What are the 4 models of Mental Health/Illness?
Biological, Psychological Behavioural, Social Model, Biopsychosocial model
What are the views, causes, and treatments according to the Biological Model?
Mental health and illness is binary, mental health is natural state, caused by biological factors (genetics, disease), psychopharmaceuticals and ECT are treatment options.
What are the views, causes, and treatments according to the Psychological Behavioural Model?
-Mental disorders are common patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that hamper one’s abilities to feel good and meet obligations (instead of having a disorder, it’s more like experiencing a disorder).
-Experiences lead to patterns of thinking and feeling, which leads to behaviours.
- Mental illness arise as a result of personal experiences and perspectives.
- Symptoms exist along a continuum.
-Treatments involve psychotherapy (talking and thinking discussions)
What are the views, causes, and treatments according to the Social Model?
- Mental illnesses and health are social products.
- Considers individual in context of social environment
- views on it depend on societies construction of it (who’s in power) and is fluid.
- Causes can be anything.
- Treatment involves social interventions.
- *DEMEDICALIZATION (LOOK AT SOCIAL CAUSES)
How does Implicit Bias affect healthcare/diagnoses?
- Interpersonal Interactions (DIAGNOSES AND MAY BE IN DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA AS WELL)
- Internal dynamics
- “Costs”/”Wastes”
What are the ways different ways of diagnosing and the limits?
DSM, ICD, tallies
mostly made by upper middle class and largely white cultural backgrounds (reinforce particular cultural norms), conflicts of interest
Why does mental health matter?
- How we experience the world
- easier time navigating life
- help understand and explain actions and behaviour
- has social meaning
- goal of public health in relation to mental health is to decrease suffering
- diagnosis –> treatment and getting better
- diagnosis can result in stigma and mistreatment
- diagnosis can result in involuntary treatment
- behaviours deemed problematic are increasingly explained in terms of mental disorders
How does mental health impact identity?
Part of identity and who we are, what we imagine about ourselves and future, could let us have patience and understanding for those who have poor mental health, understand human actions and behaviour
What is the limit of using distress to conceptualize mental health?
Bad feelings and distress are normal reactions to stressors. Would it be healthy to NEVER feel distressed?
What is the limit of using abnormality to conceptualize mental health?
Usually assumes that abnormal = unhealthy, but many mental disorders are common
What is the limit of using dysfunction to conceptualize mental health?
dysfunction means a person’s thought and feelings influence daily needs and responsibilities, but it is also influenced by resources and environment
What are characteristics of the different definitions of mental health and illness?
Vary over place and time, have strengths and limits.
What are the pros and cons of WHO’s definition?
Pros - aspirational and universally agreeable
Cons- some people have less ability to contribute to society and not due to anything about the individual person
What are the Pros and cons of DSM’s definition?
Touches on distress, abnormality and disability and relies on professional judgement
Pros - flexible definition, brings many perspectives = possible for many mental health professionals to use it
Cons - Flexibility in definition may indicate lack of strong evidence about nature of mental illness
What is the Biopsychosocial model?
Suggests biological factors, social conditions, and individual experiences all contribute to a person’s mental health
*social in this context = social determinants of health
What is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders?
- descriptions of each diagnosis and includes a checklist of symptoms, used to determine a specific diagnosis
- practitioner observes and speaks with clients to make diagnosis
- evolves each new edition, some disorders removed or redefined, new ones added, symptoms modified, revisions
What is the International Classification of Diseases?
- Produced by WHO
- Includes all recognized health conditions (not just mental)
- includes diagnostic criteria
- definitive classification schemes highly relevant to public health
What are Clinical Scales?
A diagnostic tool to measure mental state with a series of “standard” questions, answers can determine severity of the condition (ex: Hamilton Depression Rating Scale)
What are the limits of clinical judgement and subjective assessment?
- measuring behaviour against “normality”
- what counts as bizarre is subjective and up to clinical judgements of practitioners
- clinical encounters = social interactions
