Psych exam flashcards (We are cooked)

Spiritual Wellbeing

A sense of meaning, purpose, and connection to something greater, often involving values or beliefs.

Illness Beliefs (Leventhal)

People's beliefs about illness—its cause, duration, consequences, controllability, and identity—shape how they cope.

Biopsychosocial Model

A model that explains health and illness through a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors.

Cognitive Dissonance

Discomfort felt when thoughts, beliefs, or behaviours conflict, often leading to a change in attitude or behaviour.

Effects of Stress

Physical (e.g., headaches), emotional (e.g., irritability), and behavioural (e.g., withdrawal) responses to pressure.

Sources of Stress

Major life changes, daily hassles, trauma, work, and relationship difficulties.

Life Events Theory (Holmes & Rahe)

Suggests life events create stress that can increase the risk of illness, measured by a rating scale.

Fight or Flight Response (Cannon)

An automatic reaction to threat, activating the body to either confront or escape danger.

General Adaptation Syndrome (Selye)

The body’s response to stress in three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.

Lazarus’ Transactional Model of Coping

Explains stress as the result of a person’s appraisal of a situation and their ability to cope.

Sympathetic Nervous System

It activates the body’s “fight or flight” response by increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and energy.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

It calms the body down and restores balance after stress.

Internal Locus of Control

Believing you are in control of your own outcomes and actions.

External Locus of Control

Believing that outcomes are controlled by external factors like luck or fate.

Difference Between Mental Health and Mental Illness

Mental health is a state of wellbeing; mental illness involves diagnosed disorders that affect functioning.

Difference Between Normal and Abnormal Behaviour

Normal behaviour fits cultural norms; abnormal behaviour significantly deviates and may cause harm or distress.

Dichotomy Approach to Mental Health

Views mental health and mental illness as two separate categories.

Continuum Approach to Mental Health

Mental health and illness exist on a spectrum and can shift over time.

Labelling Theory

Suggests that being labelled as mentally ill can affect a person's identity and how others treat them.

Stigma

Negative stereotypes or discrimination against people with mental illness.

Compulsions

Repetitive behaviours driven by anxiety and aimed at preventing a feared event.

Obsessions

Unwanted, intrusive thoughts that cause distress.

Delusions

False beliefs held with conviction despite evidence to the contrary.

Pygmalion Effect

Expectations influence outcomes—higher expectations can lead to better performance.

DSM-V

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders used to classify mental disorders.

ICD-10

The International Classification of Diseases, used globally to diagnose physical and mental health conditions.

Categorical Approach to Diagnosis

Places mental disorders into distinct groups with specific criteria.

Dimensional Approach to Diagnosis

Views symptoms on a continuum from mild to severe.

ABCS of Symptoms

Affect (feelings), Behaviour, Cognition (thoughts), and Somatic (physical) symptoms.

The 4 D’s of Abnormality

Deviance, Distress, Dysfunction, and Danger—used to assess whether behaviour is abnormal.

Sociocultural Approach

Defines normality based on what is acceptable in a given culture.

Functional Approach

Behaviour is normal if the individual can function effectively in society.

Historical Approach

Considers how definitions of normality have changed over time.

Situational Approach

What’s normal depends on the context or situation.

Medical Approach

Views abnormal behaviour as the result of biological or medical issues.

Statistical Approach

Defines abnormality as behaviours that are statistically rare in a population.

Historical Understandings of Abnormality

Early beliefs linked mental illness to evil spirits or imbalances in bodily fluids.

Mind-Body Connection

The idea that mental and physical health are deeply interconnected.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

A therapy that helps people change negative thought patterns and behaviours.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Focuses on accepting thoughts/feelings and committing to personal values.

Psychotherapy

Talking therapy designed to explore emotions and resolve psychological problems.

Solution-Focused Therapy

A short-term approach that helps clients focus on solutions rather than problems.

Mindfulness

Paying attention to the present moment with openness and acceptance.

Grounding Techniques

Strategies to keep someone in the present and reduce overwhelming emotions.

Meditation

A practice that uses focus and relaxation to improve awareness and reduce stress.

Medication Used in Mental Illness

Prescribed to manage symptoms like depression, anxiety, or psychosis.

Exposure Therapy

A treatment that involves confronting feared objects or situations to reduce anxiety.

Flooding

A type of exposure therapy where the person faces their fear all at once.

Systematic Desensitisation

Gradual exposure to a fear combined with relaxation training.

Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Excessive worry about various life events, lasting more than 6 months.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Characterised by obsessions (intrusive thoughts) and compulsions (repetitive behaviours).

Panic Disorder

Sudden, intense episodes of fear (panic attacks), often without warning.

Phobias

Intense, irrational fears of specific things (e.g., heights, spiders).

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

A condition following trauma with symptoms like flashbacks, nightmares, and anxiety.

Depression

A mood disorder with symptoms such as sadness, fatigue, and loss of interest.

Trauma and PTSD

PTSD develops in response to traumatic experiences, especially if they feel life- threatening or inescapable.

Substance Abuse Disorders

Conditions where using substances causes harm and affects functioning.

Addiction

A chronic disorder with compulsive use of a substance despite negative consequences.

Spiritual well-being

What may involve values or beliefs and provides a sense of meaning and purpose.

Fight or Flight

An automatic reaction to threat, activating the body to either confront or escape danger.

Biopsychosocial Model

A model for illness that includes Biological, Psychological, and Social factors.

Life Events Theory

Suggests that life events create stress that can create an increased risk of illness.

Cognitive Dissonance

When a person experiences discomfort felt when thoughts, beliefs, or behaviors conflict.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Feelings that consist of worry about various life events lasting more than 6 months.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Therapy that helps people change negative thought patterns and behaviors.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

This develops in response to traumatic experiences and can have life threatening consequences.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

A disorder that is characterized by intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviors.

Compulsions

These are driven by anxiety and aimed at preventing a feared event.

Statistical Approach

Uses statistical data to define what is not typical compared to the population.

Solution Focused Therapy

Looking at what works best for clients rather than focusing on the problem.

Grounding Techniques

A short term practice that helps keep someone in the present

Mental Illness

Diagnosed disorders that affect functining.

Medical Approach

Is the result of biological and medical issues.

Functional Approach

Focuses on what a person is capable of rather than what they lack.

Pygmalion Effect

When a person feels that their expectations influence outcomes.

Dimensional Approach

Views symptoms from mild to severe.

Functional Approach

When the individual can function effectively in society.

Stigma

Negative stereotypes against a person with mental illness.

Lazarus'transactional model of coping

Is the result of a person's appraisal in a situation.