Unit 5: Mental and Physical Health

Biopsychosocial approach

Model explaining health and illness as the combined result of biological factors (e.g., genes, immune system), psychological factors (e.g., stress, coping, beliefs), and social-cultural factors (e.g., relationships, poverty, discrimination, access to care).

Health psychology

Field focused on understanding how behavior and mental processes affect physical health, preventing illness, improving treatment outcomes, and promoting well-being.

Health

More than the absence of disease; includes physical, mental, and social well-being.

Illness

The subjective experience and interpretation of symptoms (how you feel and make sense of what’s happening).

Disease

An objectively measurable biological condition (e.g., a viral infection, tumors).

Stress

The process of perceiving and responding to events you appraise as threatening or challenging (includes interpretation and response, not just the event).

Stressor

Any event or condition that triggers the stress process (the trigger, not the full stress response).

Transactional model of stress and coping (Lazarus & Folkman)

Theory that stress depends on cognitive appraisal of a situation and perceived coping resources, not just the situation itself.

Primary appraisal

First evaluation of an event: irrelevant, positive, or stressful (harm, threat, or challenge).

Secondary appraisal

Evaluation of coping resources and options (skills, time, support); higher perceived resources usually reduce stress.

Sympathetic nervous system (SNS)

Part of the autonomic nervous system that rapidly activates the body during threat, producing fight-or-flight changes (e.g., increased heart rate).

Fight-or-flight response

Rapid stress response involving heightened arousal and energy mobilization to confront or escape a perceived threat.

Epinephrine (adrenaline)

Hormone released by the adrenal medulla during SNS activation that increases arousal (e.g., heart rate, respiration) for quick action.

HPA axis (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis)

Slower, longer-lasting stress-response system in which the hypothalamus and pituitary signal the adrenal glands to release cortisol.

Cortisol

Stress hormone released via the HPA axis that mobilizes energy and influences immune functioning; adaptive short-term but harmful when chronically elevated.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Hans Selye’s model of physiological response to prolonged stress: alarm → resistance → exhaustion.

Chronic stress

Long-lasting stress activation without enough recovery; linked to increased health risk (e.g., cardiovascular strain, immune dysregulation).

Behavioral mediators (stress → illness behaviors)

Behavior changes under stress (e.g., less sleep/exercise, worse diet, substance use, skipped appointments) that help explain how stress increases illness risk.

Hostility

Anger/irritability and antagonistic attitudes; considered the most harmful component of the classic Type A pattern for heart-health risk.

Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)

Study of interactions among psychological processes (like stress), the nervous system, and the immune system; emphasizes mind-body links.

Coping

Cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage stress; can be adaptive (problem-solving, support) or maladaptive (avoidance, substance use).

Problem-focused coping

Coping aimed at changing the stressor itself (e.g., planning, gathering information); most useful when the situation is controllable.

Emotion-focused coping

Coping aimed at managing emotional responses to the stressor (e.g., reappraisal, relaxation, mindfulness); useful when the situation isn’t controllable.

Social support

Emotional care, practical help, and belonging that can buffer stress effects, encourage healthy behavior, and improve treatment adherence.

Self-efficacy

Belief that you can perform the behaviors needed to reach a goal; predicts persistence and health behavior change.

Psychological disorder (the “3 Ds”)

Pattern of thoughts/feelings/behaviors that is deviant (relative to culture), distressing, and/or dysfunctional (impairs daily life); guidelines, not rigid rules.

DSM-5-TR

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (U.S. system) that provides standardized criteria for psychological diagnoses.

Reliability (in diagnosis)

Consistency of diagnosis across clinicians; a key goal of DSM-based classification (shared criteria improve agreement).

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

Persistent, hard-to-control worry across many areas of life, often with fatigue, restlessness, and concentration problems.

Panic disorder

Disorder involving recurrent panic attacks plus ongoing worry about future attacks and/or behavior changes to avoid them.

Negative reinforcement

Learning process where a behavior increases because it removes an unpleasant state; in anxiety/OCD, avoidance or rituals reduce fear temporarily, strengthening the behavior.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

Disorder with obsessions (intrusive unwanted thoughts/urges) and compulsions (repetitive behaviors/mental acts) performed to reduce anxiety.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Trauma-related disorder involving persistent symptoms such as intrusive memories, avoidance, negative mood/cognition changes, and altered arousal/reactivity.

Major depressive disorder (MDD)

Persistent depressed mood and/or loss of interest/pleasure with additional symptoms (e.g., sleep/appetite changes, low energy, worthlessness); lasts at least two weeks.

Mania

Abnormally elevated or irritable mood and increased energy, often with decreased need for sleep, impulsivity, and risky behavior (seen in bipolar disorders).

Schizophrenia

Psychotic disorder marked by disturbances in thought, perception, and behavior, including symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech/thought, and impaired functioning.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

Structured therapy combining cognitive restructuring (challenging distortions) with behavioral strategies (e.g., exposure, activity scheduling) to reduce symptoms and improve functioning.

Exposure therapy

Behavior therapy that reduces fear by repeatedly confronting a feared stimulus/situation without avoidance, allowing new learning of safety.

Client-centered therapy

Humanistic therapy (Carl Rogers) emphasizing personal growth through a supportive therapeutic relationship with empathy and active listening.

Unconditional positive regard

Client-centered therapy attitude of nonjudgmental acceptance and caring that supports self-exploration and change.

Psychoanalysis

Freud’s approach aiming to bring repressed conflicts into conscious awareness to gain insight; uses techniques like free association, dream analysis, and transference work.

Transference

Psychoanalytic concept where a client redirects feelings about important people in their life onto the therapist, revealing recurring relationship patterns.

Antipsychotic drugs

Medication class used primarily to treat schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders by reducing psychotic symptoms (e.g., hallucinations, delusions).

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

Biomedical treatment used in severe cases (often severe depression) when other treatments fail; performed under anesthesia in modern practice.

Tolerance

Needing more of a substance to achieve the same effect as before.

Withdrawal

Negative physical and/or psychological symptoms that occur when stopping or reducing a substance after repeated use.

Dependence

Continued substance use despite significant problems; may involve tolerance and withdrawal.

Placebo effect

Symptom improvement caused by expectations about a treatment rather than the treatment’s active ingredients (can feel and/or be physiologically real).

Confidentiality

Ethical duty for therapists to keep client information private, with limits when safety/legal concerns require disclosure (e.g., risk of harm).

Spontaneous remission

Improvement of symptoms over time without a specific effective treatment, which can make a treatment seem helpful unless controlled studies are used.

Informed consent

Ethical requirement that clients understand the nature of treatment, risks, benefits, and alternatives before agreeing to participate.