QMHA EXAM 1 Study Guide Question
and answers 100% correct 2025/2026
The 3 main historical theories about mental illness - correct answer ✔1. SUPERNATURAL: Supernatural
theories attribute mental illness to possession by evil or demonic spirits, the displeasure of gods,
eclipses, planetary gravitation, curses, and sin.
2. SOMATOGENIC: identify disturbances in physical functioning resulting from either illness, genetic
inheritance, or brain damage or imbalance
3. PSYCHOGENIC: focus on traumatic or stressful experiences, maladaptive (Links to an external site.)
learned associations and cognitions, or distorted perceptions.
Who was Dorthea Dix? - correct answer ✔retired school teacher Dorothea Dix discovered the
negligence that resulted from such conditions, she advocated for the establishment of state hospitals.
What are the most effective treatments today? - correct answer ✔COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY,
Psychoanalytic therapy, person-centered therapy, mindfulness-based therapy
What are the 4 "D's" of mental illness? - correct answer ✔DISTRESS: When behavior causes anxiety,
bad feelings, or other negative feelings for either the person or others who come in contact with them
DANGER: Behaviors are detrimental to the person or people around them
DEVIANCE: statistical deviance: behavior does not occur in society
Social deviance: community find the behavior "odd", but not enough to
Alone to be considered abnormal
, DYSFUNCTION: The point at which a person has significant impairment in a living area, work, home,
interpersonal or social life is impaired
Why isn't "Psychoanalysis" used as often today as it was historically (remember, Sigmund Freud was
NOT a psychologist)? - correct answer ✔-Perhaps the greatest disadvantage of psychoanalysis and
related approaches is the lack of empirical support for their effectiveness.
- Psychoanalysis is not appropriate those with severe psychopathology or mental retardation.
- psychoanalysis is often expensive because treatment usually lasts many years.
What manual do most professionals use to look up diagnostic criteria? - correct answer ✔Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 5)
Who published this manual (which pro organization)? - correct answer ✔American Psychiatric
Association/ APA (MD)
What is the FIRST step in the assessment process? - correct answer ✔determine if a treatment is even
needed
What percentage of people report benefits from psychotherapy? - correct answer ✔about 75 percent
Clinical Interview - correct answer ✔face-to-face encounter between a mental health professional and
a patient in which the former observes the latter and gathers data about the person's behavior,
attitudes, current situation, personality, and life history
mental status examination - correct answer ✔is used to organize the information collected during the
interview and to systematically evaluate the client through a series of observations and questions
assessing appearance and behavior (e.g., grooming and body language), thought processes and content
(e.g., disorganized speech or thought and false beliefs), mood and affect (e.g., hopelessness or elation),
and answers 100% correct 2025/2026
The 3 main historical theories about mental illness - correct answer ✔1. SUPERNATURAL: Supernatural
theories attribute mental illness to possession by evil or demonic spirits, the displeasure of gods,
eclipses, planetary gravitation, curses, and sin.
2. SOMATOGENIC: identify disturbances in physical functioning resulting from either illness, genetic
inheritance, or brain damage or imbalance
3. PSYCHOGENIC: focus on traumatic or stressful experiences, maladaptive (Links to an external site.)
learned associations and cognitions, or distorted perceptions.
Who was Dorthea Dix? - correct answer ✔retired school teacher Dorothea Dix discovered the
negligence that resulted from such conditions, she advocated for the establishment of state hospitals.
What are the most effective treatments today? - correct answer ✔COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY,
Psychoanalytic therapy, person-centered therapy, mindfulness-based therapy
What are the 4 "D's" of mental illness? - correct answer ✔DISTRESS: When behavior causes anxiety,
bad feelings, or other negative feelings for either the person or others who come in contact with them
DANGER: Behaviors are detrimental to the person or people around them
DEVIANCE: statistical deviance: behavior does not occur in society
Social deviance: community find the behavior "odd", but not enough to
Alone to be considered abnormal
, DYSFUNCTION: The point at which a person has significant impairment in a living area, work, home,
interpersonal or social life is impaired
Why isn't "Psychoanalysis" used as often today as it was historically (remember, Sigmund Freud was
NOT a psychologist)? - correct answer ✔-Perhaps the greatest disadvantage of psychoanalysis and
related approaches is the lack of empirical support for their effectiveness.
- Psychoanalysis is not appropriate those with severe psychopathology or mental retardation.
- psychoanalysis is often expensive because treatment usually lasts many years.
What manual do most professionals use to look up diagnostic criteria? - correct answer ✔Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 5)
Who published this manual (which pro organization)? - correct answer ✔American Psychiatric
Association/ APA (MD)
What is the FIRST step in the assessment process? - correct answer ✔determine if a treatment is even
needed
What percentage of people report benefits from psychotherapy? - correct answer ✔about 75 percent
Clinical Interview - correct answer ✔face-to-face encounter between a mental health professional and
a patient in which the former observes the latter and gathers data about the person's behavior,
attitudes, current situation, personality, and life history
mental status examination - correct answer ✔is used to organize the information collected during the
interview and to systematically evaluate the client through a series of observations and questions
assessing appearance and behavior (e.g., grooming and body language), thought processes and content
(e.g., disorganized speech or thought and false beliefs), mood and affect (e.g., hopelessness or elation),
