pa psych unit 5

Psychoneuroimmunology

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

Stress

The process of appraising and responding to a threatening or challenging event.

Eustress

“Good” stress, situations that are challenging but manageable and can lead to growth.

Distress

“Bad” stress, situations that are difficult and have a negative impact.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Negative experiences that affect a child's brain and health as they grow into adults.

General adaptation syndrome (GAS)

Selye proposed that the body's adaptive response to stress is so general that, like a single burglar alarm, it sounds, no matter what intrudes.

Alarm reaction

In Phase 1 of GAS, your sympathetic nervous system is suddenly activated.

Resistance

During Phase 2 of GAS, your temperature, blood pressure, and respiration remain high. Your adrenal glands pump hormones into your bloodstream.

Exhaustion

You have reached Phase 3 of GAS. With exhaustion, you become more vulnerable to illness or even, in extreme cases, collapse and death.

Tend-and-befriend response

Facing stress, women may have a tend-and-befriend response, providing or gaining support from others.

Problem-focused coping

We address some stressors directly, with problem-focused coping.

Emotion-focused coping

We turn to emotion-focused coping when we believe we cannot change a situation.

Positive psychology

Uses scientific methods to study human flourishing, with the goal of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities thrive.

Subjective well-being

Your perception of being happy or satisfied with life.

Feel-good, do-good phenomenon

Happy people tend to be healthy, energized, and satisfied with life, which makes them more willing to help others.

Resilience

In positive psychology refers to the ability to cope with whatever life throws at you.

Mindfulness meditation

A reflective practice of attending to current experiences in a nonjudgmental and accepting manner.

Post-Traumatic Growth

This occurs after trauma, where individuals learn to make meaning, heal, and grow from the trauma they have experienced.

Psychological disorder

A syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior.

Dysfunctional

Interfering with normal day-to-day functioning.

Deviant

Behavior that is abnormal.

Distressing/Maladaptive

Behavior that causes significant psychological, emotional, physical, or social harm.

Comorbidity

The presence of more than one psychological disorder, often because they are linked.

Medical model

Concept that psychological disorders have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and often cured.

Psychopathology

An illness of the mind.

Culture-bound syndromes

Disorders that only seem to exist within certain cultures, demonstrating how culture can play a role in both causing and defining a disorder.

Susto

A Latin American disorder characterized by severe anxiety, restlessness, and a fear of black magic.

Tajin-kyofusho

A Japanese anxiety disorder characterized by social anxiety about one's appearance.

Amok

A Malaysian condition involving sudden outbursts of violent behavior.

Diathesis

Predisposition.

Stress

Environmental events or challenges that can trigger or exacerbate mental health conditions.

Epigenetics

The study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change.

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

A group of neurological disorders that impact the development and functioning of the brain and nervous system.

Schizophrenia

A disorder characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thoughts, and/or inappropriate emotional expression.

Psychotic disorders

A group of disorders marked by irrational ideas, distorted perceptions, and a loss of contact with reality.

Paranoia

Fear that someone or something is out to get you.

Flat affect

Displaying no apparent feeling or emotion.

Positive Symptoms

An addition of inappropriate emotions and/or behaviors.

Hallucinations

False sensory experiences experienced under positive symptoms.

Delusions

False beliefs experienced under positive symptoms.

Disorganized thought/speech

A symptom under positive symptoms.

Bizarre movements/actions

A symptom under positive symptoms.

Negative Symptoms

A lack of appropriate emotions and/or behaviors.

Reduced social interaction

A symptom under negative symptoms.

Anhedonia

A lack of pleasure in activities, a symptom under negative symptoms.

Alogia

Speaking less or not at all.

Catatonia

Moving less or not at all.

Chronic schizophrenia

When schizophrenic symptoms appear in adolescence and become more severe as the individual ages.

Acute schizophrenia

Can begin at any age and is usually in response to a traumatic event.

Mood disorder

Characterized by extreme or inappropriate emotions.

Major Depressive Disorder

A mood disorder where a person experiences two or more weeks with five or more symptoms, including depressed mood or loss of interest.

Bipolar disorder

Characterized by alternation between depressive episodes and overexcited states of mania.

Mania

A euphoric, overly talkative, wildly energetic, and extremely optimistic state.

Anxiety disorders

Marked by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety.

Social anxiety disorder

Extreme fear and avoidance of social settings.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

Involves a person being continually tense, apprehensive, and in a state of arousal.

Panic disorder

Marked by unpredictable episodes of intense dread often followed by worry over a possible next attack.

Agoraphobia

The fear and avoidance of situations where one has felt loss of control or panic.

Phobia

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

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

An anxiety disorder marked by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and actions (compulsions).

Dissociative disorders

Rare disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated from past memories, thoughts, and/or feelings.

Dissociative Amnesia

Sudden loss of memory or change in identity due to memory loss.

Dissociative Identity Disorder

Also known as multiple personality disorder.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, hypervigilance, and other symptoms that linger after a traumatic experience.

Anorexia Nervosa

An eating disorder where a person maintains a starvation diet despite being significantly underweight.

Bulimia Nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by inappropriate weight loss behaviors.

Binge Eating Disorder

Significant episodes of excessive eating followed by distress or guilt, without compensatory behaviors.

Personality disorders

Inflexible and enduring patterns of behavior that impair social functioning.

Avoidant Personality Disorder

Extreme shyness and sensitivity to rejection, leading to avoidance of interpersonal activities.

Borderline Personality Disorder

Characterized by instability in relationships, self-image, and emotions.

Schizoid Personality Disorder

Avoids social activities and shies away from interaction with others, appearing aloof.

Histrionic Personality Disorder

Uncomfortable when not the center of attention; displays rapidly shifting and shallow emotions.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Characterized by an unwarranted sense of self-importance and a lack of empathy.

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Lack of empathy and morality, with manipulative behavior and a disregard for others.

Psychotherapy

A treatment involving psychological techniques and interactions between a trained therapist and someone seeking to overcome psychological difficulties.

Meta-analysis

Analysis of psychotherapy effectiveness.

Biomedical therapy

The use of prescribed medications or procedures that act directly on the person's physiology.

Eclectic approach

Uses techniques from a variety of different therapies to treat a patient.

Psychoanalysis

A therapeutic approach involving techniques to uncover content from the patient’s unconscious mind.

Interpretation

Psychoanalysts use notes on hidden meanings or repressed content to help patients achieve self-insight.

Resistance

Blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material.

Transference

Misplaced feelings for one's therapist.

Psychodynamic therapy

Derived from psychoanalysis and views individuals as responding to unconscious forces and childhood experiences.

Cognitive therapy

Teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking, based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and emotional reactions.

Rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT)

A confrontational cognitive therapy that vigorously challenges illogical, self-defeating attitudes.

Behavior therapy

Applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors.

Counterconditioning

Procedures that use classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli triggering unwanted behaviors.

Exposure therapy

Forces patients to confront their fears.

Systematic desensitization

In a relaxed state, incrementally expose the person to the object of anxiety.

Aversive conditioning

Substitutes a negative response with a positive one by pairing undesirable behavior with a negative stimulus.

Modeling

Techniques used in operant conditioning.

Positive reinforcement

Techniques used in operant conditioning to encourage desired behaviors.

Token economies

Patients earn points or tokens for exhibiting desired behaviors, which can be exchanged for rewards.

Behavior modification

Techniques used in operant conditioning to change behaviors.

Applied Behavior Analysis

A technique used in operant conditioning to modify behaviors.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

Integrative therapy combining the techniques of changing one's thinking with changing one's actions.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy

A therapeutic approach focused on the regulation of emotions.

Humanistic approach

Championed by Carl Rogers, emphasizes people's innate potential for self-fulfillment.

Insight therapies

Aim to improve psychological functioning by increasing awareness of underlying motives and defenses.

Client-centered therapy

A therapeutic approach where the therapist uses active listening in an accepting, genuine, and empathetic environment.