Psychopathology

The psychosocial theory of anxiety suggests that anxiety is not just a mental condition but is influenced by psychosocial stressors (Maddux & Winstead, 2015). The authors propose that anxiety disorders are better understood in terms of dimensions rather than specific disorder categories. They argue that the psychosocial stressors contributing to anxiety are significant problems in themselves and question the validity of the "disorder" categories.

The authors also critique the research model on mood disorders for assuming a pre-existing vulnerability to mood disorders (Maddux & Winstead, 2015). They suggest that these models use a deductive rather than an inductive approach to understand mood disorders.

Moreover, the medical model of mental illness is seen as perpetuating stigma around mental health, potentially leading to isolation and ostracization of individuals diagnosed with mental illness (Pattyn et al., 2013). While attempting to reduce the negative social significance associated with such diagnoses, the medical model is criticized for perpetuating stigma and creating a divide between ordered versus disordered and flawed versus unflawed individuals.

On the other hand, the psychosocial model of anxiety is seen as less stigmatizing, attributing anxiety to life circumstances rather than inherent flaws (Pattyn et al., 2013). However, a drawback of this model is that individuals diagnosed with anxiety may be less inclined to seek formal mental health treatment from qualified clinicians (Pattyn et al., 2013).

Additionally, the psychosocial theory of anxiety suggests that individuals with underdeveloped social skills are more vulnerable to developing the disorder (Segrin & Flora, 2000). Poor social skills are seen as precursors to the development of social anxiety, leading to mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.

The authors of a study using the social skills inventory found that those who scored the highest in the social skills inventory were the most resistant to depression, social anxiety, and loneliness, respectively (Segrin & Flora, 2000).

The biological-pharmacological model and the psychological-cognitive model are noted to conflict in both the origin and treatment of anxiety and mood disorders (Lam et al., 2005). Beliefs about the origins of anxiety and mood disorders significantly affect the way they are treated, and societal attitudes toward mental health treatment determine how lay people engage.

Conceptualizing mood disorders based on the medical research model influences the help individuals seek (Pattyn et al., 2013). Studies have shown that exposure to natural disasters may be associated with an increase in psychological symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and anger (Somer et al., 1996).

Furthermore, individuals accumulating psychosocial stressors are more likely to experience mental disorders than others (Haftgoli et al., 2010). Our understanding of mood disorders, such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD), has evolved.

References

Eysenck, M. W., & Fajkowska, M. (2017). Anxiety and depression: Toward overlapping and distinctive features. Cognition and Emotion, 32(7), 1391-1400. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2017.1330255

Haftgoli, N., Favrat, B., Verdon, F., Vaucher, P., Bischoff, T., Burnand, B., & Herzig, L. (2010). Patients presenting with somatic complaints in general practice: Depression, anxiety and somatoform disorders are frequent and associated with psychosocial stressors. BMC Family Practice, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2296-11-67

Harvard. (n.d.). What is the role of GABA in mood disorders? (1996). Harvard Mental Health Letter, 13(5),8.

Kasahara, T., & Kato, T. (2018). What can mitochondrial DNA analysis tell us about mood disorders? Biological Psychiatry, 83(9), 731-738. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2017.09.010

Lam, D. C., Salkovskis, P. M., & Warwick, H. M. (2005). An experimental investigation of the impact of biological versus psychological explanations of the cause of "mental illness". Journal of Mental Health, 14(5), 453-464. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638230500270842

Levi, M., & Haslam, N. (2005). Lay expectations of mental disorder: A test of the folk psychiatry model. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 27(2), 117-125. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15324834basp2702_3

Maddux, J. E., & Winstead, B. A. (2015). Psychopathology: Foundations for a contemporary understanding. Routledge.

Mallya, G. P., Hiremani, A., Gajakosh, G., Badiger, D., & Sunitha Hiremath, P. G. (2018). Framework for automatic diagnosis of psychological disorders. 2018 International Conference on Advances in Computing, Communication Control and Networking (ICACCCN). https://doi.org/10.1109/icacccn.2018.8748450

Pattyn, E., Verhaeghe, M., Sercu, C., & Bracke, P. (2013). Medicalizing versus psychologizing mental illness: What are the implications for help-seeking and stigma? A general population study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 48(10),1637-1645. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-013-0671-5

Rubinstein, C. J. (2016). Bipolar: An old - New disease of this age. Bipolar Disorder: Open Access, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.4172/2472-1077.1000e105

Segrin, C., & Flora, J. (2000). Poor social skills are a vulnerability factor in the development of psychosocial problems. Human Communication Research, 26(3), 489-514. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2000.tb00766.x

Somer, E., Keinan, G., & Carmil, D. (1996). Psychological adaptation of anxiety disorder patients following repeated exposure to emergency situations. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9(2), 207-221. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.2490090205

Veale, D., & Stout, A. (2010). Cognitive behaviour therapy meets psychopharmacotherapy. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 3(4), 117-131. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1754470x10000127