1. Chapter 8 Mental Disorder

2. Introduction About 50% of American adults suffer from a mental disorder during their lifetime Depression is "the common cold of mental illness" Stigma makes getting help difficult for many people

3. Popular Beliefs Myths: –mentally ill individuals are extremely weird –mental illness is hopeless –there is a sharp, clear distinction between "mentally ill" and "mentally healthy" –mentally ill individuals are crazed, violent people –people get more depressed in the winter

4. Types of Mental Disorder Biomedical view of mental illness: mental illness is similar to a physical disease –Accepted by American Psychiatric Association Psychological view: mental illness signals emotional problems of psychological origin Psychosis: loss of touch with reality

5. Types of Mental Disorder –Manic-depressive disorder (or bipolar disorder): Fluctuating between 2 opposite extremes of mood - mania, Great elation, exuberance, and excitement), and depression (overwhelming despair) –Schizophrenia: Characterized by thinking and talking in unconventional, illogical, or ambiguous ways; –Hallucinations (hearing and/or seeing things that do not exist)

6. Types of Mental Disorder Neurosis: less severe than psychosis; little distortion of reality; –Ability to behave in normal way; –Neurotic symptoms prevent the sufferers from being as happy as they want to be –Anxiety reaction: Generalized apprehension; becomes phobia when a specific object (or objects) causes anxiety

7. Types of Mental Disorder –Obsessive compulsive disorder: Thoughts that interrupt train of thought; ritualistic action

8. Types of Mental Disorder –Depression: feeling of sadness, dejection, and self-deprecation –Psychophysiologic disorders: Includes hysteria, psychosomatic illness and conversion reaction

9. Types of Mental Disorder Personality disorder: –General category of deviant behavior that cannot be diagnosed as psychotic or neurotic –Blatant disregard for society's rules; thought to be linked to a lack of moral development – Failure to develop a conscience, acquire true compassion, learn to form meaningful relationships

10. Types of Mental Disorder The DSM-IV classification: lists over 300 mental disorders; by symptoms; –Help practitioners prescribe appropriate medications Criticism of manual: –Merely descriptive

11. Types of Mental Disorder –Arbitrarily defines disorders in terms of a specific number of symptoms –Encourages psychiatrists to eliminate symptoms, not causes –Promotes biological causes over environmental problems –Defines too many ordinary problems as mental disorders

15. Social Factors in Mental Disorder Many social factors have been studied as they relate to mental illness: –class differences –gender differences –age –race and ethnicity –urban/rural environment

16. A Global Perspective on Mental Disorder Types of mental illness varies from culture to culture, e.g.: –Latin America: people experience a fear that their souls have left their bodies –Malaysia: people suffer from prolonged screaming and swearing when startled

17. Societal Responses to Mental Illness Historically, mentally ill individuals were treated badly –Suffering for example, primitive lobotomies Phillippe Pinel: 1793 –Instituted moral treatment of the mentally ill; development of asylums

18. Societal Responses to Mental Illness Asylums later became dumping grounds for persons with mental problems Since 1955, new strategies have emerged Mentally ill persons are often viewed by the general public as: –Dangerous, dirty, unpredictable, worthless, and the brunt of jokes

19. Societal Responses to Mental Illness Courts often put them away in mental institutions or prisons –involuntary hospitalization –incompetent to stand trial –insanity defense

20. Societal Responses to Mental Illness Mental hospitals are total institutions, where persons are cut off from: The larger society and lead enclosed, regimented lives that dehumanize patients Mental hospitals routinely use tranquilizing and other drugs to alleviate symptoms –Rather than eliminate the cause of mental disorder Community mental health centers

21. Perspectives on Mental Disorder Medical model: interprets mental illness as similar to a physical disease; –Identifiable/diagnosable causes; treatment similar to physical disease

22. Perspectives on Mental Disorder Psychosocial model: –Psychoanalytic theory: Pioneered by Freud; resulting from conflicts in personality –Social stress theory: Interprets stress as a major contributor to the development of mental disorder

23. Followers of the labeling model believe that a mental disorder is not a sickness –But only a label imposed upon some disturbing behaviors