PSY 1013 Chapter 15 Lecture Notes

Psychology Chapter 15
What is Mental Illness?
 Psychopathy (mental illness) Is often seen as a failure of adaptation to the environment
 Failure analysis approach tries to understand mental illness by examining breakdowns in
functioning
 Concept of mental disorder does not have a clear-cut definition
 Many different conceptions of mental illness, each with pros and cons:
o Statistical rarity
o Subjective distress
o Impairment
o Societal disapproval
o Biological dysfunction
Historical Conceptions of Mental Illness
 Middle ages: Mental illnesses were often viewed through a demonic model
o Odd behaviors were the result of evil spirits, inhibiting the body
o Exorcisms and witch hunts were common during this time
 Renaissance: The medical model saw mental illness as a physical disorder needing
treatment
o Governments began housing people in asylum- but they were often overcrowded
 Reformers like Philippe Pinel and Dorthea Dix pushed for moral treatment
o They treated patients with dignity, respect, and kindness
o There were still no effective treatments, many continued to suffer without relief
 Modern Era
o With advent of medications, a policy of deinstitutionalization was enacted
o Deinstitutionalization had mixed results
o Some patients returned to almost normal lives, but tens of thousands has no
follow-up care and went off medications
o Community mental health centers and halfway houses attempt to help the problem
Psychiatric Diagnoses Across Cultures
 Certain conditions are culture-bound
o Koro- Involves believing your genitals are shrinking and receding into your
abdomen
o Amok- marked by episodes of intense sadness and brooding, followed by
uncontrolled behavior and violence
o Tajin Kyofushu- A fear of offending others by saying something offensive or
having body odor
 Many severe mental disorders (schizophrenia, alcoholism, psychopathy) appear to be
universal across culture
Special Considerations in Psychiatric Classification and Diagnosis
 Evidence largely contradicts common misconceptions concerning psychiatric diagnosis,
such as:

, o Psychiatric diagnosis is simply pigeonholing
o Psychiatric diagnoses are unreliable
o Psychiatric diagnoses are invalid
o Psychiatric diagnoses stigmatize people
Anxiety- Related Disorders
 Most anxieties are transient and can be adaptive
 Yet they can spin out of control and become excessive and inappropriate
 These are one of the most prevalent and earliest-onset of all classes of disorders
 Inappropriate anxiety can seep into other disorders and problems
o Somatic symptom disorder entails about physical symptoms that interfere with
daily living
o Illness anxiety disorder is the preoccupation that one has a serious undiagnosed
disease
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
 Continual feelings of worry, anxiety, physical tension, and irritability about many
areas
 About 3 percent of the population suffer with it
 More prevalent in females and Caucasians
Panic Disorder
 Repeated, unexpected panic attacks, along with either:
o Persistent concerns about future attacks; or
o A change in personal behavior in an attempt to avoid them
 Can be associated with specific situation or can come “out of the blue”
Phobias
 Intense fear of an object or situation that’s greatly out of proportion to its actual threat
 Most common anxiety disorder
 Comes in different forms, such as:
o Agoraphobia
o Specific or social phobia
PTSD
 Marked emotional disturbance after experiencing or witnessing a severely stressful event
 Symptoms include:
o Flashbacks and recurrent dreams
o Avoiding reminders of the trauma
o Increased physiological arousal
OCD
 Marked by obsessions- persistent ideas, thoughts, or impulses that are unwanted and
inappropriate and cause marked distress
 This distress is relieved by compulsions- repetitive behaviors or mental acts