Download Chapter 8

Deviance 10e
Alex Thio
Chapter Eight:
MENTAL DISORDER
This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law:
•
any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network;
•
preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images;
•
any rental, lease, or lending of the program.
“
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
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
“
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
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
“
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
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
“
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Types of Mental Disorder – cont.
Psychosis: loss of touch with reality



Schizophrenia: characterized by thinking and talking
in unconventional, illogical, or ambiguous ways;
hallucinations (hearing and/or seeing things that do
not exist)
Manic-depressive disorder (or bipolar disorder):
fluctuating between 2 opposite extremes of mood mania, (great elation, exuberance, and excitement),
and depression (overwhelming despair)
“
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Types of Mental Disorder – cont.

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
1.
2.
3.
4.
anxiety reaction: generalized apprehension;
becomes phobia when a specific object (or objects)
causes anxiety
obsessive compulsive disorder: thoughts that
interrupt train of thought; ritualistic action
depression: feeling of sadness, dejection, and selfdeprecation
psychophysiologic disorders: includes hysteria,
psychosomatic illness and conversion reaction
“
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Types of Mental Disorder – cont.

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 or learn to form meaningful
relationships
“
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Types of Mental Disorder – cont.
The DSM-IV classification: lists over 300 mental
disorders; by symptoms; help practitioners prescribe
appropriate medications
Criticism of manual:







Merely descriptive
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
“
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Figure 8.1 Traditional Classification
of Mental Disorders
“
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
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
“
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
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
“
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
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
Asylums later became dumping grounds for
persons with mental problems
Since 1955, new strategies have emerged
“
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Societal Responses to Mental
Illness – cont.


Mentally ill persons are often viewed by
the general public as dangerous, dirty,
unpredictable, worthless, and the brunt
of jokes
Courts often put them away in mental
institutions or prisons



involuntary hospitalization
incompetent to stand trial
insanity defense
“
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Societal Responses to Mental
Illness – cont.



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 provide local
care for the emotionally disturbed in the
neighborhood
“
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Perspectives on Mental Disorder


Medical model: interprets mental illness
as similar to a physical disease;
identifiable/diagnosable causes;
treatment similar to physical disease
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
“
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010
Perspectives on Mental Disorder –
cont.

Followers of the labeling model believe
that a mental disorder is not a sickness
but only a label imposed upon some
disturbing behaviors
“
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010