Mental Health O Essay

Submitted By samgreennnn
Words: 2872
Pages: 12

Mental Heath
Mental health- is the capacity of an individual to interact with others and the environment in ways that promote subjective wellbeing, optimum development throughout the life span and effective use of their cognitive, emotional and social abilities.

effective use of

Mental Illness- is a psychological dysfunction that usually involves impairment in the ability to cope with everyday life, distress and thoughts, feelings and or behaviour that may be atypical of a person and may be inappropriate in their culture.

Affects 1 in 5 people every year, almost one in two people during their lifetime
Mental health problem- affects a persons thoughts, feelings and behaviour and they do not function as well as they could. They are usually mild and temporary.

Normality and Abnormality
Behaviour is considered normal when it helps a person assimilate appropriately into their society or culture and to function independently as expected for their age
Sociocultural- thoughts, feelings or behaviours that may be considered normal or acceptable in one culture or society are considered normal, where inappropriate or unacceptable behaviour is considered abnormal

Functional- thoughts, feelings and behaviours are viewed as normal if a person is able to function independently within society, but considered abnormal when they are unable to function effectively
EXAMPLE- holding a job and education normal.
Historical- what is considered normal pr abnormal in a particular society or culture depends on the time period when the judgement is being made.
EXAMPLE- women working in 1950’s seen as abnormal where now it is abnormal for women not to work

Situational- Within society thoughts, feelings or behaviour that may be considered normal in one situation may be considered abnormal in another.
EXAMPLE- old lady playing with a doll by herself is abnormal, but with her grandchildren seen as normal
Medical- Abnormal thoughts, feelings or behaviours are viewed as having a biological cause an can usually be diagnosed or treated. Healthy is considered normal and unhealthy abnormal.
EXAMPLE- Having the flu seen as abnormal Statistical- If the larger majority of people called the “statistical average” thinks, feels or behaves in a certain way it is considered normal. Where as the “statistical extremity” the minority is considered abnormal.
EXAMPLE- majority of what people think is classified as being normal normality is often defined as a pattern of thoughts, feeling or behaviour that conforms to a usual, typical or expected standard. abnormality is often defined as a pattern of thoughts, feelings or behaviour that is deviant, distressing and dysfunctional.

Classification of mental conditions-
Classification- Classification is organisation of items into groups on the basis of their common properties
Classification gives psychologists a common language when discussing mental conditions, standardises the description of each, it allows prescription and prognosis , allows consideration of treatment and encourages research
The two win classification approaches are categorical and dimensional.

Categorical approach- yes or no approach involves assessment on whether or not a person has a disorder on the basis of symptoms and characteristics that are described as typical of the disorder.
-Known as the YES or NO approach
Categorical approach provides vats information of mental disorders grouped into categories and subcategories, involving description of symptoms
DSM-IV- Diagnostic an Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
-365 disorders - 16 main categories inclusion criteria- length of time symptoms and symptoms that must be present for exclusion criteria- contains symptoms and causes of the disorder, conditions, age of onset, statistics,prognosis. to make a diagnosis it takes into account 5 areas

ICD-10- INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF DISEASES- ICD-10-AM IS AUSTRALIAN VERSION lesser detailed an descriptive than the DSM
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