Psychological Disorders: Physical Disorders and Health Psychology

Knowledge derived from behavioral science is applied to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of medical problems; an interdisciplinary field in which psychologists, physicians, and other health professionals work closely together to develop new treatments and preventive strategies

Behavioral Medicine

Not interdisciplinary and it is usually considered a subfield of behavioral medicine; practitioners study psychological factors that are important to the promotion and maintenance of health; they also analyze and recommend improvements in health-care systems and health-policy formation within the discipline of psychology

Health Psychology

An incurable sexually transmitted infection; although this is a biological disease, it spreads rapidly because people choose not to reduce their risk by changing their behavior, such as by simply using a condom

Genital Herpes

contains several stages in response to sustained stress

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

The first phase of general adaptation syndrome wherein there is a type of ___ response to immediate danger or threat

Alarm

With continuing stress, we seem to pass into a stage of ___, in which we mobilize various coping mechanisms to respond to the stress; the second phase of general adaptation syndrome

Resistance

If the stress is too intense or lasts too long, we may enter a stage of ___, in which our bodies suffer permanent damage or death; the third phase of general adaptation syndrome

Exhaustion

secreted by the hypothalamus and stimulates the pituitary gland

Corticotropin-Releasing Factor (CRF)

if you are under too much pressure, you may become tense and irritable or develop a headache or an upset stomach

Stress

if something really is threatening and you believe there is little you can do about it

Anxiety

individuals who always perceive life as threatening may lose hope about ever having control; no longer trying to cope

Depression

Psychological factors – specifically a sense of control and confidence that we can cope with stress or challenges, called ___ – that differ most markedly among these emotions, leading to different feelings

Self-Efficacy

protects the body from any foreign materials that may enter it

Immune System

can be any of a number of substances, usually bacteria, viruses, or parasites

Antigen

2 main parts of the immune system

humoral and cellular

White blood cells that do most of the work

Leukocytes

Might be considered one of the body’s first lines of defense: They surround identifiable antigens and destroy them; also signal lymphocytes, which consist of 2 groups, B cells and T cells

macrophages

Operate within the humoral part of the immune system, releasing molecules that seek antigens in blood and other bodily fluids with the purpose of neutralizing them

B Cells

After the antigens are neutralized, a subgroup called ___ are created so that the next time that antigen is encountered, the immune system response will be even faster

Memory B Cells

Operate in the cellular branch of the immune system

T Cells

directly destroys viruses and cancer cells

Killer T Cells

T4 cells are called ___ because they enhance the immune system response by signaling B cells to produce antibodies and telling other T cells to destroy the antigen

helper T cells

suppress the production of antibodies by B cells when they are no longer needed

Suppressor T Cells

the object of study is psychological influences on the neurological responding implicated on our immune response

Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)

symptoms include minor health problems such as weight loss, fever, and night sweats

AIDS-Related Complex (ARC)

the development and course of different varieties of cancer are subject to psychosocial influences

Psychoncology

temporary blockages of blood vessels leading to the brain or a rupture of blood vessels in the brain that result in temporary or permanent brain damage and loss of functioning

Stroke

Blood pressure increases when the blood vessels leading to organs and peripheral areas constrict (become narrower), forcing increasing amounts of blood to muscles in central parts of the body

Hypertension

chest pain resulting from partial obstruction of the arteries

Angina Pectoris/Angina

occurs when the fatty substance or plaque builds up inside the arteries and causes an obstruction

Atherosclerosis

the name for deficiency of blood to a body part caused by the narrowing of the arteries by too much plaque

Ischemia

the death of heart tissue when a specific artery becomes clogged with plaque

Myocardial Infarction/Heart Attack

excessive competitive drive, a sense of always being pressured for time, impatience, incredible amounts of energy that may show up in accelerated speech and motor activity, and angry outbursts

Type A Behavior Pattern

more relaxed, less concerned about deadlines, and seldom feels the pressure or, perhaps, the excitement of challenges or overriding ambition

Type B Behavior Pattern

typically follows an injury and disappears once the injury heals or is effectively treated, often within a month

Acute Pain

May begin with an acute episode but does not decrease over time, even when the injury has healed or effective treatments have been administered

Chronic Pain

Include changing the way one sits or walks, continually complaining about pain to others, grimacing, and, most important, avoiding various activities, particularly those involving work or leisure; overt manifestations of pain

Pain Behaviors

An emotional component of pain called ___ sometimes accompanies pain and sometimes does not

Suffering

People who have lost an arm or leg feel excruciating pain in the limb that is no longer there

Phantom Limb Pain

The behavior clearly seems under the control of social consequences but these consequences have an uncertain relation to the amount of pain being experienced

Operant Control of Pain