psych exam 6

14,15,16

stress

process where an individual perceives and responds to events that they appraise as overwhelming or threatening to their well-being

stressors

influence our reactions to events

primary appraisals

judgement about the degree of potential harm or threat to well-being that a stressor entails

• challange or threat

secondary appraisal

• judgment of options of how to cope with a stressor

  • low threat

    • high threat

eustress

good stress, motivates us

eg: before a race or exam

distress

• when stress excees optimal levels

  • burn out, fatigue, exaustion

health psychology

• devoted to understanding the importance of psychological influences on health, illness and how people respond when they become ill

Walter Cannon

• named the flight or flight response

  • assists in maintaining homeostasis

  • adaptive to adjust to threats in environment and survive

fight or flight response

occurs when a person experiences very strong emotions—especially those associated with a perceived threat

• activation of sympathetic nervous system and endocrine system

• helps person prepare to fight or flee

Hans Selye

• worlds expert in stress

• accidentally discovered the physiological reactions when exposed prolonged negative stimulation such as cold, injury, excessive exercise and shock

  • resulted in adrenal enlargement

general adaptation syndrome

the body’s nonspecific physiological response to stress

• same patterns despite the stressor

• has 3 stages

Alarm reaction

describes the body’s immediate reaction upon facing a threatening situation or emergency

• fight or flight

  • body alarms with energy to manage the situation

stage of resistance

• 2nd stage

• inital shock has worn off, body has adapted to stressor

  • eg: child missing after 72 hours, parent is still stressed but less reaction

stage of exhaustion

• person is no longer able to adapt to the stressor

  • illness, disease even death

hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis

• neuroendocrine pathway that regulates stress response

• hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing factor → causes pituitary gland to release adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) → activates adrenal glands to secrete stress hormones like cortisol

cortisol

stress hormone and helps provide that boost of energy when we first encounter a stressor, preparing us to run away or fightn

• sustained levels of cortisol weaken the immune system

chronic stressors

• events that persist over an extended period of time

  • such as caring for a parent with dementia, long-term unemployment, or imprisonment

Acute stressors

brief focal events that sometimes continue to be experienced as overwhelming well after the event has ended

• such as falling on an icy sidewalk and breaking your leg

Traumatic Events

Some stressors involve traumatic events or situations in which a person is exposed to actual or threatened death or serious injury.

Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)

• Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe link between life stressors and physical illness

43 life events that require varying degrees of personal readjustment

• eg: holidays, retirement, marriage, death of close family member, illness, financial state

Psychoneuroimmunology

field that studies how psychological factors such as stress influence the immune system and immune functioning

lymphocytes

white blood cells that circulate in the body’s fluids that are important in the immune response

cardiovascular disorders

disorders that involve the cardiovascular system

Heart disease

• Each year, heart disease causes approximately one in three deaths in the United States

hypertension

• major risk factor for heart disease, attack and stroke

• high blood pressure

• forces a person’s heart to pump harder, thus putting more physical strain on the heart

Negative affectivity

tendency to experience distressed emotional states involving anger, contempt, disgust, guilt, fear, and nervousness

• linked with hypertension and disease

Asthma

a chronic and serious disease in which the airways of the respiratory system become obstructed

• due to inflammation narrowing airways

• difficulty breathing

  • stress can trigger astchma attack

Coping

mental and behavioral efforts that we use to deal with problems relating to stress

problem-focused coping

one attempts to manage or alter the problem that is causing one to experience stress

• problem solving strats

Emotion-focused coping

• efforts to change or reduce the negative emotions associated with stress

  • minimizing, distracting, positive comparisons, reappraisal

Perceived control

is our beliefs about our personal capacity to exert influence over and shape outcomes, and it has major implications for our health and happiness

Social support

the soothing impact of friends, family, and acquaintances

• advice, guidance, encouragement, acceptance, emotional comfort, and tangible assistance such as financial help

relaxation response technique

1. sitting upright on a comfortable chair with feet on the ground and body in a relaxed position,

2. being in a quiet environment with eyes closed,

3. repeating a word or a phrase—a mantra—to oneself, such as “alert mind, calm body,”

4. passively allowing the mind to focus on pleasant thoughts, such as nature or the warmth of your blood nourishing your body.

biofeedback

• Gary Schwartz

  • technique that uses electronic equipment to accurately measure a person’s neuromuscular and autonomic activity

happiness

incorporate each of these elements:

• an enduring state of mind consisting of joy, contentment, and other positive emotions

• plus the sense that one’s life has meaning and value

positive psychology

area of study that seeks to identify and promote those qualities that lead to greater fulfillment in our lives

• eg: empathy, altruism, perseverance, forgiveness, originality

positive affect

pleasurable engagement with the environment, such as happiness, joy, enthusiasm, alertness, and excitement

optimism

• general tendency to look on the bright side of things

• significant predictor of positive health outcomes.

Flow

experience that is so engaging and engrossing that it becomes worth doing for its own sake

• creative endeavors

daily hassles

minor irritations and annoyances that are part of our everyday lives and are capable of producing stress

distress

bad form of stress; usually high in intensity; often leads to exhaustion, fatigue, feeling burned out; associated with erosions in performance and health

Type A

psychological and behavior pattern exhibited by individuals who tend to be extremely competitive, impatient, rushed, and hostile toward others

Type B

• psychological and behavior pattern exhibited by a person who is relaxed and laid back

psychological disorder

• a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning

Psychopathology

is the study of psychological disorders, including their symptoms

etiology

• causes and treatments of psychological disorders

atypical

• feelings and actions that deviate from the norm and can signify the prescense of a psychological disorder

harmful dysfunction

• occurs when an internal mechanism breaks down and can no longer perform its normal function

  • must be harmful in that it leads to negative consequences

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) Definition

1. There are significant disturbances in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

2. The disturbances reflect some kind of biological, psychological, or developmental dysfunction

3. The disturbances lead to significant distress or disability in one’s life.

4. The disturbances do not reflect expected or culturally approved responses to certain events

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)

• includes many categories of disorders (e.g., anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, and dissociative disorders

comorbidity

• the co-occurrence of two disorders

  • eg: OCD and depression are common to occour at the same time

    • substance abuse and mental health issue

International Classification of Diseases (ICD)

• published by WHO

• after WW2

• clinical purposes and for general health of populations

supernatural perspective:

• attributed to a force beyond scientific understanding

• thought that those afflicted were thought to be practitioners of black magic or possessed by spirits

Biological Perspectives of Psychological Disorders

• due to genetics

  • schizophrenia is heritable

• chemical imbalances

• brain abnormalities

diathesis-stress model

integrates biological and psychosocial factors to predict the likelihood of a disorder

• suggests that people more likely to develop disorder when in adverse environment and stressful event

  • childhood maltreatment, negative life events, trauma

Anxiety disorders

• are characterized by excessive and persistent fear and anxiety

• common: approximately 25%–30% of the U.S

  • most common of other mental disorders

specific phobia

• experiences excessive, distressing, and persistent fear or anxiety about a specific object or situation

  • (such as animals, enclosed spaces, elevators, or flying)

Phobia	Feared Object or Situation

Acrophobia	heights
Aerophobia	flying
Arachnophobia	spiders
Claustrophobia	enclosed spaces
Cynophobia	dogs
Hematophobia	blood
Ophidiophobia	snakes
Taphophobia	being buried alive
Trypanophobia	injections
Xenophobia	strangers

phobia acquisition

• classical conditioning

  • eg: bitten by a dog, fear of dog

• vicarious learning

  • see others with same fears, react same ways

• verbal transmission

  • someone tells you snakes are scary

Social Anxiety Disorder

• characterized by extreme and persistent fear or anxiety and avoidance of social situations in which the person could potentially be evaluated negatively by others

safety behaviors

mental or behavioral acts that reduce anxiety in social situations by reducing the chance of negative social outcomes

• eg: avoiding eye contact, rehersing sentances before speaking, talking a little

Panic Disorder

• experience recurrent (more than one) and unexpected panic attacks,

• along with at least one month of persistent concern about additional panic attacks

panic attack

• period of extreme fear or discomfort that develops abruptly and reaches a peak within 10 minutes.

• symptoms include accelerated heart rate, sweating, trembling, choking sensations, hot flashes or chills, dizziness or lightheadedness, fears of losing control or going crazy, and fears of dying

locus coeruleus

• may play a role in panic disorder

• Located in the brainstem, brain’s major source of norepinephrine

  • a neurotransmitter that triggers the body’s fight-or-flight response.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

• a relatively continuous state of excessive, uncontrollable, and pointless worry and apprehension.

  • often worry about routine, everyday things, even though their concerns are unjustified

obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

1. experience thoughts, mental images, fears, sensations, and/or urges that are intrusive and unwanted (obsessions)

2. the need to engage in repetitive behaviors or mental acts (compulsions)

3. act out ritualistic actions for relief

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

• is preoccupied with a perceived flaw in physical appearance that is either nonexistent or barely noticeable to other people

• prefrontal cortex

Hoarding Disorder

cannot bear to part with personal possessions, regardless of how valueless or useless these possessions are

• anterior cingulate cortex

orbitofrontal cortex

• an area of the frontal lobe involved in learning and decision-making

• in OCD: becomes especially hyperactive when they are provoked with tasks

  • Abnormalities in this region

  • higher connectivity of this region and others

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

1. must be exposed to, witness, or experience the details of a traumatic experience

   1. flashbacks

flashbacks

• states that can last from a few seconds to several days, during which the individual relives the event and behaves as if the event were occurring at that moment

Risk Factors For PTSD

• truama

• lack of social support

• life stress

  • rape, combat, sexual assult

Mood disorders (

characterized by severe disturbances in mood and emotions—most often depression, but also mania and elation

Depressive disorders

a group of disorders in which depression is the main feature

• persistance of sadness

• loose intrest, hopelessness,

bipolar disorder

• experiences mood states that vacillate between depression and mania; that is, the person’s mood is said to alternate from one emotional extreme to the other

Mania

• state of extreme elation and agitation

  • extremely talkative, behave recklessly, or attempt to take on many tasks simultaneously

Major Depressive Disorder

• “depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day”

• (feeling sad, empty, hopeless, or appearing tearful to others), and loss of interest and pleasure in usual activities'

  • 2 weeks or more

  • and suicidal ideation

subtype: seasonal pattern

a person experiences the symptoms of major depressive disorder only during a particular time of year (e.g., fall or winter)

peripartum onset (postpartum depression)

• major depression during pregnancy or in the four weeks following the birth of their child

persistent depressive disorder

• depressed moods most of the day nearly every day for at least two years

  • as well as at least two of the other symptoms of major depressive disorder.

risk facors bi polar

• genetics signficantly

• impalance in norepinphtine and serotin

  • lithium blocks norepinephrine activity and synapses

hopelessness theory

postulates that a particular style of negative thinking leads to a sense of hopelessness, which then leads to depression

Rumination

• repetitive and passive focus on the fact that one is depressed and dwelling on depressed symptoms

Suicide

• , defined by the CDC as “death caused by self-directed injurious behavior with any intent to die as the result of the behavior”

Delusions

• are beliefs that are contrary to reality and are firmly held even in the face of contradictory evidence.

paranoid delusions

which involve the (false) belief that other people or agencies are plotting to harm the person.

grandiose delusions

beliefs that one holds special power, unique knowledge, or is extremely important.

somatic delusion

, which is the belief that something highly abnormal is happening to one’s body (e.g., that one’s kidneys are being eaten by cockroaches)

Disorganized thinking

disjointed and incoherent thought processes—usually detected by what a person says.

Disorganized or abnormal motor behavior

unusual behaviors and movements: becoming unusually active, exhibiting silly child-like behaviors (giggling and self-absorbed smiling),

catatonic behaviors

decreased reactivity to the environment, such as posturing, in which the person maintains a rigid and bizarre posture for long periods of time, or catatonic stupor, a complete lack of movement and verbal behavior

Negative symptoms

noticeable decreases and absences in certain behaviors, emotions, or drives

• no emotions in face, speech, movements

dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia

• overabundance of dopamine or too many dopamine receptors are responsible for the onset and maintenance of schizophrenia

brain anatomy: schitzophrenia

• enlarged ventricles in the brain

• associated with a loss of brain tissue

• reduction in gray matter in frontal lobes

  • less frontal lobe activity

prodromal symptoms

• warning signs

  • minor symptoms of psychosis, such as unusual thought content, paranoia, odd communication, delusions, problems at school or work, and a decline in social functioning

Dissociative disorders

an individual becoming split off, or dissociated, from their core sense of self

• includes amnesia, depersonalization, derealization and dissociative identity disorder

dissociative amnesia

• unable to recall important personal information, usually following an extremely stressful or traumatic experience

• combat, natural disasters, or being the victim of violence.

dissociative fugue

• can last days or longer

  • someone suddenly wander away from their home, experience confusion about their identity, and sometimes even adopt a new identity

Depersonalization/derealization disorder

• is defined as feelings of “unreality or detachment from, or unfamiliarity with, one’s whole self or from aspects of the self”

dissociative identity disorder

• formally called multiple personality disorder

  • two or more separate personality states, each distinct from one another in affect, behavior, consciousness, memory, perception, cognition, and/or sensory-motor functioning