UWRF Psych: Mental and Physical Health

Stress

The process by which we perceive and respond to certain events that are threatening or challenging to us (stressors)

Types of stress

Eustress, distress, chronic stress

Eustress

Happens in response to situations that are mostly positive but still stressful

Distress

Happens in response to dangerous situations that elicit the fight or flight mode

Chronic stress

Stress happening for longer than 21 days in response to situations in our daily life

Tend and befriend response

Under stress people (usually women) often provide support for others and bond with and seek support from others

Positive stress (eustress)

Gives people boosts of adrenaline that help them focus and achieve goals or respond positively to certain situations

Negative stress (distress, chronic stress)

Prevents relaxation and can cause psychological and physical systems to become overwhelmed and possibly damaged

Hans Selye’s general adaptation syndrome

Three phases: Alarm, resistance, exhaustion

Lazarus’ definition of stress

When demands exceed resources

Dysregulation

In fight or flight response

Coping mechanisms

Meaning focused, problem focused, emotion focused, or social coping

Meaning focused

Behavior that works to find out what the problem means, then adjust their perspective or feelings to help deal with the situation

Problem focused

Behavior that is focused primarily on confronting the issue that’s distressing you

Emotion focused

Behavior that works to minimize the negative emotions caused by an issue

Social coping

Behavior that employs use of a support system and community to relieve stress and emotional strain

Social readjustment rating scale (SRRS)

Made by Holmes and Rahe, a test that shows a number representing stress levels based on how many life changing events have happened in the last year

Psychophysiological illnesses

Any stress related physical illness

Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)

The study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect the immune system and resulting health

Lymphocytes

The two types of white blood cells that are part of the body’s immune system

B lymphocytes

Form in bone marrow and release antibodies that fight bacterial infections

T lymphocytes

Form in the thymus and other lymphatic tissue and attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances

Stress hormones

Cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine; they travel to target issues and may cause health complications

Temperament type A

Competitive, hard driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger prone; more likely to experience health complications due to their appraisal of stressors

Temperament type B

Easygoing, relaxed; less likely to have health complications due to their appraisal of stressors

Psychological disorders

A syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in someone’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior

4 Ds

Deviance, dysfunction, distress, disturbance

Deviance

Thinking, feeling, or behaving that is different from the norm

Dysfunction

Maladaptive, interferes with everyday functioning

Disturbance

There is a disturbance of the way someone thinks, feels, and behaves

Philippe Pinel

French physician who pioneered the humane treatment of the mentally ill

Medical model

The concept that diseases have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and cured

DSM

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, has a system for classifying psychological disorders (ex: need to have 3 of 5 symptoms or have them for longer than 2 weeks)

Categorical

Diagnoses are treated as different discrete categories

Dimensional

Symptoms range from non existent to mild to moderate to severe, there is a spectrum

International classification of disease

A globally used diagnostic tool for epidemiology, health management, and clinical purposes, maintained by world health organization

Diathesis stress theory

Genetic predispositions react with environment stressors to generate the onset of symptoms