Chapter 35

Mental Health Disorders

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 Objective
 List examples of challenging or responsive
behaviors and possible causes
 Focus on Chapter 35 pages 793-798

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Slide 2
 Basic Concepts
 Mental relates to the mind.
 Mental health and mental health disorders involve
stress.
• Stress is the response or change in the body caused by any
emotional, physical, social, or economic factor.
 Mental health means that the person copes with and
adjusts to everyday stresses in ways that are
accepted by society.
 A mental health disorder is a disturbance in the
ability to cope with or adjust to stress.
• Mental illness, mental disorder, emotional illness, and
psychiatric disorder also mean mental health disorder.

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 DIPPS
 Remember DIPPS when providing support to a
client with a mental health disorder.
 See Providing Compassionate Care box (p. 771).
 Because your clients may have been exposed to
negative attitudes in the past (stigma), your
attitude is particularly important.
 Pay special attention to your verbal and body
language.

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 Disruptive, Impulse-Control and
Conduct Disorders
 Relates to difficult, disruptive, aggressive, or
antisocial behaviours
 Clients may be using ineffective emotional
coping methods
 Three types:
 Angry/irritable mood
 Argumentative/defiant behaviour
 Vindictiveness

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 Oppositional Defiant Disorder
 Repeatedly engage in pattern of defiant,
disobedient, and hostile behaviour toward
authority figures, beginning in childhood
 Goes beyond acceptable misbehaviour for
the child’s age
 Continues for at least 6 months

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Slide 6
 Intermittent Explosive Disorder
 Recurrent behavioural outbursts, indicating a
failure to control aggressive impulses
 Outbursts may be physical or verbal
 The anger is caused by inability to cope
mentally with a situation

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Slide 7
 Conduct Disorder
 People repeatedly violate the personal or
property rights of others and society
 Usually begins in childhood with lying and
shoplifting and then progresses to more
severe behaviours, e.g., burglary, auto theft
 Several causes including severe family
dysfunction

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Slide 8
 Supporting Clients With Disruptive,
Impulse-Control and Conduct Disorders
 You must accept client in a caring, nonjudgemental
way
 Avoid doing anything that may escalate the situation
 Try to determine cause of verbal aggression
 Use support services available within your place of
employment
 Ensure your own safety and that of others, if client
threatens you verbally or physically, maintain a safe
distance between the two of you and ensure you
have an open pathway to an exit

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Substance-Related and Addictive
Disorders
 Is the deliberate misuse of and inability to
stop the abuse of prescription medications,
illegal drugs, alcohol, or other substances.
 Substance abuse or addiction occurs when a
person overuses or depends on alcohol,
illegal drugs, or prescription medication.
 The client’s physical and mental health are
affected, as is the welfare of others.
 Many are mood-altering substances.

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 Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD)
 Alcohol is abused more than any other
substance.
 Signs and symptoms of alcohol abuse include
intoxication (drunkenness), memory
problems, difficulty concentrating, tremors,
and loss of interest in family and friends.
 The DSM-5 divides alcohol use disorder into
mild, moderate, and severe subcategories.

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Slide 11
 Alcohol Use Disorder (Cont.)
 For most people, exceeding two drinks a day can do
significant harm.
 Women who have more than 10 drinks a week and
men who have more than 15 drinks a week have
higher rates of alcohol-related problems.
 Older adults who live alone are at risk for alcohol
abuse.
 The main treatment is to avoid alcohol.
 Support groups, e.g., AA, help people with drinking
cessation.

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Slide 12
 Personality Disorders
 Personality disorders are a group of disorders
involving rigid and socially unacceptable
behaviours.
 People with personality disorders have problems
relating to others.
 They may be demanding, hostile, or manipulative.
 Personality disorders are not illnesses in a strict
sense because they do not disrupt emotional,
intellectual, or perceptual functioning.

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 Personality Disorders (Cont.)
 Main types of personality disorders:
 Antisocial personality disorder
• Psychopaths and sociopaths—have little regard for
moral or legal standards of society
 Avoidant personality disorder
• Socially inhibited; extremely sensitive to criticism
 Borderline personality disorder
• Lack of identity; rapid mood changes; intense, unstable
interpersonal relationships; impulsiveness
 Dependent personality disorder
• Extreme need of other people; person is unable to make
any decisions on his or her own

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Personality Disorders (Cont.)
 Histrionic personality disorder
• Exaggerated, often inappropriate, displays of emotional
reaction in everyday behaviour
 Narcissistic personality disorder
• General lack of empathy for others; need to be admired by
others
 Obsessive–compulsive personality disorder
• Perfectionism and inflexibility
 Paranoid personality disorder
• Distrust of others, including belief that others are exploiting,
harming, or trying to deceive them
 Schizoid personality disorder
• A very limited range of emotion, both in expressing and
experiencing emotions
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Personality Disorders (Cont.)
 Common signs and symptoms of personality
disorders:
• Self-centredness (“me-first” attitude)
• Lack of individual accountability
• Lack of empathy, perspective-taking
• Manipulative and exploitative behaviour
• Unhappiness, depression, other mood and anxiety
disorders
• Vulnerability to other mental disorders
• Distorted and superficial understanding of own and
others’ perceptions
• Tries to influence the external world to conform to one’s
own needs

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 Supporting Clients With
Personality Disorders
 Accept clients in a caring, nonjudgemental way
 Speak to your client in a factual and professional manner
 Provide care and support as specified in the client’s care
plan
 Refrain from giving any client your phone number, e-mail
address, or information about your private life
 Do not accept gifts, money, or other items from your client
 Consult the client’s significant other for ways to
successfully deal with him or her

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