Question

Describe the three key aspects of the natural history of psychopathology: onset, course, and outcome.

What are the most important findings of research on each of these three aspects?

explain your answer in details

Answer 1

Onset of affective illness before age 30 was associated with a bipolar illness course, equal number of prior attacks of mania and depression, and a high prevalence of affective disorder, alcoholism, drug abuse, and sociopathy in first-degree relatives. Onset of affective illness after age 30 was associated with a unipolar manic course, excess prior attacks of mania, and a dearth of affective illness and associated conditions in first-degree relatives.

The courses of the natural history of psychopathology are Anxiety Disorders,Mood Disorders,Schizophrenia,Personality Disorders,Physical Illness,Psychoactive Substance Use,Sexual Disorders,Childhood Psychopathology and Mental Illness and Mouse Traps.

The outcome of the illness, cultural context, acceptable cultural explanations and the prevalent social stigma interact to produce a complex and multifaceted understanding of the issues.

The most important finding of onset in girls is understanding of the age of puberty among girls. For example, although the onset of menarche is still considered to be a significant indicator of the tempo of maturation, researchers now view menarche as a late event in the pubertal process.

The findings in Course are study of young people with mild ID and does not illuminate the course of psychopathology in persons with moderate and more severe levels of ID.

Outcome is, it is not something a person “has” or an ineluctable expression of an endogenous pathogen. It is the complex result of a myriad of risk and protective factors operating over time.