Mental health

Historical context of mental illness: 

·     Prehistoric= Believed being punished by God. Hippocrates, said imbalances in the body. Cared for by shamans, magicians and priests. Treated by rituals and prayers. One example of a treatment is trephining. 

·     20^thcentury= 1930s development of electric shock treatments. 1950s development of drug treatments. Deinstitutionalisation began with an emphasis on protecting the rights of the patients. Development of biological explanation of mental illness. Cared for by hospitals and GP’s. Most asylums were shut down 1959 Mental Health Act. Treatments included hydrotherapy and ECT. 

Defining abnormality:                                                         

·     Behaviour that deviates from the statistical norm= people whose behaviour is more than two standard deviations above or below the mean can be defined as abnormal. People whose behaviour falls three standard deviations above or below average are very rare. Accounts for frequency of behaviour not desirability. Very low or very high IQ is statistically abnormal but having a high IQ is desirable. 

·     Behaviour that deviates from the social norm= What is considered ‘normal’ is determined by our society’s view of how we ought to act. In society there are standards of acceptable behaviour e.g. a person who scavenges in dustbins is seen as abnormal by society. What is classed as abnormal depends on culture and situational context. Until 1973 homosexuality was classified as abnormal even though it was decriminalised in Uk in 1967. 

·     Failure to function adequately= Abnormality can be judged in terms of not being able to cope with everyday living. ‘Functioning’ refers to going about everyday life e.g. eating regularly, washing and going out. Does not account for other reasons e.g. not being able to get employment and a lack of money. It is often a failure to function that is a result of a psychological disorder e.g. addiction.

Categorising mental disorders:

·     DSM= Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Contains detailed information regarding the specific criteria required for a diagnosis with an overview of the disorder. Clinicians go through diagnostic features + decide which symptoms best reflect behaviour they are displaying.

Rosenhan:

·     Aim= Investigate whether the sane can be reliably + accurately distinguished from insane. Study 1, whether normal sane individuals would be admitted to psychiatric hospitals to see if and how they would be discovered. Study 2, whether genuine patients would be misidentified as sane by various hospital staff. 

·     Pseudo patients= 8 adults over age 20 included Rosenhan himself. Varity of professions including psychology graduate, psychologists, painter and housewife. 3 females, 5 males, used false names. Sought administration to 12 hospitals across 5 US states. Mix of modern and old and public and private. Range of days lasted 7 days to 52 days. 

·     Sample= Psychiatric staff at one research/teaching hospital. 

·     Procedure study 1= Pseudo patients arrived admissions office of hospital said they had been hearing voices that were unclear but were saying words…