, disorganised speech, grossly disorganised or catatonic behaviour, or negative symptoms.

Page 24: Schizophrenia and Suicidal Behavior

  • Increased risk among isolated males.

  • Statistics on suicides and attempts among patients.

Page 25: Key Terms in Mental Health

  • Normality/ abnormality • Statistical infrequency/ social norms • Personal suffering • Diagnostic labelling of mental health • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychological disorders (DSM) • Community Schizophrenia • Positive symptoms • Delusions of thought • Hallucinations • Negative symptoms • Diagnostic criteria