AP Psychology, Unit 5 Mental and Physical Health

Health Psychology

the subfield of psychology concerned with ways psychological factors influence the causes and treatment of physical illness and the maintenance of health

Stress

the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging

Hypertension

high blood pressure

Immune suppression

a decrease in the production of antibodies

Stressors

specific events or chronic pressures that place demands on a person or threaten the person's well-being

Eustress

A positive stress that energizes a person and helps a person reach a goal

Distress

bad stress

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)

Stressful or traumatic experiences, including abuse, neglect, and a range of household dysfunction, such as witnessing domestic violence or growing up with substance abuse, mental disorders, parental discord, or crime in the home.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Seyle's concept that the body responds to stress with alarm, resistance and exhaustion

Alarm reaction phase

the initial reaction to a stressor; activates protective processes within the body

Resistance phase

Second phase of the GAS, during which the body adapts to and maintains resources to cope with the stressor.

Fight-flight-freeze response

an involuntary, physical response to a sudden and immediate threat (or stressor) in readiness for fight (confront), flight (escape) or freeze (avoid detection)

Exhaustion phase

third phase of the GAS, during which the body's resources become depleted

Tend-and-befriend theory

theory that females are more likely than males to respond to stressors with behaviors that:

Quiet, nurture and care for offspring (tending)

Establish and maintain social networks (befriending)

Problem-focused coping

Attempting to alleviate stress directly by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor.

Emotion-focused coping

attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one's stress reaction

Positive psychology

the scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive

Well-being

self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with measures of objective well-being (for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people's quality of life.

Resilience

the personal strength that helps most people cope with stress and recover from adversity and even trauma

Positive emotions

joy, pride, relief, hope, love, and compassion

Gratitude

appreciation, thankfulness

Positive subjective experiences

the positive but private feelings and thoughts people have about themselves and the events in their lives

Subjective well-being

self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with measures of objective well-being (for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people's quality of life.

Signature strengths

positive traits that a person owns, celebrates, and frequently exercises

Virtues

Firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfections of intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions, and guide our conduct according to reason and faith

Happiness

the state of being happy

Categories of virtues

(wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence)

posttraumatic growth

positive psychological changes as a result of struggling with extremely challenging circumstances and life crises

dysfunction

Impaired or abnormal functioning

distress

extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain

deviation from the social norm

culturally different

cultural norms

prescriptions for how people should interact and what messages should mean in a particular setting

Stigma

a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person.

Racism

Belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.

Sexism

the belief that one sex is innately superior to the other

Ageism

Discrimination based on age

Discrimination

unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members

DSM-5

the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition; a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders.

International Classification of Mental Disorders

global categorization system for physical and mental illnesses published by the World Health Organization (WHO)

Eclectic approach

an approach to psychotherapy that, depending on the client's problems, uses techniques from various forms of therapy

Behavioral perspective

An approach to the study of psychology that focuses on the role of learning in explaining observable behavior.

Maladaptive learned associations

associations between or among responses to stimuli that interfere with an individual's activities of daily living or ability to adjust to and participate in particular settings.

Psychodynamic perspective

the approach based on the view that behavior is motivated by unconscious inner forces over which the individual has little control

Humanistic perspective

the psychological view that assumes the existence of the self and emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and the freedom to make choices

Cognitive perspective

A psychological approach that emphasizes mental processes in perception, memory, language, problem solving, and other areas of behavior

Evolutionary perspective

perspective that focuses on the biological bases of universal mental characteristics that all humans share

Sociocultural perspective

perspective that focuses on the relationship between social behavior and culture

Biological perspective

the psychological perspective that emphasizes the influence of biology on behavior

Biopsychosocial model

a model of health that integrates the effects of biological, behavioral, and social factors on health and illness

Diathesis-stress model

a diagnostic model that proposes that a disorder may develop when an underlying vulnerability is coupled with a precipitating event

Neurodevelopmental disorders

a group of conditions manifested early in development that are characterized by developmental deficits that produce impairments of personal, social, academic, or occupational functioning

attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

a psychological disorder marked by extreme inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors

Schizophrenic Spectrum Disorders

severe disorders in which there are disturbances of thoughts, communications, and emotions, including delusions and hallucinations

Delusions

false beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders

Hallucinations

false sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus

Disorganized thinking

disjointed and incoherent thought processes, usually detected by what a person says

Disorganized speech

a severe disruption of verbal communication in which ideas shift rapidly and incoherently among unrelated topics

disorganized motor behavior

ranges from unusually active to barely moving; unusual grimaces and gestures

Negative symptoms

Schizophrenic symptoms that involve behavioral deficits, such as flattened emotions, social withdrawal, apathy, impaired attention, and poverty of speech.

Positive symptoms

Schizophrenic symptoms that involve behavioral excesses or peculiarities, such as hallucinations, delusions, bizarre behavior, and wild flights of ideas.

Delusion of persecution

a false belief that one is being mistreated, abused, or harassed

Delusion of grandeur

an exaggerated belief about one's importance, wealth, power, or talents

word salad

Incoherent mixture of words, phrases, and sentences

Catatonia

a state of unresponsiveness to one's outside environment, usually including muscle rigidity, staring, and inability to communicate

Flat affect

a lack of emotional responsiveness

Catatonic stupor

an immobile, expressionless, coma-like state associated with schizophrenia

major depressive disorder

A mood disorder in which a person experiences, in the absence of drugs or a medical condition, two or more weeks of significantly depressed moods, feelings of worthlessness, and diminished interest or pleasure in most activities.

Persistent Depressive Disorder

a form of depression that is not severe enough to be diagnosed as major depressive disorder

Bipolar disorder

A mood disorder in which the person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania.

Mania

a mood disorder marked by a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state

Depression

A prolonged feeling of helplessness, hopelessness, and sadness

Bipolar I Disorder

a type of bipolar disorder marked by full manic and major depressive episodes

Bipolar II Disorder

a type of bipolar disorder marked by mildly manic (hypomanic) episodes and major depressive episodes

Specific phobia

fear of objects or specific situations or events

Acrophobia

fear of heights

Arachnophobia

fear of spiders

Agoraphobia

fear or avoidance of situations, such as crowds or wide open places, where one has felt loss of control and panic

Panic disorder

An anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable minutes-long episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations.

Panic attack

sudden onset of intense panic in which multiple physical symptoms of stress occur, often with feelings that one is dying

Ataque de nervious

observed in latin american groups. symptoms include trembling, uncontrollable shouting, intense crying, heat in the chest rising to the head, and dizziness. this tends to surface during stressful family events such as funerals, and divorces.

social anxiety disorder

intense fear of social situations, leading to avoidance of such

Taijin kyofusho

Japanese fear of offending or embarrassing others

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

a disorder characterized by chronic excessive worry accompanied by three or more of the following symptoms: restlessness, fatigue, concentration problems, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance

Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders

group of overlapping disorders listed in the DSM-5 that involves intrusive, unpleasant thoughts and/or repetitive behaviors

Obsessions

persistent ideas, thoughts, or impulses that are unwanted and inappropriate, causing marked distress

Compulsions

Repetitive behaviors or mental acts that are performed to prevent or reduce anxiety.

Hoarding disorder

Persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, regardless of their actual value

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

An anxiety disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsession) and/ or actions (compulsions).

Dissociative disorders

disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings

dissociation

a split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others

dissociative amnesia

Dissociative disorder characterized by the sudden and extensive inability to recall important personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature.

dissociative identity disorder

A rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities. Also called multiple personality disorder.

Hypervigilance

state of ongoing anxiety in which the person is constantly tense and alert for threats

flashbacks

vivid and intrusive recollections of a traumatic event

Insomnia

recurring problems in falling or staying asleep

Emotional detachment

detachment from social relationships, as well as a general disinterest in them

Hostility

the intentional use of unfriendly or offensive behavior

Posttraumatic stress disorder

a disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience

anorexia nervosa

an eating disorder in which an irrational fear of weight gain leads people to starve themselves