Psychology U4 AOS 2

• Wellbeing 

• Mental wellbeing

• List the different ways of considering mental wellbeing

Wellbeing a state in which an individual is mentally, physically, and socially healthy and secure 

Mental wellbeing an individual’s psychological state, including their ability to think, process information, regulate emotions and cope with the normal stresses of everyday life 

• Levels of functioning

• Compare high vs low levels of functioning

Levels of functioning the degree to which an individual can complete day-to-day tasks in an independent and effective manner 

• Adaptive behaviours

• Maladaptive/dysfunctional behaviours

• Adaptive behaviours are behaviours that allow individuals to adapt/adjust/change to the demands of daily life  

• Maladaptive/dysfunctional behaviours are behaviours that interfere or impair with a person's ability to carry out their usual activities 

• Resilience

• Compare high vs low levels of resilience

Resilience refers to the ability to cope with and adapt well to life stressors and restore positive functioning following difficult times 

T or F? Being resilient means that your life is without difficulty or distress

False.

Being resilient does not mean that your life is without difficulty or distress, or that you are always happy --> rather, high levels of resilience lead to mental wellbeing as you are able to respond effectively to stressors, overcome them, or adapt to them 

• Social wellbeing

• Compare high vs low levels of Social wellbeing

Social wellbeing involves the ability for an individual to form and maintain meaningful bonds with others, socially interact in appropriate ways and adapt to different social situations 

• Strong social wellbeing helps individuals to gain confidence and create positive interactions in a social setting, and enables them to build strong support networks, which leads to overall better mental wellbeing 

• Emotional wellbeing

• Compare high vs low levels of emotional wellbeing

Emotional wellbeing involves the ability for an individual to appropriately control and express their own emotions in an adaptive way, as well as understand the emotions of others 

Other things in high levels of emotional wellbeing: 

• Accept mistakes or setbacks and learn from them 

• Make decisions with minimum worry, stress or anxiety 

• Manage stress using appropriate coping skills 

• Take responsibility for their actions 

T or F? Individuals with strong emotional wellbeing still experience negative emotions as they are an inevitable part of life

Individuals with strong emotional wellbeing still experience negative emotions as they are an inevitable part of life -  however, they can still be considered to have high levels of emotional wellbeing, and thus mental wellbeing, if they are able to effectively manage these emotions and appropriately express them 

Social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) + describe the framework

Social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) is a framework that includes all elements of being, and therefore wellbeing, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples 

 

The SEWB framework is: 

• Multidimensional, meaning that it is made up of different components 

• Holistic meaning it is an approach to wellbeing that considers the whole person, including their mental, physical, spiritual, and social needs 

• All dimensions are interconnected

List the 7 dimensions in the emotional and wellbeing model

Mnemonic to remember: 

“Friendly Children Celebrate Christmas Before Making Snowmen 

• F → Family & kinship 

• C → Community 

• C → Culture 

• C → Country & land 

• B → Body and behaviours 

• M → Mind & emotions 

• S → Spirit, spirituality & ancestors 

Explain each dimension

Identify + explain the determinants

• mental wellbeing continuum

• T or F? Is mental wellbeing dynamic (constantly changing)

The mental wellbeing continuum refers to a tool used to track fluctuating mental wellbeing, ranging from high levels of mental wellbeing to low levels of mental wellbeing 

•  T. As mental wellbeing is a dynamic (constantly changing) state, an individual’s placement on the continuum is not fixed and can shift over time 

• Internal factors + what do they include

• External factors + what do they include

Internal factors are factors that arise from within the individual 

• These include biological factors such as genetics and hormones 

• Psychological factors such as personality and coping skills 

 

External factors are factors that arise from an individual’s environment/outside a person 

• These include social factors such as interpersonal relationships, school and work-based factors and level of income 

• Mentally healthy

• Mental health problem

• Mental disorder/illness

• Mentally healthy: feeling positive and functioning well in everyday life, resilience to life's stressors, and high levels of social and emotional wellbeing 

 

• Mental health problem: a problem that interferes with functioning but is relatively moderate in severity and tends to be temporary --> a person can feel low, irritable, confused, angry, lacking motivation or become withdrawn 

 

• Mental disorder/illness: diagnosable disorder that tends to be more serious, longer-lasting and required treatment – associated with significant personal distress and impairment to everyday functioning 

A person who has a mental disorder experiences the 3 Ds. Identify + explain each

• Distress – unpleasant emotions (e.g. sadness, anxiety, feeling overwhelmed) 

• Dysfunction – inability to cope with daily activities 

• Deviance – thoughts and behaviours that are not typical for that person or culture 

• Stress

• Is it always on low levels of mental wellbeing

Stress is a state of psychological and physiological arousal produced by internal or external stressors that are perceived by the person as challenging or exceeding their ability or resources to cope  

• Stress is a normal part of life, and is not necessarily a sign of low levels of mental wellbeing 

• When an individual does not feel as though they have adequate resources to cope with a stressor --> this can lower an individual’s level of mental wellbeing 

• Anxiety

• Is it present-oriented or future-oriented?

Anxiety is a state of psychological and physiological arousal that involves feelings of worry and apprehension that something wrong or unpleasant is about to happen 

• Anxiety is usually future-oriented, meaning that it involves worrying about events that may happen in the future + anticipation of future threat 

--> Note that anxiety here is referred to in terms of the emotion (‘feeling anxious’), rather than in terms of a diagnosed anxiety disorder 

Similarities between stress and anxiety

• People will experience both stress and anxiety from time to time, and it is an expected part of daily life 

• They usually don’t interrupt daily functioning + are not always a sign of low mental wellbeing 

• Some stress and anxiety can be adaptive for functioning as they can motivate/alert people to take action – faster reaction 

• Anxiety disorder

• Symptoms

Anxiety disorder is a term used to describe a group of mental health problems characterised by chronic feelings of anxiety, distress, nervousness and apprehension or fear about the future with a negative effect 

 

Severe anxiety has intense physiological responses including: 

• Shortness of breath 

• Sweating 

• Trembling 

• Nausea 

• Stomach cramps 

• Dizziness 

• Feelings of suffocating 

• Specific phobia

• What are they associated with?

• Which NS is dominant when exposed to phobic stimulus?

Specific phobia is a diagnosable anxiety disorder that is categorised by persistent excessive and disproportionate fear when encountering or anticipating the encounter of a particular stimulus (object, activity, situation) 

 

They are associated with: 

• An individual going to great lengths to avoid their phobic stimulus 

• Significant disruption to an individual’s daily functioning  

• Low levels of mental wellbeing when encountering or attempting to avoid the phobic stimulus 

 

When exposed to their phobic stimulus, an individual's sympathetic NS is dominant, which can result in physiological stress responses including:  

• increased heart rate 

• rapid breathing 

• increased perspiration  

• dilated pupils 

In some cases, a person can experience a panic attack in response to phobic stimulus – which is a period of sudden onset of intense fear or terror, often associated with feelings of impending doom 

Can you do a summary of the similarities and differences between stress, phobia and anxiety:

• Role of NS

• Type of stimulus (whether known or not)

• Associated emotions

• Eustress or distress

• Adaptive or maladaptive?

• Place of mental wellbeing continuum

• Normal?

• Mental disorder?

• Biopsychosocial approach

• Biological factors

• Psychological factors

• Social factors

The biopsychosocial approach is a holistic, interdisciplinary framework used to consider how the interaction between biological, psychological and social factors influence mental wellbeing 

• Biological factors are internal, genetic, and/or physiologically based factors 

• Psychological factors are internal factors relating to an individual’s mental processes, including their cognition, affect, thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes 

• Social factors are external factors relating to an individual’s interactions with others and their external environment 

List the different contributing factors to specific phobias

• Biological

• Psychological

• Social

• GABA (Gamma-amino butyric acid)

• Why is it necessary

GABA (Gamma-amino butyric acid) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the human nervous system --> it decreases the likelihood of postsynaptic neurons firing when GABA binds to receptors 

• The inhibitory action of GABA counterbalances the excitatory activity of glutamate and vice versa --> as it prevents the over excitation and uncontrolled firing by having an inhibitory/calming effect 

GABA dysfunction + factors that could affect the level of GABA in a person’s brain include

GABA dysfunction refers to the insufficient neural transmission or reception of GABA in the body  

--> This can be due to a low level or production of GABA, or an insufficient reception or transmission of GABA across the synapse or overproduction of glutamate 

 

Factors that could affect the level of GABA in a person’s brain include: 

• Genetic inheritance 

• CNS damage 

• Prolonged exposure to stress 

• Nutritional deficiencies in B6 and citric acid 

• High caffeine intake 

GABA dysfunction can contribute to the development of phobia because: 

• GABA dysfunction may cause someone’s flight-or-fight-or-freeze or anxiety response to be activated more easily than someone with adequate GABA levels --> meaning for some people, the stress response is more easily triggered by certain stimuli 

• Recurrent stress responses to specific stimuli can lead to the development of a phobia 

Long-term potentiation + how does it lead to the development of a phobia

Long-term potentiation is the long-lasting and experience-dependent strengthening of synaptic connections that are regularly coactivated 

--> This contributes to the development of phobias by strengthening the association between neural signals involved in perceiving a stimulus and neural signals involved in activating the fear response 

--> Where through their repeated coactivation, the signals involved in perceiving a phobic stimulus more readily trigger the activation of the neural signals responsible for the fear response 

Note

A person with a phobia may have an easily-activated stress-response 

• When exposed to sudden danger or a threat, the amygdala is activated quickly and without conscious control of the brain. The person experiences a strong emotion – a strong fear response to the phobic stimulus 

• Precipitating factors

• Explain how classical conditioning can precipitate specific phobia

Precipitating factors are factors that increase the susceptibility to and contribute to the occurrence of developing a specific phobia 

Classical conditioning can precipitate specific phobia as phobias can be learned, and therefore developed, through classical conditioning 

In terms of classical conditioning: 

• What becomes a phobic stimulus would initially be the neutral stimulus (NS) 

• Through repeated association with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that naturally induces fear, the NS becomes the conditioned stimulus (CS)/ phobic stimulus, producing the conditioned response (CR) which is the phobic/fear response 

Does classical conditioning always require repeated pairings to precipitate a specific phobia?

Note that it has also been suggested that classical conditioning can precipitate a specific phobia without repeated pairings of the neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus 

--> Where if the experience is highly traumatic, an individual can be conditioned to experience a fear response after one pairing of the neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus 

• Perpetuating factors

• Explain how operant conditioning can perpetuate phobias

Perpetuating factors are factors that inhibit a person’s ability to recover from a specific phobia 

• Operant conditioning perpetuates phobias by preventing an individual from overcoming them 

 

This occurs by (note that this is only for negative reinforcement) 

• An individual with a phobia will generally avoid contact with their phobic stimulus at all costs 

• By avoiding confrontation with the phobic stimulus, a person is negatively reinforced through this avoidance in not having to deal with their fear response  

• Over time, this reinforcement strengthens or maintains the phobic response, making avoidance behaviours more likely to be repeated and preventing recovery through this cycle 

 

e.g. Negative reinforcement 

Josh avoids the fear and anxiety producing phobic stimulus (spiders) 

• Avoidance behaviour reduces or removes the unpleasant feelings of fear and anxiety. 

• Consequently, an avoidance response to any phobic stimulus will likely strengthen the avoidance behaviour through negative reinforcement, and the person is likely to continue avoiding their phobic stimulus in the future. 

 

e.g. positive reinforcement 

• Samir and his parents went for a walk and came across a small lake. Samir ‘saw something moving’ in the lake and reacted with terror and started crying.  

• Samir’s mother promptly reassured him and gave him a big hug. To help him ‘feel better’, Samir’s father gave him a piggy-back all the way back to their camping ground and then drove him into town to buy Samir his favourite chocolate ice-cream.  

• Their responses may have inadvertently provided positive reinforcement for Samir’s fear response in the form of reassurance -->  this would likely strengthen Samir’s fear response or increase the likelihood that he behaves fearfully the next time he encounters a lake or body of water. 

• Cognitive bias/distortion

• Memory bias/selective memory

A cognitive bias/distortion ) is a tendency to think in a way that involves errors of judgment and faulty decision-making. 

 

Memory bias/selective memory is a type of cognitive bias caused by inaccurate or exaggerated memory 

• As phobias are often caused by traumatic events, people may remember the trauma as extremely significant or harmful, and this impacts their present cognitions about the related stimuli 

e.g.  

• People with arachnophobia (fear of spiders) may recall the size of a spider they encountered as much bigger than it was in reality 

--> This inaccurate memory of the spider’s size may serve to justify their extreme fear of spiders and the threat they pose after the encounter, allowing their phobic fears to persist over time in their mind 

Note

A memory bias results in a tendency for memory recall of a phobic stimulus or experience to be better for negative or threatening information than for positive or neutral information

• For example, a person with a phobia of horses will tend to remember the one and only time they were chased by a horse but forget about all other times when horses showed no response to their presence. 

Catastrophic thinking

• Catastrophic thinking is a type of cognitive bias which involves overestimating, exaggerating or magnifying an object or situation and predicting the worst possible outcome. 

When catastrophic thinking occurs, individuals experience heightened feelings of helplessness and underestimate their ability to cope with the situation. 

 

e.g. 

• People with arachnophobia (fear of spiders) may think that if they encounter any type of spider, they will get bitten and die 

•  a person with a fear of driving may think that if they get into a car they will definitely have a crash and die.  

• Specific environmental triggers

• Different environmental triggers

Specific environmental triggers refer to stimuli or experiences in a person’s environment that evoke an extreme stress response, leading to the development of a phobia 

 

There are a few different types of environmental triggers, including:  

• direct confrontation with a traumatic stimulus or event (e.g. being bitten by a snake) 

• observing another person having a direct confrontation with a traumatic stimulus or event (e.g. watching someone be threatened with a weapon) 

• learning about a potentially dangerous or traumatic stimulus or event indirectly (e.g. by watching a movie about threatening motorcycle gangs) 

Stigma + how does this help maintain/perpetuate a phobia?

Stigma refers to the feeling of shame or disgrace experienced by an individual for a characteristic that differentiates them from others 

• Stigma around seeking treatment refers to the sense of shame a person might feel about getting professional help for their phobia --> where leaving one’s phobia untreated also  perpetuates and maintains of specific phobia 

Evidence-based interventions

Evidence-based interventions are treatments that have been found to be effective on the basis of valid and reliable research studies

List biological interventions

• AGONIST

• ANTAGONIST

AGONIST – chemical (drug or substance) that acts like or mimics a neurotransmitter 

 

ANTAGONIST – chemical (drug or substance) that blocks a neurotransmitter from binding to a receptor site, inhibiting/preventing the neurotransmitters from having its usual effect on the post-synaptic neuron. 

• Benzodiazepines

• Are they an agonist or antagonist? For which specific neurotransmitter?

Benzodiazepines are a type of medication that depresses central nervous system activity and is often used as a short-acting anti-anxiety medication 

• They have both anti-anxiety and sleep-inducing properties 

• They are commonly referred to a sedatives, tranquillisers or depressants 

• They are considered to be GABA agonists, where they bind to the same receptor sites as GABA and are likely to cause the same inhibitory effect on the post-synaptic neuron 

How do Benzodiazepines help reduce anxiety?

Benzodiazepines bind to GABA receptor sites and mimic the effects of GABA to increase its inhibitory response 

•  By inducing inhibitory responses, the rapid excitatory communication between neurons in the fear response is reduced, relieving the anxiety it causes and leading to the relaxation of muscles 

A benzodiazepine may be described as short-acting, intermediate-acting or long-acting. What do these mean?

• Short-acting means that benzodiazepine remains in the bloodstream and is cleared from the body in a short period of time 

• long-acting benzodiazepine may accumulate in the bloodstream or take a much longer period of time to leave the body.

What are some side-effects of using benzodiazepines?

• There are relatively few side-effects of using benzodiazepines in the short term

• however, there are potential negative consequences associated with their long-term use as they can reduce alertness, reduce concentration, decrease reaction time and can be addictive + can make some people more impulsive and more likely to take risks  

Are benzodiazepines a good long-tern solution? Why/why not?

As benzodiazepines treat the symptoms and not the cause of anxiety 

•  Once medication is stopped, symptoms may return if the underlying cause of the anxiety — the specific phobia — has not been addressed 

• Further, the use of benzodiazepine alone may alleviate symptoms but does not actually teach any non-drug dependent coping skills for dealing with anxiety 

• could mention previous long-term side-effects

 

Breathing retraining + what does it generally involve?

Breathing retraining is a method used to teach breathing control techniques that may reduce physiological arousal 

• generally involves slow, regular breathes in through the nose and out the mouth at a controlled rate as opposed to fast and/or irregular, shallow chest breathing or the rapid, deep breathing of hyperventilation 

• Discuss what happens to someone’s breathing when facing their phobic stimulus

• What are the negatives of having this type of breathing?

When someone with specific phobia is facing their phobic stimulus, they often experience uncontrolled rapid fast, shallow breathing as their sympathetic nervous system becomes dominant

--> this can lead to hyperventilation and the engagement of other sympathetic nervous system responses, and in turn, increased anxiety and fear 

 

When a person over-breathes they take in more air than the body actually needs.  This can upset the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide, resulting in a low level of carbon dioxide in the blood.  

Too little carbon dioxide can cause reactions associated with a panic attack, such as: 

• dizziness 

• light-headedness 

• blurred vision 

• pins and needles 

The goal of breathing retraining is to: 

• slow respiration/breathing rate 

• promote a normal, regular breathing pattern 

• prevent over-breathing 

• maintain the correct balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood 

--> Promotes relaxation, reduce anxiety and stress 

List psychological interventions

Note that the psychological interventions discussed can be described as psychotherapeutic treatments which address dysfunctional emotions, thoughts, and behaviours through therapeutic communication 

•  As such, these treatments are psychological in nature rather than medical, and are used for mental-related conditions 

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that is used to help an individual to identify their maladaptive thoughts and behaviours that perpetuate a phobia and then change (adapt/modify) these to be more adaptive (helpful, beneficial) thoughts and behaviours.  

• Avoidance behaviour

• Safety behaviour

Avoidance behaviour is any action that helps to avert any contact, exposure or engagement with the feared object or situation --> perpetuate a person's phobia 

Safety behaviour refers to actions that involve a willingness to have contact with the phobic stimulus providing certain precautions are in place (eg: someone who is fearful of insects may wear a hat, long trousers and boots when gardening).  

CBT involves a cognitive and a behavioural component, describe what these involve:

The cognitive component involves: 

• identifying negative thoughts and feelings (cognitions) about the issue 

• replacing these negative thoughts and feelings with more positive ones 

 

The behavioural component involves: 

• identifying negative behaviours relating to the issue 

• developing and maintaining more positive behaviours relating to the issue 

e.g. 

• an individual who believes that they will die in a plane crash will be asked to consider that it is statistically unlikely 

• healthier behaviours are also recommended, such as going out and not performing avoidance behaviours, as well as employing relaxation techniques 

Systematic desensitisation

Systematic desensitisation is a therapy technique used to overcome phobia that involves gradual and repeated exposure to a phobic stimulus in a safe and controlled way while the person uses relaxation techniques until their fear is replaced by a relaxation response 

 

Systematic desensitisation applies the principles of classical conditioning as it involves unlearning the connection between anxiety and a specific phobia (extinction of a fear response), and reassociating feelings of relaxation with that particular object or situation. 

Explain process of systematic desensitisation:

Different relaxation techniques: 

• breathing retraining 

• slow breathing techniques 

• progressive muscle relaxation  

• visual imagery 

Note that no advancement is made to the next item on the fear hierarchy until relaxation is achieved. 

List social interventions

Psychoeducation + what info can it include?

Psychoeducation involves teaching families and supporters of individuals with mental health disorders how to better understand, deal with, and treat their disorder 

The more a person is educated about their mental disorder and how it affects their own life, the more control that person tends to have over their disorder and the more likely they are to actively participate in self-management of their disorder. 

A psychoeducation program for a specific phobia may include information about: 

• The nature of the disorder – how it develops, how it perpetuates and recovery patterns 

• The role of phobic stimuli 

• What a specific phobia is like for an individual, both physiologically and psychologically, such as fight-flight-freeze reactions and avoidance and/or safety behaviours 

• Impact on family and friends 

• Types of therapies and treatment interventions 

• Cost and effectiveness of treatment therapies 

• Medication – how it works, the benefits and side effects of medication 

• Breathing retraining, exercise, relaxation techniques and importance of a healthy lifestyle 

• Importance of support networks 

• Dealing with stigma surrounding phobias 

 

There are two important components of psychoeducation that are taught to families and supporters: 

• Challenging unrealistic or anxious thoughts of the individual + not encouraging avoidance behaviours 

Note that a specific phobia is best managed when using a combination of biological, psychological, and social evidence-based interventions 

• Risk factors

• Protective factors + what are the 2 ways in which they could work

• Risk factors are factors that increase the likelihood of an individual experiencing a mental health problem or a mental health disorder 

 

• Protective factors are factors that decrease the likelihood of a person developing a mental health problem or disorder 

Protective factors can work in two ways by:  

• Reducing the risk of low levels of mental wellbeing or developing a mental health disorder 

• increasing the likelihood of high levels of mental wellbeing 

• List the biopsychosocial protective factors for mental wellbeing

• Biological protective factors

• Outline what’s a good diet

• Outline what’s a bad diet

Biological protective factors refer to influences that stem from an individual’s brain and/or body that can maintain or promote mental wellbeing 

Adequate nutrition and hydration is when the type and amount of food and drink that an individual consumes meet their physical needs 

 

By prioritizing the consumption of unprocessed foods, adequate nutritional intake and sufficient water intake, the risk of mental health disorders can be reduced, thus promoting higher levels of mental wellbeing – where it can improve mood, maintain healthy brain functioning and help people cope with adversity 

 

A healthy diet that helps reduce the risk of experiencing mental health disorders include: 

• Fruits 

• Vegetables 

• Legumes 

• nuts and seeds

 

• Balanced diet that provides sufficient energy 

• Proteins for growth and maintenance of body cells 

• Mineral and vitamins for growth and regulation of body processes 

• Fats and carbs for energy 

 

Best to avoid these foods that can increase the risk of experiencing mental health disorders: 

• highly processed foods 

• alcohol  

• added sugar, salt, and saturated and trans fats 

• Outline why water is important

• How much water should people drink?

• Water is very important as it forms the basis of blood, digestive juices, urine, perspiration 

• Water is needed to make neurotransmitters and hormones 

• Dehydration can lead to irritability and affect mental performance 

• Avoid caffeine is recommended for people with anxiety as it can increase anxiety and contribute to insomnia 

In terms of hydration, it is recommended that individuals drink 2–3 litres of water per day (although this is dependent on individual characteristics, such as body weight and sex)   

• Sleep

• What is NREM sleep responsible for?

• What is REM sleep responsible for?

• What are cons of inadequate sleep

Sleep is a regular and naturally occurring altered state of consciousness that involves a loss of awareness and disengagement with internal and external stimuli 

• NREM sleep plays a role in restoring the body 

• REM sleep plays a role in restoring mental processes 

 

• Inadequate sleep can lead to changes in emotions, being irritable, anxious, depressed and moody, difficulty concentrating, poor behaviour control 

• Research suggests there is a link between poor sleep (sleep deprivation and/or sleep-related problems) and mental illness  

• Good sleep is likely to reduce the likelihood of mental health disorders and promote mental wellbeing, therefore acting as a protective factor 

Adequate nutrition, hydration and sleep have a bidirectional relationship with mental wellbeing 

--> This means that while nutrition and sleep can influence mental wellbeing, mental wellbeing can influence nutrition and sleep

 

Strategies to help get better night sleep schedule 

• Stick to sleep schedule – go to bed and wake up at the same time each day 

• Exercise regularly (but not too close to bedtime) 

• Don't drink caffeine in evening 

• Avoid blue-light screens before bed 

• Quiet, dark, cool room

• Psychological protective factors

• Cognitive behavioural strategies

Psychological protective factors refer to influences that relate to mental processes that can maintain and promote mental wellbeing 

 

Cognitive behavioural strategies 

Cognitive behavioural strategies are techniques that utilise traits of cognitive behavioural therapy, particularly recognising and changing dysfunctional thought and behavioural patterns 

• These strategies can be used to promote mental wellbeing by acknowledging and changing thoughts and behaviours that impair mental wellbeing 

 

Cognitive behavioural therapy involves a cognitive and a behavioural component: 

 The cognitive component involves: 

• identifying dysfunctional feelings and thoughts (cognitions) about the issue 

• replacing these dysfunctional feelings and thoughts with more functional ones 

 

The behavioural component involves: 

•  identifying dysfunctional behaviours relating to the issue 

•  developing and maintaining more functional behaviours relating to the issue 

Mindfulness meditation + it’s benefits

Mindfulness meditation is meditation practice in which an individual focuses attention to the present moment, including their current feelings, thoughts, breathing and surroundings, without judgement 

 

Research suggests that mindfulness meditation can benefit mental wellbeing, where it can: 

• improve emotional reactivity 

• reduce the likelihood of rumination (repeatedly considering negative thoughts) 

• reduce stress 

• improve memory 

• Decrease activation of the amygdala – responsible for activation of stress response 

• Increase in activation of prefrontal cortex, responsible for awareness, concentration and decision-making 

• Social protective factors

• Support

Social protective factors refer to influences that exist in an individual’s social environment that can maintain and promote mental wellbeing 

Support refers to genuine and effective assistance provided by family, friends, and community 

• It can provide comfort and reassurance and can encourage individuals to develop different strategies to promote their mental wellbeing 

• And has to be authentic (provided in genuine manner by which supporter is true to themselves and genuine in their interactions with others) and energising

Four types of social support: 

• Emotional support (physical comfort, hug, listening, emphasising) 

• Esteem support (expressions of confidence or encouragement) 

• Informational support (advice-giving) 

• Tangible support (providing meals, financial support, taking care) 

• Culture

• What are the two important cultural determinants of wellbeing

Culture is a strong sense of identity, values, tradition, and connection between the past, present and future that drives behaviour and beliefs 

• Cultural continuity  

• Self-determination 

Cultural continuity

Cultural continuity is the ability to pass down and preserve cultural knowledge, historical traditions/practices, and values over generations 

• This can be achieved through a variety of cultural practices, including engaging with arts, crafts, music, dance, theatre, writing, storytelling, languages, food, and much more 

 

Cultural continuity can be disrupted or destroyed if cultural practices are not allowed to continue 

• For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, this occurred with the arrival of the British first fleet in 1788 

Self-determination

Self-determination refers to the inherent rights of all peoples to have complete choice, participation and control over their own lives and economic, social and cultural development without outside interference 

• It relates to  having the power and freedom to make decisions about your own life, community and future, rather than having decisions imposed by others 

Note:

Self-determination can include endeavours such as:  

• Aboriginal community-controlled organisations 

• Resistance campaigns 

• Activism for equal human rights 

• Education and justice reforms 

• Established partnerships between communities, governments, and non-government organisations, which is any not-for-profit organisation that exists to address a political or social issue 

• Constitutional recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples --> This will recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Nations of Australia and empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to determine their own futures  

Which one of these is demonstrating cultural continuity and self-determination

• Teaching young people their traditional language, stories and cultural practices

• The community deciding how its health, education or cultural programs should be run

• Teaching young people their traditional language, stories and cultural practices → cultural continuity 

• The community deciding how its health, education or cultural programs should be run → self-determination