Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Defining Mental Health (Specific Phobia's (Contributing Factors…
Defining Mental Health
Definitions
Being mentally healthy is a state of emotional and social wellbeing in which individuals realise their own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and contribute to their community
Most of the time people with mental health problems
are mentally healthy – but the normal stresses and
strains of life can lead to temporary and minor
setbacks
Mental disorders are more serious, often longer lasting conditions than mental health problems. The term implies a clinically recognisable set of symptoms and behaviours that usually need treatment to be alleviated
Influencing factors
Drug and/or alcohol abuse
Dramatic changes in hormone levels – such as during pregnancy or adolescence
Trauma/loss
Social isolation
Predisposing Factors
Genetics
Personality
Nutrition
Precipitating factors
Developmental stage – hormone balance
Life events - Stressors - Infections - Injury
Perpetuating factors
Immune system
Biochemical processes
Stressors
Social situation/isolation
Protective factors
Genetics
Immune system > Personality
Social support > Treatment
State Characteristics
Mentally healthy:
normal mood uctuations
Calm state of mind/takes
things in their stride
Good sense of humour
Performs well at school and
work
Good cognitive functioning
Good level of concentration
Normal sleep patterns
Few sleep di culties
Physically well
Good level of energy
Physically and socially active
Maintains positive relationships with family and others #
Ethical Considerations
Informed consent
Informed consent requires that participants are aware of the purpose of the research and know what will be expected of them as they participate.
The use of placebo treatments in mental health research is also cause for ethical debate, even though they are common in many research designs.
While placebos can make people feel better, the e ect can be small or temporary when compared with a legitimate treatment. An important part
of research that involves participants is informed consent, and this cannot really be obtained when there is the deception involved in a placebo- controlled research design
Development
Risk factors are those that contribute to the likelihood of a person either su ering from a mental disorder or experiencing a relapse. In contrast, protective factors guard against onset or relapse by supporting a person’s general wellbeing
Risk Factors:
Low self-esteem
Cognitive/emotional immaturity
Difficulties in communicating
Medical illness, substance useLoneliness, bereavement
Neglect, family conflict
Exposure to violence/abuse
Low income and poverty
Difficulties or failure at school >
Work stress, unemploymentPoor access to basic services
Injustice and discrimination
Social and gender inequalities > Exposure to war or disaster
Protective Factors:
Self-esteem, confidence
Ability to solve problems and
manage stress or adversity
Communication skills
Physical health, fitness
Social support of family and friends
Good parenting/family interaction
Physical security and safety
Economic security
Scholastic achievement
Satisfaction and success at
work
Equality of access to basic services
Social justice, tolerance, integration
Social and gender equality
Physical security and safety
Risk Factors list:
Biological Factors:
Genetic Vulnerability
Poor response to Medication
Poor Sleep
Long term substance abuse
-
Social Risk Factors:
Disorganised attachment
Loss of a significant Relation
Stigma as a barrier to accessing treatment
All of the factors discussed in the chapter so far might interact with each other to precipitate a mental disorder: this would be referred to as cumulative risk
-
Specific Phobia's
Age of Onset
For specific phobias, the age of onset depends on the phobia (see Table 19.2). Most specific phobias develop during childhood and eventually disappear. Those that persist into adulthood rarely go away without treatment
Biopsychosocial Factors
The Flight-Flight-freeze response
GABA and glutamate
Genetic predisposition and inherited vulnerabilities. # # #
Long-term potentiation
Long-term potentiation is an ‘experience-dependent’ type of brain plasticity where physical changes occur as a result of the repeated stimulation of a neural pathway during learning
GABA has an inhibitory role on the ght- ight-freeze response and glutamate has an excitatory role, and the two transmitters work together. When a person has low levels of GABA, the increased presence of glutamate increases agitation and anxiety and can contribute to their developing a speci c phobia.
Genetically
It is not the phobia itself, however, that is inherited, but the person’s biological make up that can lead to a genetic vulnerability – such
as being born with low levels of GABA
Contributing Factors
The Behavioural Model
Precipitation of specific phobia through classical conditioning
The behavioural approach examines how an organism’s behaviours are in uenced by environmental factors and downplays the importance of thinking processes (cognition).
The Cognitive Model
Unlike the behavioural model, the cognitive model emphasises the in uence of thought processes on how we feel and behave
Social Factors
Environmental triggers
Direct exposure to a distressing or traumatic event
Witnessing other people experiencing a traumatic event
Reading or hearing about dangerous situations or events
Parental Modelling
Albert Bandura combined behavioural and cognitive approaches to develop the social learning theory. According to this theory , a great deal of our behaviour is learnt through imitating or modelling other people’s behaviours
Transmission of threat information
The transmission of information that a person perceives as threatening is not limited to the parent and child relationship
Stigma around seeking treatment
As with a number of di erent mental health conditions, there is often a stigma attached to a person seeking treatment. Stigma refers to a ‘mark of disgrace’ that labels a person as di erent and separates them from others
Evidence based Treatment
Anti-anxiety medication
Breathing retraining and exercise
Cognitive behavioural therapy
Systematic desensitisation
-