Personal Health: Know thyself (Unit 1)

first unit of Middle Collage

Health

The overall condition of body and mind and the presence or absence of illness or injury

Wellness

Optimal health and vitality, encompassing all the dimensions of well-being

Risk Factor

A condition that increases your chance of disease or injury.

Life Expectancy

The period of time a member of a given population is expected to live

Morbidity rate

The Relative incidence of disease among a population

Mortality Rate

The number of deaths in a population in a given period.

Infectious disease

A disease that can spread from person to person, caused by microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses.

Health span

How long we stay healthy and free from chronic or disabling disease

chronic disease

A disease that develops and continues over a long period, such as heart disease, cancer, or diabetes.

lifestyle choice 

A conscious behavior that can increase or decrease a person’s risk of disease or injury; such behaviors include smoking, exercising, and eating a healthful diet.

health promotion 

The process of enabling people to increase control over their health and its determinants, and thereby improve their health.

health disparity

A health difference linked to social, economic, or environmental disadvantage that adversely affects a group of people.

genome

The complete set of genetic material in an individual’s cells.

gene 

The basic unit of heredity, containing chemical instructions for producing a specific protein.

behavior change

A lifestyle management process that involves cultivating healthy behaviors and working to overcome unhealthy ones.

target behavior 

An isolated behavior selected as the object for a behavior change program.

self-efficacy 

The belief in your ability to take action and perform a specific task.

locus of control

The extent to which a person believes he or she has control over the events in his or her life.

stressor

Any physical or psychological event or condition that produces physical and psychological reactions.

stress response

The physical and emotional reactions to a stressor.

stress

The general physical and emotional state that the stressor produces.

nervous system

The brain, spinal cord, and nerves.

autonomic nervous system

The part of the nervous system that controls certain basic body processes; consists of the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions.

parasympathetic division 

The part of the autonomic nervous system that moderates the excitatory effect of the sympathetic division, slowing metabolism and restoring energy supplies.

sympathetic division

Division of the autonomic nervous system that reacts to danger or other challenges by accelerating body processes.

endocrine system

The system of glands, tissues, and cells that secrete hormones into the bloodstream to influence metabolism and other body processes.

hormone

A chemical messenger produced in the body and transported in the bloodstream to target cells or organs for specific regulation of their activities.

cortisol 

A steroid hormone secreted by the cortex (outer layer) of the adrenal gland; also called hydrocortisone.

epinephrine

A hormone secreted by the medulla (inner core) of the adrenal gland that affects the functioning of organs involved in responding to a stressor; also called adrenaline.

fight, flight, or freeze

A defense reaction that prepares a person for conflict or escape by triggering hormonal, cardiovascular, metabolic, and behavioral changes.

homeostasis

A state of stability and consistency in an individual’s physiological functioning.

personality

The sum of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional tendencies.

resilience

A personality trait associated with the ability to face adversity and recover quickly from difficulties.

gender role

A culturally expected pattern of behavior and attitudes determined by a person’s sex.

general adaptation syndrome (GAS)

A pattern of stress responses consisting of three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.

eustress

Stress resulting from a stressor perceived to be pleasant.

distress

Stress resulting from a stressor perceived to be unpleasant.

allostatic load

The “wear and tear” on the body that results from long-term exposure to repeated or chronic stress.

psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)

The study of the interactions among the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems.

acute stress

Stress immediately following a stressor; may last only minutes or may turn into chronic stress.

chronic stress

Stress that continues for days, weeks, or longer.

mindfulness 

The intentional cultivation of attention in a way that is nonjudging and nonstriving.

psychological health 

Mental health, defined as the extent to which we are able to function optimally in the face of challenges, whether we have a mental illness or not.

self-actualization

The highest level of growth in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

self-concept 

The ideas, feelings, and perceptions a person has about himself or herself; also called self-image.

self-esteem

Satisfaction and confidence in yourself; the valuing of yourself as a person.

autonomy

Independence; the sense of being self-directed.

positive psychology

The ability to define positive goals and to identify concrete, measurable ways of achieving them.

emotion

A feeling state involving some combination of thoughts, physiological changes, and an outward expression or behavior.

emotional intelligence

The capacity to identify and manage your own emotions and, where possible, the emotions of others.

values

Criteria for judging what is good and bad, which underlie an individual’s moral decisions and behavior.

cognitive distortion 

A pattern of negative thinking that makes events seem worse than they are.

self-talk

The statements a person makes to himself or herself.

defense mechanism

A mental mechanism for coping with conflict or anxiety.

pessimism

The tendency to expect an unfavorable outcome.

optimism

The tendency to expect a favorable outcome.

assertiveness

Expression that is forceful but not hostile.

anxiety

Fear that is not a response to any definite threat.

specific phobia

  A persistent and excessive fear of a specific object, activity, or situation.

social anxiety disorder (social phobia)

An excessive fear of being observed by others; speaking in public is the most common example.

panic disorder

A syndrome of severe anxiety attacks accompanied by physical symptoms.

agoraphobia

An anxiety disorder characterized by fear of being alone and away from help and by avoidance of many different places and situations; in extreme cases, a fear of leaving home.

panic attack

A brief surge of overwhelming anxiety that usually resolves in an hour or less.

generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

An anxiety disorder characterized by excessive, uncontrollable worry about all kinds of things and anxiety in many situations.

obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) 

An anxiety disorder characterized by uncontrollable, recurring thoughts and the performing of senseless rituals.

obsession

A recurrent, irrational, unwanted thought or impulse.

compulsion

An irrational, repetitive, forced action, usually associated with an obsession.

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

An anxiety disorder characterized by reliving traumatic events through dreams, flashbacks, and hallucinations.

acute stress disorder

An anxiety disorder that resolves in a month or less.

attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

A disorder characterized by persistent, pervasive problems with inattention and/or hyperactivity to a degree that is not considered appropriate for a child’s developmental stage and that causes significant difficulties in school, work, or relationships.

mood disorder

An emotional disturbance that is intense and persistent enough to affect normal function; two common mood disorders are depression and bipolar disorder.

depression

A mood disorder characterized by loss of interest, sadness, hopelessness, loss of appetite, disturbed sleep, and other physical symptoms.

electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) 

The use of electric shock to induce brief, generalized seizures; used in the treatment of selected psychological disorders.

seasonal affective disorder (SAD) 

A mood disorder characterized by seasonal depression, usually occurring in winter, when there is less daylight.

mania

A mood disorder characterized by excessive elation, irritability, talkativeness, inflated self-esteem, and expansiveness.

bipolar disorder 

A mental illness characterized by alternating periods of depression and mania.

schizophrenia

A psychological disorder that involves a disturbance in thinking and in perceiving reality.

stimulus

Anything that causes a response.

response

A reaction to a stimulus.

reinforcement

Increasing the future probability of a response by following it with a reward.

exposure

A therapeutic technique for treating fear; the subject learns to come into direct contact with a feared situation.

electroencephalogram (EEG)

A monitoring device that records brain activity.

nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep

Of two main sleep phases, the phase that constitutes three substages, including one with the deepest sleep and with slow-wave brain activity.

slow-wave sleep

Characteristic patterns of electrical brain activity measured by the electroencephalogram (EEG) during the deepest stage of sleep, Stage III.

rapid eye movement (REM) sleep 

One of two main phases of sleep, the final phase of a sleep cycle, when most dreaming occurs and eyes rapidly move under closed eyelids. Brain activity increases to levels equal to or greater than those during waking hours, and blood pressure, respiration, and heart rates rise.

circadian rhythm

The body’s sleep-and-wake pattern coordinated by the brain’s master internal clock, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN).

suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) 

Master clock that sets and controls the sleep–wake cycle, sending signals to the brain and to every cell in every organ of the body.

zeitgebers

Phenomena that can influence and reset the body’s master clock, such as light, activity, exercise, and eating. Light directly affects cells in the eye to send signals directly to the SCN to measure outside light.

melatonin

A hormone secreted by the pineal gland, especially in response to darkness and in inverse proportion to the amount of light received by the retina. It helps control sleep-and-wake cycles and circadian rhythms.

homeostatic sleep drive

Pressure to sleep that builds the longer one is awake, mainly driven by adenosine, a neurochemical that accumulates in the brain. Sleep clears the adenosine, thereby reducing the pressure to sleep.

adenosine

An important neurochemical that accumulates during wakefulness, and after a prolonged period will mediate sleepiness.

sleep apnea 

The involuntary, repeated interruption of normal breathing during sleep, caused by blocked airways (for example, throat or trachea) or faulty brain signaling to muscles that support breathing.

microsleep

A momentary lapse in which some parts of the brain lose consciousness.

sleep disrupters

Factors that interfere with the ability to fall asleep or stay asleep that can usually be corrected if they are targeted specifically. Examples are caffeine, reflux, nasal congestion, cough, urination, anxiety or stress, pain, and environmental factors, among others.

insomnia

A sleep problem involving the inability to fall or stay asleep.

restless leg syndrome (RLS)

A sleep disrupter characterized by a feeling of discomfort or body tension, often affecting the legs.

narcolepsy

A rare neurological disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep paralysis, and sudden loss of muscle control.

unintentional injury

An injury that occurs when no harm was intended.

intentional injury

An injury that is purposely inflicted by yourself or another person.

years of potential life lost

The difference between an individual’s life expectancy and their age at death.