PSYCH 9C Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Beck Depression Inventory, Paranoid Personality Disorder, Attention Seeking
Lecture 1
At any given time, 1 billion out of 7 billion in this world have
a mental illness, estimated by the WHO.
Why do some people say they do not know someone with a mental
illness?
●Could be a lack of knowledge
●Could be embarrassment or reluctance or shame to admit that
one has problems
●Stigma - key factor in why people don’t openly talk about
mental illness
We often treat mental illness as something a person just needs
to snap out of.
Mental illness is as serious and should be considered in the
same way as physical health problems. Most people cannot get
better on their own, and need treatment. We must be empathetic
towards those suffering.
Psychopathology
●Psyche = mind
●Pathology = disease
○Disease of the mind
●Etiology
= cause(s)
○Have changed over time
○Cause of disorder
Early Conceptions of Mental Disorders
●Evil spirits
●Somatogenic hypothesis
○Injury or infection; disease of body causing mental
health problems
○Mental illness can be traced to an injury or disease
of the physical body
●Psychogenic hypothesis
○Psychological processes
○Symptoms arise from problems of the psyche
Modern Conceptions of Mental Disorders
●Diathesis-Stress Model
○Diathesis: predisposition
○Stress: triggers
●Death of pet. May tempt someone to say the death caused
depression in someone, but we know that cannot be the only
reason, because not everyone who has a pet die have
depression.
●Genes make one predisposed to develop depression, and it
goes unexpressed until it is triggered.
●Some people have a greater predisposition than another
person. One with larger predisposition has a smaller
“bucket” and less likely has a larger “bucket”
●Add stress to the bucket like filling with water. It takes
someone with a smaller bucket can hold less water (stress)
than someone with a smaller predisposition (large bucket).
●People handle stress differently
●Multi-Causal Models
○Multiple diathesis
○Bio-psycho-social perspective
○People have buckets based on a lot of things
■Gene bucket = bio, thinking style bucket =
psycho, no support bucket = social -> this
applies to any disorder we talk about
Defining, Assessing, and Diagnosing Mental Disorders
●We are on DSM-5 now
Defining Mental Disorders
●Characteristics of a mental disorder
○Culturally deviant behavior?
○Maladaptive? (washing hands until raw…)
○Self-destructive? (a lot of substance use disorders;
is it objectively bad for you as a person?)
■Or cause stress?
■Or threaten others?
○discomfort/concern to others, impairing social
relationships?
○Duration and interference are important
Document Summary
At any given time, 1 billion out of 7 billion in this world have a mental illness, estimated by the who. Could be embarrassment or reluctance or shame to admit that. Stigma - key factor in why people don"t openly talk about one has problems mental illness. We often treat mental illness as something a person just needs to snap out of. Mental illness is as serious and should be considered in the same way as physical health problems. Most people cannot get better on their own, and need treatment. Injury or infection; disease of body causing mental health problems. Mental illness can be traced to an injury or disease of the physical body. Symptoms arise from problems of the psyche. May tempt someone to say the death caused depression in someone, but we know that cannot be the only reason, because not everyone who has a pet die have depression.
