How to Treat Mental Health Conditions Essay - 1039 Words

All treatments for mental health conditions are based on hypotheses that seek to explain their aetiology. These tend to be reductionist models approaching the problem from one dimension of the biopsychosocial paradigm. Unsurprisingly this approach is far from effective. Four models and therapies will be described and evidence that offers support or otherwise will be discussed. It will then be concluded that to improve therapy success rates a multidimensional approach faithful to the biopsychosocial paradigm is required. The monoamine hypothesis of mood disorders is a biological model which states that low levels of monoamine neurotransmitters cause depression. Evidence for this comes from the observation in drug studies that decreasing†¦show more content†¦In Pavlovs famous experiment dogs were conditioned to salivate on hearing a bell because it was previously associated with food (Toates, 2010, P. 23-24). Classical conditioning could explain phobia acquisition if we assume that phobias are learned behaviour and classical conditioning is a type of learning. Support for this comes from the Little Albert experiment where an infant was conditioned to be scared of a rat by pairing its exposure with a loud noise (McLannahan, 2010, pp. 107-108). Treatment using the classical conditioning model would be to extinguish the conditioned response. Graded exposure therapy is used to achieve this whereby the feared stimulus is gradually presented to the patient without the unconditional stimulus until the fearful response has gone (Toates, 2010, p. 39). However graded exposure doesnt work for everybody and can increase fear. This may be because phobias are in-fact â€Å"dysfunctional habituation responses† to an adaptive behaviour and have an evolutionary origin. A phobic person never becomes used to stimuli that they are biologically prepared to fear. There is also some debate as to whether Little Albert had a phobia induced as attempts at replication proved fruitless (McLannahan, 2010, pp. 107-109). The susceptibility model states that it is impossible for individuals with a certain genetic make-upShow MoreRelatedSuicide Is Responsible For Nearly 4500 Deaths994 Words   |  4 Pagesinfluence that can cause bad mental health. The United States has much history of mental health issues. In the earlier years, hospitals dealt with many people that who had mental health conditions. It was said to be for â€Å"ways in which trends in psychiatry and cultural understanding of mental illness influence† (Module 2). Meaning that they wanted to see how and why people had these conditions. In many cultures such as Ancient Egyptian, Indian and more, they categorized a mental illness as a problem. AndRead MoreMental Illness Among Prisons And The United States1576 Words   |  7 PagesIf a society is to be judged how it treats its most disadvantaged members, then the United States is in a very lowly state of affairs. The United States currently incarcerates over 356,000 individuals diagnosed with some form of mental illness. This is ten-fold the number of people receiving treatment in psychiatric hospitals, around 35,000 (Frances). Leaving us with the question, when did suffering from a mental illness become a cr ime worthy of incarceration? Doubt no longer remains as to if theRead MoreEssay on Speech: History of Mental Illness991 Words   |  4 PagesSpeech: History of Mental Illness Specific Purpose: To inform my audience how treatment of mental illness in America has changed. Central Idea: Treatment of mental illness in America from past, to present. INTRODUCTION I What is Mental Illness? 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