Key Concepts in Health Psychology and Mental Disorders

Health Psychology

a subfield of psychology that uses psychological and behavioral principles to study health, illness, and health care

Stress

the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events (stressors) that we appraise as threatening or challenging.

Eustress

stress interpreted as beneficial or motivating

Distress

stress interpreted as detrimental (ie, financial problems, chronic illness, divorce)

General Adaptation Syndrome

a physiological model describing the body's response to stress

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)

traumatic events that occur during childhood

Tend-and-befriend theory

In response to stress, people—especially women—come together with others for joint protection of self and offspring

Coping

the act of facing and dealing with problems and stressors, especially over the long-term

Problem-focused coping

involves managing or fixing the distressing situation, either by changing our behavior or changing the situation.

Emotion-focused coping

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

Resilience

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

Posttraumatic Growth

the ability to construct a meaningful experience in response to a period of trauma.

Positive Psychology

a scientific approach to studying human thoughts, feelings, and behavior, with a focus on strengths instead of weaknesses, building the good in life instead of repairing the bad, and taking the lives of average people up to "great" instead of focusing solely on moving those who are struggling up to "normal"

Feel-Good, Do-Good Phenomenon

People's tendency to be helpful when in a good mood.

Adaptation Level Phenomenon

the idea of adjusting our neutral levels based on our experiences.

Relative Deprivation

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

Broaden and Build Theory

proposes that positive emotions broaden our awareness, which over time helps us build novel and meaningful skills and resilience that improve well-being.

Subjective Well Being

The term preferred by positive psychologists, as it encompasses more than just "happiness", including life-satisfaction, emotional affect, and a sense of meaning and purpose.

Aerobic Exercise

sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; also helps alleviate depression and anxiety.

Mindfulness Meditation

reflective practice in which people attend to current experiences in a nonjudgmental and accepting manner.

Gratitude

an appreciative emotion people often experience when they benefit from other's actions or recognize their own good fortune.

Values in Action (VIA) Classification

A classification system to identify positive traits with 24 character strengths organized into six broad virtue categories.

Psychological Disorder

a syndrome characterized by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotional regulation or behavior.

Levels of Dysfunction

refers to the degree of impairment or disruption in a person's ability to function effectively in various areas of life, including relationships, work, school, tasks of daily life (such as hygiene), and overall quality of life.

Stigma

Negative attitudes and stereotypes directed toward an individual because of that individual's diagnosis.

DSM

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual published by the American Psychological Association in 1952.

Clinical Handbook

A handbook used by healthcare professionals in the U.S. as the authoritative guide to the diagnosis of mental disorders.

ICD

International Classification of Mental Disorders published by the World Health Organization in 1948. Contains a comprehensive classification system for mental disorders.

Psychopathology

The scientific study of mental disorders and different types of maladaptive behaviors associated with various disorders.

Maladaptive

Failing to adjust well to the environment.

Prognosis

A prediction of the course, duration, severity, and outcome of a condition, disease, or disorder.

Differential Diagnosis

This section in the DSM lists other diagnoses that have similar symptoms and provides information/data about how to distinguish similar disorders from the disorder under consideration.

Comorbidity

Refers to the presence of two or more disorders at the same time.

Prevalence

The percentage of a population that is affected with a particular disease at a given time.

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Conditions associated with central nervous system functioning that begin during the developmental period (from conception to adolescence). These disorders usually include developmental deficits that affect social, intellectual, academic, and/or personal functioning.

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Characterized by repetitive behaviors and challenges with social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, such as repetitive behaviors, social/emotional interaction, nonverbal communication, and social relationships.

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Characterized by ongoing problems with paying attention AND/OR being hyperactive/impulsive.

Anxiety

A feeling of unease, fear, or worry that something bad is about to happen.

Anxiety Disorder

Characterized by excessive fear and/or anxiety with related disturbances in behavior.

Panic Disorder

Marked by recurrent panic attacks that occur in situations that would not 'normally' elicit panic.

Panic Attack

An abrupt surge of intense fear/anxiety that reaches its peak within minutes, during which time some of these symptoms occur: heart palpitations, sweating, trembling, dizziness, chills, chest pain, choking, shortness of breath, derealization (feeling of unreality) or depersonalization (being detached from oneself), fear of dying.

Cultural Syndromes

Clusters of symptoms that tend to co-occur among individuals in specific cultural groups or communities, and that are recognized locally as coherent patterns of experience.

Ataque de nervios

A cultural syndrome with some symptoms that overlap with those of Panic Disorder.

Phobia

an irrational and debilitating fear

Specific Phobia Disorder

Involves an overwhelming, unreasonable, and persistent sense of fear of a specific object or situation that provokes the fear response and sometimes leads to a panic attack ("persistent" = more than 6 months)

Arachnophobia

Fear of spiders

Acrophobia

Fear of heights

Agoraphobia

Intense fear or anxiety about two (or more) of the following specified situations: -Being in enclosed places (ie, shops, movie theaters) -Being in open spaces (ie, parking lots, bridges) -Being outside of the home alone -Riding on public transportation -Standing in line or being in a crowd

Social Anxiety disorder

Persistent, intense fear or anxiety regarding social situations in which the individual is being judged or watched by others (ie, social interactions such as conversation; meeting unfamiliar people; eating or drinking with others; performing in front of others)

Taijin Kyofusho

a cultural syndrome experienced mainly by Japanese people in which people have anxiety about interpersonal situations because they fear others are judging their bodies as undesirable, offensive, or displeasing.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Excessive feelings of worry and unease without a clear cause; worry tends to span a variety of topics

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Disorder characterized by the presence of obsessions and compulsions

Obsessions

Recurrent and persistent thoughts, urges or images that are experienced as intrusive and unwanted, and that cause anxiety/distress. The individual attempts to ignore or suppress these obsessions, or to neutralize them with some other thought or action (ie, by performing a compulsion).

Compulsions

Repetitive behaviors (ie, handwashing, checking) or mental acts (ie, praying, counting, repeating words silently) that an individual feels driven to perform in response to an obsession or according to rules that must be applied rigidly.

Hoarding Disorder

Disorder characterized by persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, regardless of their actual value.

Anorexia Nervosa

an eating disorder defined by restriction of energy intake relative to requirements, leading to a significantly low body weight.

Bulimia Nervosa

An eating disorder defined by engaging in binge eating and then engaging in behaviours to try to compensate for this food intake.

Schizophrenic spectrum disorders

a heterogeneous category of disorders characterized by psychosis, which is a severe mental condition in which the affected person loses contact with reality.

Positive symptoms

symptoms of schizophrenia that are not present in healthy individuals; behavioral additions to normal behavior.

Negative symptoms

symptoms of schizophrenia that a healthy person possesses, but someone with schizophrenia is missing.

Delusions

persistent false beliefs held by affected individuals. The person will not change their belief when presented with conflicting evidence.

Delusions of persecution

belief that one is going to be harmed, harassed, etc.

Hallucinations

false perceptions; sensory experiences that occur without any external stimuli. They are vivid and clear, with the full force and impact of normal perceptions, and not under voluntary control.

Disorganized thinking/speech

Symptom of schizophrenia in which speech is disorganized enough to substantially impair effective communication.

Clang association

The individual may frequently switch from one topic to a totally unrelated one - sometimes linking words together because they rhyme.

Word salad

Spewing out an almost completely nonsensical jumble of words.

Catatonia

Symptom of schizophrenia that can involve a variety of abnormal or bizarre physical behaviors - such as twirling hair (positive symptom).

Catatonic stupor

Freezing in bizarre positions or staying completely still for a long time (viewed as a negative symptom because there is an absence of movement).

Dopamine hypothesis

High levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine have been linked to schizophrenia.

Flat affect

A complete absence of emotion.

Depressive disorders

Disorders characterized by the presence of sad, empty or irritable mood along with physical and cognitive changes that affect a person's ability to function.

Major Depressive Disorder

A mental condition characterized by a persistently depressed mood and long-term loss of pleasure or interest in life, often with other symptoms such as disturbed sleep, feelings of guilt or inadequacy, and suicidal thoughts.

Persistent Depressive Disorder

A depressed mood that has lasted for at least two years. It is considered a milder form of depression with no suicidal thoughts.

Mania

A euphoric ("feeling on top of the world"), overly talkative, wildly energetic, extremely optimistic state. At other times, it may present as extreme irritability. May also involve feelings of grandiosity, increased goal-directed behavior, decreased need for sleep, distractibility, fewer sexual inhibitions, "racing thoughts", loud and fast speech that is hard to interrupt, and poor judgment.

Bipolar I

Condition characterized by at least one manic episode, which can involve extreme mood shifts, increased energy, and activity, and may also include periods of depression.

Bipolar II

Condition characterized by alternating periods of significantly elevated mood (hypomania) and depressed mood (major depression).

Dissociations

Feelings of disconnection from key aspects of mental functioning.

Dissociative disorders

Characterized by dissociation from consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, perception, body representation, motor control, and behavior.

Dissociative amnesia

The inability to remember parts of one's own past as a result of trauma.

Dissociative amnesia with fugue

A rare and severe disorder characterized by sudden, unexpected travel or wandering, during which individuals experience memory loss of their identity, personal history, and past events.

Dissociative identity disorder

The presence of at least two distinct identities that appear along with impaired memory beyond mere forgetfulness.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

A disorder that may occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event, series of events or set of circumstances.

Flashbacks

A type of dissociative reaction in which the individual feels or acts as if the traumatic event is recurring.

Personality Disorders

Enduring patterns of inner experience (thoughts, feelings, perceptions) and behavior that result in relatively inflexible way of behaving. They are extreme, maladaptive expressions of personality traits that have led to dysfunctional styles of living.

Cluster A

A cluster of personality disorders that all include behaviors that can be characterized as odd or eccentric.

Paranoid Personality Disorder

Personality Disorder that involves a pattern of distrust and suspicion about other people's motives

Schizoid Personality Disorder

Personality Disorder characterized by a pattern of detachment from social relationships and a limited range of emotional expression in interpersonal settings

Schizotypal Personality Disorder

Personality Disorder characterized by odd behavior, unusual beliefs, and difficulties with social interactions.

Cluster B

A cluster of personality disorders that all include behaviors that can be characterized as dramatic, emotional, or erratic

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Personality Disorder marked by a long-term pattern of manipulative and deceptive behavior beginning in childhood or early adolescence

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Personality Disorder characterized by an arrogant, inflated sense of self importance, a constant need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others

Borderline Personality Disorder

Personality Disorder characterized by out-of-control emotions, low self-image, and unstable relationships

Histrionic Personality Disorder

Personality Disorder characterized by a pattern of dramatic emotional expression and excessive attention-seeking behavior

Cluster C

A cluster of personality disorders that all include behaviors that can be characterized as anxious and fearful

Avoidant Personality Disorder

Personality Disorder characterized by feelings of inadequacy, extreme sensitivity to negative evaluation or rejection, and avoidance of social situations due to fear of embarrassment or criticism

Dependent Personality Disorder

Personality Disorder characterized by an excessive need to be taken care of, leading to submissive and clinging behavior, fear of separation, and difficulty making decisions without reassurance from others

Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder

Personality Disorder that involves a disruptive preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and control