Chapter 1- Key Terms

Abnormal behaviour- patterns of emotion, thought, and action deemed pathological for one or more
of the following reasons: infrequent occurrence, violation of norms, personal distress, disability or
dysfunction, and unexpectedness
Accountability- a requirement that Canadas health care system and provinces be held responsible
for the quality of the care provided as part of the new Health Care Act,
Asylums- Refuges established in Western Europe in the fifteenth century to confine and provide for the
mentally ill; the forerunners of the mental hospital
Bedlam- a scene or place involving a wild uproar or confusion; the term was derived from the scenes
at Bethlehem Hospital in London, where unrestrained groups of mentally ill people interacted with each
other
Best practice models
Canadian Mental Health Association
Cathartic method- a therapeutic procedure introduced by Beuer and developed further by Freud in
the late nineteenth century whereby a patient recalls and relives an earlier emotional catastrophe and
re-experiences the tension and unhappiness, the goal being to relieve emotional suffering
Clinical psychologist
Clinicians
Community psychology- an approach to therapy taht emphasizes prevention and the seeking out of
potential difficulties rather than waiting for troubled individuals to intitate consultation; location for
professional activities tends to be in the persons natural surroundings rather than in the therapists
office
Community treatment orders
Counselling psychologists
Deinstitutionalization-the increasing tendency for treatment to take place in the community,
perhaps on an outpatient basis, rather than having patients reside in a public institution, such as a
provincial mental hospital
Demonology- the doctrine that a persons abnormal behaviour is caused by an autonomous evil spirit
Diagnosis
Dissociative identity disorder- a rare dissociative disorder in which two or more fairly distinct and
separate personalities are present within the same individual, each with his or her own memories,
relationships, and behaviour patterns, with only one of them dominant at any given time. Formerly
called multiple personality disorder
Evidence-based treatment
Exorcism- the casting out of evil spirits by ritualistic chanting or torture
General paresis-

Germ theory (of disease)- general view in medicine that disease is caused by infection of the body
by minute organisms and viruses
Medicare- the system of health care in Canada
Mental health status
Moral treatment- a therapeutic regimen, introduced by Pinel during the French Revolution, whereby
mental patients were released from their restraints and were treated with compassion and dignity
rather than with contempt and denigration
Normal curve- the bell shaped distribution of a measurable trait depicting most people in the middle
and few at the extremes
Prevention
Provincial psychiatric hospitals
Psychiatric nurse
Psychiatrist- a physician (M.D) who has taken specialized postdoctoral training, called a residency, in
the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders
Psychoactive drugs chemical compounds having a psychological effect that alters mood or thought
process
Psychoanalyst a therapist who has taken specialized postdoctoral training in psychoanalysis after
earning an M.D or a Ph.D. degree
Psychogenesis- development from psychological origins, as distinguished from somatic origins.
Contrast with somatogenesis
Psychopathology- the field concerned with the nature and development of mental disorders
Psychotherapy- a primarily verbal means of helping troubled individuals change their thoughts,
feelings, and behaviour to reduce distress and to achieve greater life satisfaction
SchizophreniaSocial worker- a mental health professional who holds a master of social work (M.S.W.) degree
Somatogenesis- development from bodily origins, as distinguished from psychological origins
Stereotyping
Stigmatization- a reduction in the status of a group of people, such as mentally ill people, due to
perceived deficiencies
Syndrome- a group or pattern of symptoms that tend to occur together in a particular disease
Trepanning- act of making a surgical opening in a living skull; this was performed because of the
belief that it would allow evil spirits to leave the body