Access to Higher Education Diploma (Nursing)

Mental Health and Illness

BY
Nana Aishat Yamah
05/2/2023

Figure 1: ((ALVARADO PARKWAY INSTITUTE, 2019))

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 Mental Health and Illness
Abstract
This article aims to give the reader an explanation of the difficulties in defining normality and
abnormality in mental health. The focus will be mainly on the psychological, social, and
biological aspects of Schizophrenia, and different approaches to the treatment of
Schizophrenia. Several sources have been used to create this article, and illustrations have
been used to support this information.

Introduction Definitions of Abnormality Statistical

Infrequency:
With this definition of abnormality, a
The difficulties in defining normality and
person’s thinking or behaviour is thought to
abnormality.
be abnormal if it is rare or statistically
(Mentalhealth.org , 2021() defines what is normal unusual, therefore it is important to be
in mental health as the ability to feel, our clear on just how rare behaviour is before it
emotional, psychological, and social well- can be classed as abnormal, for example
being. express and manage a range of when looking at IQ, the benefit of this type
positive and negative emotions, the ability of analysis would be that it may help
to form and maintain good relationships address what is meant by normal
with others, and the ability to cope and statistically and can help with targets or
manage change and uncertainty. deadlines in terms of diagnosing
Defining abnormality in mental health is
difficult. There is no single behaviour that
makes someone abnormal. Abnormality is
seen as a deviation from commonly
accepted patterns of behaviours, thoughts,
or emotions.
Someone who is seen as abnormal can
suffer social consequences like exclusion or
be condemned by a wider society, therefore
many factors must be considered when
distinguishing abnormal from normal Figure 2: Statistical Infrequency (Simply
behaviours. Psychology,, 2018))

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In this instance, the limitations regarding what was once deemed acceptable may
this type of analysis are that some may say over time have become unacceptable and
that anyone with an IQ below or above the vice versa.
average level of IQ is abnormal.
For example, until 1980, homosexuality was
A high IQ in this instance would be deemed a psychological disorder by the
statistically abnormal despite being World Health Organization but is now seen
desirable. Or if the cut-off point for a as acceptable.
‘normal’ IQ was 70, then someone who had
an IQ of 60 would be abnormal? ((Simply
Psychology, , 2019)))
Deviation from Social Norms
This definition looks at abnormality in terms
of what behaviours and traits are to be
considered acceptable within society. An
example of a violation of these social norms Figure 3: Deviation from Social Norms (DGS
would include anything that is deemed Psychology, 2023)
unacceptable behaviour within a particular
Failure to Function Adequately
social group.
A person may be considered abnormal if
The behaviour may be threatening to others
they are unable to cope with day-to-day life
or simply just unimaginable. However, what
and the demands that can bring. They may
is unacceptable to one social group may be
not be able to complete simple functions
perfectly acceptable within another.
such as going to work, self-care,
Different cultures have different standards
communication, interaction with others, or
regarding behaviour and influences.
making themselves understood.
A particular culture, historical context, age,
This may cause them to act irrationally or
and gender all need to be considered. It
lose control, they may be a danger to
will be important to consider the
themselves – or others or they may feel
importance of that norm, the degree to
extremely down and suffer mentally.
which the norm is breached, and the value
attached by the social group to different The limitations of this type of abnormality
types of breaches. are that people still may be able to function
despite having different things going on,
Therefore, the issue with this type of
and their coping mechanisms may be
abnormality is that social norms can differ
harmful to themselves. For example, if they
significantly between cultures and can also
deal with their issues by smoking more or
exist within a time frame. For example,
drinking alcohol, this doesn’t necessarily
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mean that this is abnormal behaviour.
Many people engage in this type of
behaviour that is seen as harmful to
themselves.
Deviation from Ideal Mental Health
Abnormality can be described as a deviation
from ideal mental health. Psychologists
look at what can be classed as ‘normal’
behaviour and therefore can glean that
anything that does not come under this
category must be abnormal.
This explanation is different from others
that believe, like Marie Jahoda (1958) that
abnormality can best be explained by
looking at what may be missing from
someone’s life.
Figure 4: Deviation from Mental Health
((DGS Psychology, 2023))
She felt that a person had to achieve or
experience certain criteria for ideal mental
health to be achieved and that if some of
these were not fulfilled, they would
experience difficulties. The six elements
that she felt were necessary to live a
contented life were attitude towards
oneself, personal growth, integration,
autonomy, perception of reality, and
environmental mastery.
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With this approach, it was felt that the
more of these elements that were achieved,
the happier a person would be.
The limitations of this abnormality are that
it would not be possible to achieve every
element all the time and that a person may
be happy with their situation regardless of
whether they are satisfying all the criteria.
This does not necessarily mean that they
are suffering from any mental health issues
(Future Learn,, 2022))
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder
where a person may see, hear, or believe
things that are not real or a chronic brain
disorder that affects a person’s perception
of reality. Schizophrenia tends to be
diagnosed later in life.
Figure 5: Schizophrenia ((Georgetown
Behavioral Hospital,, 2022))
It is believed that the condition can be
caused by a combination of genetic and
environmental factors (NHS,, 2019))
Psychological, Social, and Biological
Explanation and Evaluation
Three elements have been researched to
help to explain the reasons for
psychological disorders. For each of these
perspectives, some advantages and
limitations must be considered.
Figure 6: The Biopsychosocial Model
(Schizophrenia) (Lumen Learning, 2019))
The biopsychosocial model highlights the
interaction between biological,
psychological, and social/cultural forces.
Psychological Element: This considers a
range of thoughts, feelings, and learned
behaviours (both observed and
conditioned). Events that may have
happened during key developmental stages
provoke or intensify emotions like anxiety,
sadness and stress, or trauma.
This can affect the ability to cope with
different stressors in life and this can affect
the sense of confidence, personality, and
cognitive development. It is believed that
schizophrenia is the consequence of
experiences in early life, therefore relates
to ‘nurture’ rather than ‘nature’.
Despite this, it is important when treating
schizophrenia to understand the levels of
environmental stress for sufferers. ((NIH,
2014))
Psychotherapy continues to be an
important treatment method for sufferers
and their families.
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Although this theory is also important when
trying to understand how to treat and
prevent a relapse, it is largely unverifiable
scientifically. (Engel, 1977))
Biological Element: This considers thoughts
and behaviours relating to aspects of our
biology. The three main biological causes of
schizophrenia relate to genetics, the
dopamine hypothesis, and neural
correlates. Schizophrenia tends to run in
families therefore the closer the
relationship to a person with the disorder,
the more likely they are to have it.
Having said this, many genes contribute to
developing schizophrenia. ((Gottesman,
1991)) suggested that although there must
be a genetic component in the
development of schizophrenia, it is unlikely
that it is entirely genetic.
The dopamine aspect states that
schizophrenia can result from an imbalance
of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the
brain, which can cause hallucinations to
develop.
Similarly, neural correlates which are
structural differences within the brain, are
also associated with the development of
symptoms of schizophrenia ((NIH , 2022))
The biological approach allows
psychologists to better understand how the
brain and physiological processes can
influence how a person thinks and feels and
allows researchers to be able to find new
treatments associated with the well-being
of the person and the biological influences.
Despite the biological theory being highly
reliable and practical, there are weaknesses
in this process due to testing taking place in
such a controlled setting.
It fails to account for other influences on
behaviour, like childhood experiences,
emotions, social pressures, environmental
factors, and cultural differences. Therefore,
using several perspectives to view the
issues will allow for more realistic solutions
(Very Well Mind , 2021))
Social/Cultural Element: The social
approach considers the environment and
how a person can acquire abnormal
behaviour. It is thought that all behaviour is
learned within a social context through
family, community, culture, and the
environment, and as such is possible to
unlearn.
In the case of Schizophrenia and other
mental illness, the learned behaviour can
cause a breakdown in mental health due to
the overwhelming environmental stress.
This approach can be seen to be valid as it
will involve experiments taking place in a
natural environment, in which natural
behaviour will be observed, therefore
explanations are backed up by evidence.
Limitations to this theory would include the
failure to recognize that, instead of people
falling into poverty because they suffer
from mental health issues, it may well be
that they have ‘abnormal’ mental health
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because of the social factors associated
with poverty.
A person’s culture can also affect how they
would describe their symptoms, or even if
they would seek help or advice in the first
place if they may be suffering symptoms of
schizophrenia, therefore they may feel
isolated and discriminated against (SQA,,
2019))
Treating Schizophrenia, Psychological, and
Social Therapy
It is important to give a person suffering
from schizophrenia coping mechanisms
when they may be suffering from
hallucinations or delusions. Psychological
treatments usually work better when
combined with antipsychotic medication.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a popular
treatment for many kinds of mental illness
and can take place over the course of
months. This helps sufferers identify the
kind of thinking patterns causing the
feelings and behaviour they are
experiencing and learn to change their
thinking to something more realistic.
This, combined with other therapies like
family therapy, empowers families to be
able to support the sufferer by helping
them understand the disease.
Social therapy involves the therapist
working closely with the client to
understand the issues that they are facing
and help them to manage their illness and
function independently in their
communities. It involves role-play,
constructive feedback, and reinforcement, Conclusion:
sometimes involving families and friends.
Regarding mental health abnormalities,
Due to the costs of this type of treatment, it there is no one size fits all treatment. In the
is not utilized as much as other therapies, case of Schizophrenia, there are so many
however, it can be a very effective different aspects to consider and a variety
treatment for Schizophrenia and other of ways that sufferers can be helped.
mental health illnesses (Science Direct,,
What is clear is that to be successful in
2022))
treating mental illness, a more holistic
Biological treatment: Antipsychotics are approach is required, which considers each
usually used for the symptoms of patient as an individual with their thoughts,
schizophrenia. These drugs reduce anxious feelings, and medical history.
and aggressive feelings quickly; however, it
Recovery is possible, as is living with a
can take weeks for them to reduce more
mental health condition. The first step is to
serious symptoms such as hallucinations or
ask for help or recognize that someone
delusional thoughts.
needs help, to ensure a care plan that
This long-term treatment can be taken considers a person’s unique circumstances
orally or in the case of slow-release can be made.
antipsychotics by injection every 2-4 weeks.
Like many drugs, there may be side effects
and the medication should be reviewed
every year ((NHS, , 2019)) For more serious
References:
cases. References
Electro Convulsive Therapy: may be used.
This involves using a strong electrical
current passing through both hemispheres
in the brain. This is not widely used as the
antipsychotic medication is less invasive and
can be very effective.
Further research needs to be conducted to
show how effective this treatment type is
and to see whether there are long-lasting
positive effects from this treatment. Yoga
and mindfulness meditation are very
inexpensive, and you can hire coaches to
support you in that, or you can search for
tutorials and self-help videos online as well.
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