AP Psychology Vocabulary | Unit 5: Mental & Physical Health

Health Psychology

the study of how psychological, behavioral, and social factors influence health, illness, and healthcare, encompassing topics like stress, illness coping, and promoting healthy behaviors.

Stress

the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging.

Hypertension

a condition where the force of blood against the artery walls is consistently too high, potentially increasing the risk of heart attack, stroke, and other health problems.

Immune Suppression

The weakening or reduction of the body's natural defenses against disease, often linked to stress and psychological factors.

Eustress

Positive stress that motivates and energizes,

distress

a state of unpleasant emotional suffering or psychological pain, often associated with high levels of stress, anxiety, or depression, which can negatively impact an individual's well-being and functioning.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Traumatic events that occur during childhood, including abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction, which can have long-term negative impacts on health and development.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Describes the body's three-stage response to stress: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.

Alarm

The initial physiological reaction to stress, where the body mobilizes to prepare for a threat or danger.

Resistance

The body's second stage of response to a stressor, where it actively works to counter the initial physiological changes and maintain homeostasis.

Fight-Flight-Freeze Response

The body's automatic, instinctive reaction to perceived danger, involving physiological changes to prepare for either confronting or escaping the threat, or, in some cases, a state of immobility.

Exhaustion

Where prolonged stress depletes physical, mental, and emotional resources, leading to a state of burnout and potentially illness.

Tend-and-Befriend Theory

Describes a stress response, particularly in women, involving nurturing offspring and seeking social support and affiliation with others for protection and comfort.

Problem-Focused Coping

a strategy where individuals directly address and attempt to resolve the source of stress or the problem causing the stress, rather than focusing on the emotional response to it.

Emotion-Focused Coping

A stress management strategy that focuses on regulating the emotional response to a stressor, rather than directly addressing the stressor itself, often used when a stressor is perceived as uncontrollable.

Meditation

Self-regulation practice focusing on training attention and awareness to bring mental processes under voluntary control, fostering general mental well-being and specific capacities like calm and concentration.