Term
| What are the six current Dominant Explanations and Approaches to Mental Health Problems |
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Definition
1. The Medical Model
2. Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic-unconscious conflict
3. Behaviourism(learning theory): learned maladaptive behaviour
4. Humanism-external environment impedesnatural development
5. Cognitive Model
6. The sociocultural model: social context |
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Term
| Describe the Medical Model |
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Definition
[image]
- Focuses on physiological explanations around why we have mental health issues
- Uses an ‘illness-treatment’ model
- Borrows language from medicine
- Genetic and neurological explanations (e.g. not producing enough serotonin so we will provide you with a certain drug, genetically inevitable, problem with brain structure)
- Tend to ignore psychological and social explanations |
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Term
| What are advantages of the Medical Model |
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Definition
• If it works, it works fast
• Avoids dealing with causes such as painful childhood memories (which can be painful/difficult)
• Cheaper than therapy? Debatable when you take all the costs compounded into consideration |
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Term
| What are disadvantages of the Medical Model |
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Definition
- Suggests problems are an illness. (lack of control)
- Ignores psycho-social causes
- Doesn’t help people to help themselves ( a third of people said that they were fine, a third said they had minor symptoms, and a third were highly effected)
- Adverse effects (e.g. side effects, addiction |
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Term
| Criticisms of the Medical Model |
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Definition
- Simplistic representation of genetic causality
- Weak evidence relationship between ‘chemical imbalance’ and mental health problems.
- Even where neurological differences have been found - brain differences can be caused by the environment so it is not clear that the neurological characteristic is the ‘cause’ of the problem. Lots of people with schizophrenia have had trauma in their past, and it may have been this even that caused the biological abnormality on the elastic brain. So may need to deal with the trauma instead of issuing drugs. |
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Term
| Some of the life experiences strongly associated with mental health problems are: |
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Definition
- Child sexual and physical abuse
- Neglect and poor parenting
- Poverty
- Losses
- Discrimination
- Exposure to domestic violence and conflict
- Traumatic events
- Lack of social support/isolation
We know they have a major impact on mental health, but for some reason they are not addressed. The government refuses to measure knowing the impact it has on other people. |
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Term
| Describe the Psychoanalytic treatment |
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Definition
[image]
- Based on Freud's consciousness theory
- While we have this weird theory at top, it has had an incredible influence that has changed the lives of children and adults throughout history.
- All driven due to the ‘Pleasure Principle’ – easiest way to get pleasure
- ‘The reality principle’
- Neuroses (abnormal behavior pattern) which can lead to psychosis |
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Term
| Key concepts in psychoanalysis to do with Consciousness and Reaction management |
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Definition
Results in conflict – unacceptable feelings/thoughts are held back from awareness (consciousness) and remain in the Unconscious
- We are constantly fighting against our Super Ego. For example, alcohol companies would not exist if we weren’t trying to have contact with our Id, and get pleasure without the guilt.
- We try to develop the super ego in order to keep us from constantly expressing ‘pleasure’ emotions that should be suppressed |
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Term
| What are the seven Ego Defences? |
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Definition
Unconscious conflict causes anxiety and we respond by shoring up the ego’s defences against unconscious material emerging into consciousness:
1. Denial (Avoids anxiety by refusing to acknowledge an aspect of external reality)
2. Projection (Attributes unacceptable feelings to others)
3. Introjection (turning against self - takes feelings towards others and directs these back towards the self)
4. Displacement (Directs impulses towards a more appropriate target)
5. Reaction formation (Acts in exact opposite way of impulse he/she is afraid to acknowledge)
6. Intellectualisation (Overly rational response aimed at distancing)
7. Sublimation (expresses unacceptable wishes in socially acceptable ways e.g. boxing instead of psychically hitting someone)
BUT sometimes the anxiety comes out anyway and often these defences create other problems for the person such as cause problems in relationships |
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Term
| Explain the importance of Early Relationships in Psychoanalytic treatment |
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Definition
- Conflicts relate most often to early experiences
- Relationships with children have completely changed because people are very fearful with damaging those relationships at a really young age
- Most important early experiences are focused on primary relationships (mother/father/primary carers)
- Early relationships form a blue-print for later relationships. People are fearful of harming those early relationships. (View on this has changed a lot from history in which this was not evident)
- Attachment theory – showed how quality of relationships in early childhood (before the age of 2) predict later relationships. |
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Term
| Psychoanalytic Explanations of Mental Health Problems |
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Definition
- Conflict between different wishes/motives
- Leads to unacceptable motives or feelings being repressed into the unconscious
- Ego defences help to keep these unacceptable motives and feeling in the unconscious
- But they end up showing themselves in indirect ways that produce mental health problems
- Most conflicts relate to early experiences in relationships with attachment figures
- Its goal is not only to alleviate the most obvious symptoms but to help people lead healthier lives.
- Problem with this is that in having that insight on these causes it doesn’t change anything. Will have to think about when you are with other people, will have to change behaviour. Actually have to do something with that insight. |
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Term
| What are the Techniques of Psychoanalysis? |
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Definition
Psychoanalysis is a form of insight therapy where the aim is to help people discover and make sense of the root causes of their problems via:
• FREE ASSOCIATION encourage people to say whatever comes to mind – enable clues about unconscious material to emerge.
• DREAM ANALYSIS
• INTERPRETATION Explore links that help to illuminate the unconscious conflict
• CHALLENGE RESISTANCE Help people to recognise their resistance and overcome their defences
• TRANSFERENCE is the process by which a therapist becomes the object of the patient’s emotional attitudes towards other important people in their lives. This can be used to identify maladaptive relationship patterns and develop alternative ways of relating in therapy.
• INSIGHT allows for conflicts to be worked through and conscious choices to be made. |
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Term
| Criticisms of Psychoanalysis |
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Definition
- Case study method (also its strength)
- Theory untestable – concepts too abstract
- Theory is unfalsifiable – ‘if you say you didn’t its because you don’t want to remember’
- Limited evidence of treatment efficacy? |
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Term
| What are some key points that were identified in Beverly's case looking at it through a Psychoanalysis perspective? |
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Definition
- Deep emotions she is trying to protect herself against such as shame, humiliation.
- People would use power over her to hurt her (So therapist would be wary on not being controlling)
- Bullied and humiliated to a point where she cried in front of her bullies as they knew how to get to her
- Can’t take people on, hopelessness and powerless so deals with it by staying away.
- The only safe place for her to be was the library, so became a librarian as she depicted that as an adult. |
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Term
| Describe the Behavioural Model (Behaviourism) |
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Definition
- Not interested in internal psychological processes – only in overt behaviour - this has changed over time. IT is a reaction against psycho analysis.
- All behaviour (including maladaptive behaviour) is learned
- The source of all behaviour is stimuli in the environment
- Behaviour can be changed by changing the environment
- Rejects diagnostic systems – environment causes problems not underlying disease/illness |
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Term
| What are the three main ways of producing behaviour? |
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Definition
1. Classical conditioning
2. Operant conditioning
3. Social learning |
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Term
| What is Classical Conditioning? |
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Definition
| - Learning an association between two stimuli. - Respondent conditioning is elicited (drawn out from someone) by the stimulus [image] |
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Term
| How does classical conditioning explain the development of phobias? |
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Definition
“Little Albert” (Watson)
- Was given a white rat – he was not afraid
- Showed him the white rat and made loud noise behind his head (UCS) – he cried (UCR)
- Repeated pairing over several weeks
- Showed white rat (CS) without noise – he cried and tried to crawl away (CR)
- Response generalisation – to other furry animals, white coat and ...Father Christmas’ beard (Gave the generalisation to other aspects) |
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Term
| What is Operant Conditioning? |
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Definition
- Conditioned all of us. Award what we do want and punish what we don’t want. Idea that this behaviour will be diminished according to these aspects.
• Positive reinforcement (reward): increase in occurrence behavior due to satisfying consequence (reward) \
• Punishment: Decrease in problematic behavior due to unpleasant stimulus
• Extinction: decrease in behavior by removing the reinforce
- Being rewarded occasionally. Subject does not know when they are going to be rewarded, so keep doing the act in the hope that they will be rewarded. Seen in gambling and facebook. |
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Term
| Explain the Counter- Conditioning Treatment |
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Definition
Can get rid of phobias through: Systematic desensitization
Counter-conditioning in which a feared stimulus is paired with relaxation until the stimuli no longer produces fear. Unlearn the response we have to that stimuli.
Steps in systematic desensitization:
1. Relaxation training – progressive muscle training/visualization/deep breathing
2. Creation of a fear hierarchy, from least feared to stimuli
3. Graded exposure paired with relaxation
4. We will see when talking about anxiety disorders |
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Term
| Explain Social Learning Theory - Modeling |
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Definition
Children and adults learn behaviour by watching and imitating other people. Can learn maladaptive behaviour e.g. aggression.
Therapy offers observation of adaptive models of behaviour e.g. assertiveness or social skills training, Big Buddy programmes.
- In the ways that we can learn positive behaviours, we can also learn negative and aggressive behaviours
- Asked: “How did you learn about emotions? Which emotions did your family teach you were acceptable or unacceptable? Etc.” |
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Term
| Criticisms of Behaviourism |
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Definition
- Excludes everything not observable – thoughts, emotions, values, beliefs, spirituality – radical behaviourism has changed this view
- Treats the symptom not the ‘cause’
- Can lead to symptom substitution. May take away something e.g. Alcohol, need to think on how to replace with something healthy, as people usually find an other substitute such as a drug |
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Term
| Explain the Model of Acceptance Commitment Therapy |
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Definition
[image]
1. Person – trying to go somewhere in their life. Ask person about their beliefs, their ideals, their problems
2. Then talk about what are your values and the direction. What is important? Family, jobs, relationships etc.
3. Certain things that get in the way of that
4. Choice points. A round about that you hit where you find that thoughts, emotions and images get in our way that get fused in us. E.g. values of a student is high education, but while w are in lecture we are infused by other thoughts that distract us. Our brain attends to things it wants to attend to, not what we want it to attend to
5. Things that keep person stuck in a negative cycle. Which means that person cannot reach where they want to go.
6. Job in therapy is to bring ourselves into mindfulness so are able to attend to what we want to attend to and focus mind, not what the brain choses to attend to. |
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