AP Psych-stress, health, psychopathology + psychotherapy

health psychology

field that explores how thoughts, emotions and behaviors influence physical well-being

psychoneuroimmunology

the study of how psychological, neural and endocrine processes together affect our immune system and resulting health

eustress

positive stress (prom)

distress

negative stress

primary appraisal

a person determines whether a stimulus is neutral, positive, or dangerous

secondary appraisal

assess our ability to respond to an event

Approach-approach conflict

have to make a decision (choose 1)

avoidance-avoidance conflict

decide between two options that you don’t want to do

approach-avoidance conflict

when a decision/event has positive and negative aspects

double-approach conflict

individuals must choose between 2 goals (both have significant + and - aspect)-ex. picking colleges

fight, flight and freeze response

sympathetic nervous system arouses us. preparing the body for flight or fight (increases heart rate and respiration)

General adaption syndrome (GAS)

Selye’s concept of the brain’s adaptive response to stress in three phases

phase 1 (GAS): Alarm reaction

as your sympathetic nervous system is activated, your heart rate increases (ready to fight)

phase 2 (resistance)

blood pressure, temp and respiration remain high, you are fully engaged using all resources to meet the challenge

phase 3: exhaustion

relief of stress; become more vulnerable to sickness or collapse to death

Tend and befriend response

mainly associated with women to relieve stress-people may nurture themselves and others (tend) to bond and seek support from each other

Cortisol

primary stress hormone that boosts energy by increasing blood-glucose (fight or flight); leads to increased vulnerability to diseases

lymphocytes

white blood cells in immune system (negative relationship w cortisol)

coronary heart disease

the clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; the leading cause of death in many developed countries

broken heart disease

triggered by immense emotional stress; grief, fear, anger (mimics heart attack)

Catharsis

emotional release of anger/aggressive energy-to reduce future aggression

problem-focused coping

attempting to alleviate stress directly (by changing the stressor or way we interact with the stressor)

emotion-focused coping

alleviate stress by avoiding the stressor

internal locus of control

we control our fate

external locus of control

perception that outside forces beyond our personal control determines our fate

posttraumatic stress

triggered by experiencing terrifying life-threatening events

social support factors

emotional support, financial support,

positive psychology

scientific study of human flourishing

subjective well-being

self perceived happiness or satisfaction

feel-good do good phenomenon

peoples tendency to be helpful when in good mood

adaptive level-phenomenon

our tendency to form judgements relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience

relative deprivation

the perception that we are worse off relative to those we compare ourselves with

predictors of happiness

optimism, strong social relationships, gratitude, good physical health

broaden and build theory

proposes that positive emotions broaden our awareness and over-time helps us build meaningful skills that improve well-being

character strengths and virtues

classification system to identify positive traits; organized into categories of wisdom, courage, humanity, justice and transcendence

neurogenesis

formation of new neurons

bio-feedback

a system of recording, amplifying, feeding back info about subtle psychological responses to help control them

faith and health

greater religious movement can lead to healthy behaviors

psychological disorder

collection of symptoms marked by disruption to people’s thoughts, emotions or behaviors that cause distress or suffering

medical model

concept that diseases have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated and cured through treatment in hospital

mental illness/psychopathology

treats mental health conditions by helping individuals understand behaviors, emotions, and thoughts with a trained professional

biopsychosocial approach

influence of biological, psychological ad socio-cultural factors to understand health and illness

Diathesis-stress model

explains that mental disorders come from a combination of biological and environmental stressors; most likely to get sick with high heritability and high stress

Epigenetics

a gene may be expressed in one environment but not another (turn on or off)

psychodynamic

involves unrelated childhood conflicts+ unconscious thoughts

humanistic

lack of social support and inability to fulfill one’s full potential

behavioral

maladaptive learned associations (focuses on observable behaviors and how they are learned, maintained, or changed with environmental interaction)

cognitive

maladaptive thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes and emotion (interpretation, thinking, memory processing)

biological

(anything brain-related or genetic)

evolutionary

maldadaptive forms of behaviors that enabled human survival (survival)

social-cultural

problematic social and cultural contexts

DSM-5-TR

does not actually treat disorders-list of different symptoms; used to guide diagnostic treatment (diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders)

Anxiety disorders

excessive fear leading to maladaptive behaviors

agoraphobia

fear of open spaces

generalized anxiety disorder

not one specific cause-but always have heightened nervous system: excessive worry, restlessness, muscle tension

panic disorder

unpredictable time-span of intense dread and terror

specific phobias

simple phobia (of one specific thing)

obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)

persistent, unwanted thoughts that create anxiety and lead to compulsions (repetitive behaviors)-treat with exposure therapy

trichhotillomania (hair pulling)

stems from trauma

trauma-stressor related disorders

a group of disorders in which exposure to traumatic or stressful event is followed by psychological distress

classical conditioning

our fear responses can become linked with formerly neutral objects/events

stimulus generalization

clumping everything together (anxiety in petes-all grocery stores)

reinforcement

helps maintain learned fears and anxieties; enable us to avoid or escape a feared situation

cognition

how humans think, know, communicate: “what if”

biology

brain, genes, natural selection

epigenetic marks

turns genes on or off

low serotonin

more anxious

high glutamate

more anxious

anterior cingulate cortex

monitors our actions and checks for errors, becomes hyperactive with anxiety

causes for anxiety disorders

enlarged vesicles, genetics, mother is sick while baby in womb

treatment for anxiety disorders

medication works for 50%

causes for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)

imbalance of neurotransmitters (Serotonin), increased activity in certain brain areas, environmental triggers

treatments for OCD

biological treatments, cognitive behavior therapy, medication

personality disorders

can’t be diagnosed till after 18, hard to treat bc linked to person’s identity, some are genetic related but most are connected to disorder relationships

depressive disorders causes

causes: low serotonin or norepinephrine, genetic vulnerabilities, trauma

treatments for depressive disorders

anti-depressants (SSRis) electroconvulsive therapy, psychological therapies

major depressive disorder

needs to be severe for at least 2 weeks

persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia)

mild depression (never happy), where normal grief should be

bipolar disorder l

one or more manic episodes, accompanied by depressive episodes-too much mania

bipolar disorder ll

one or more hypomanic episodes and at least one major depressive episode-not a lot of mania

mania

too much energy that needs more GABA (slows down) with agonist

social-cognitive perspective

focuses on how personality is formed through interaction between social experiences (environments), cognitive processes (thoughts and beliefs), and behaviors

rumination

unhelpful, repetitive+obsessive dwelling on negative emotions, past mistakes or distressing thoughts

explanatory style

cognitive personality variable-habitual way of explaining to oneself why (positive or negative) events ocurr

state-dependent memory

improved recall of info when an individual’s internal physiological/emotional state (mood/alertness) is same during learning/retrieval state

schizophrenic spectrum disorder

group of chronic psychiatric conditions characterized by psychosis, loss of contact with reality: hallucinations, delusions and disorganized thinking

psychotic disorder

frequent, intense hallucinations and delusions

schizotypal personality disorder

experience discomfort in close-relationships, have distorted thoughts and perceptions/engage in ecentric behaviors

positive symptoms

excessive distorted thoughts/behaviors

negative symptoms

diminished emotional/functional capacity-social withdrawl

word salads

jumbled words

flat affect

state of no apparent feeling

impaired theory of mind

difficulty reading other peoples’ facial expressions and states of mind

catatonia

excitement or reduced consciousness (positive/negative symptoms)

age of onset

when symptoms of mental disorders are 18

chronic schizophrenia

symptoms appear in early adulthood-as you age psychotic episodes last longer and recovery periods shorten

acute schizophrenia

goes away-begin at any age and occurs in response to traumatic events (recovery more likely)

dopamine over-activity

linked to positive symptoms of schizophrenia (hallucinations/delusions)

ventricles

in schizophrenia-fluid-filled brain cavities that get enlarged

prenatal environment and risk

teratogens, alcohol, tobacco, illness and stress