Chapter 3: Psychological Health

Core Concepts in Health 16th ed.

Vocabulary

1. ==Autonomous:== physical, social, emotional, and intellectual independence. They direct themselves and act independently of their social environment.

2. ==Authentic:== not afraid to be themselves

3. ==Distressed:== non-specific symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression.

   1. High levels of psychological distress are indicative of impaired mental health and may reflect common mental disorders, like depressive and anxiety disorders

4. ==Optimism:== a tendency to emphasize the hopeful and expect a favorable outcome. Can be learned.

5. ==Pessimism:== a focus on the negative and the unfavorable

6. ==Assertive:== expression that is forceful, but not hostile; being able to say no or yes depending on the situation

7. ==Aggressive:== behavior that is intended to harm another individual who does not wish to be harmed

8. ==Passive:== personality pattern that is submissive, compliant, easily influenced by external forces, and dependent on others

9. ==Anxiety:== fear that is not in response to any definite threat

   10. ==Specific phobia:== fear of something definite like animals, high places, enclosed spaces, and air travel.

   11. Sometimes the fears originate in bad experiences with the feared object.

   12. ==Social phobia:== fear of humiliation/embarrassment while being observed by others

   13. Very shy people may experience these fears in nearly any social situation.

   14. ==Agoraphobia:== fear of being alone away from help.

   15. Fear and avoidance spread to a large variety of situations until a person is virtually housebound.

   16. ==Obsessions:== recurrent, unwanted thoughts/impulses

   17. ==Compulsions:== repetitive, difficult-to-resist actions

   18. ==Serotonin:== a neurotransmitter (chemical messenger) produced within the central nervous system (CNS) that contributes to feelings of happiness.

   19. Antidepressants work by targeting key neurotransmitters in the brain, including serotonin.

   20. Increased serotonin has been revealed to help depression and other bodily conditions.

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==1. Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. What they are and in what order.==

1. Physiological needs—most important

2. Safety & security

3. Love & belongingness

4. Self-esteem

5. Self-actualization

   1. State met by people who have fulfilled a good portion of their human potential

      1. Realism
      2. Acceptance
      3. Autonomy
      4. Authenticity
      5. Capacity for intimacy
      6. Creativity

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@@2. Self-talk@@

• Positive: makes you feel good about yourself and the things that are going on in your life.
  • having an optimistic voice in your head that always looks on the bright side.
• Negative: inner dialogue that could be limiting your ability to believe in yourself and your own abilities to reach your potential.
  • pessimistic view on life

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3. Psychological Disorders

• Depression: one of the most common mood disorders.
  • Depression differs from person to person, but diagnosed depression involves a depressed mood or anhedonia (inability to experience pleasure) and at least four of its other symptoms:
  • Feelings of sadness and hopelessness or loss of pleasure in usual activities
  • Poor appetite and weight loss, or overeating
  • Insomnia or disturbed sleep
  • Decreased energy
  • Restlessness, or slowed thinking or activity
  • Thoughts of worthlessness and guilt
  • Trouble concentrating or making decisions
  • Thoughts of death or suicide

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• Panic disorder: characterized by sudden, unexpected surges in anxiety.
  • Symptoms include rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, loss of physical equilibrium, and a feeling of losing mental control.

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• Obsessive-compulsive disorder: a diagnosis given to people with obsession or compulsion or both.
  • Obsessions: recurrent, unwanted thoughts or impulses that are not ordinary concerns.
  • Compulsions: repetitive, difficult-to-resist actions usually associated with obsessions, such as hand washing.
  • Common: feeling anxious, out of control, and embarrassed

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• Generalized stress disorder: a diagnosis given to people who worry about ordinary future threats, such as financial concerns or passing an upcoming exam.
  • The end result is a persistent feeling of nervousness, often accompanied by depression.

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• PTSD: a physiological and emotional reaction to events that produce a sense of terror and hopelessness; these include assaults, military combat, and natural disaster.
  • Symptoms include reexperiencing the trauma in dreams and in intrusive memories, trying to avoid anything associated with the trauma, and numbing of feelings.
  • The symptoms must last at least a month for a diagnosis to be made.

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• ADHD: characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and/or impulsivity. It is one of the most common disorders in adolescence.
  • Symptoms interfering with the quality of functioning in school, work, or social settings
  • Exhibition of behaviors in two or more settings
  • Symptoms before age 12 (even if an adult at first diagnosis)
  • Treatment: medication, psychotherapy, education and training, and a combination of treatments.

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%%4. The various models of human nature and therapeutic change:%%

• Biological
  • emphasizes that the mind’s activity depends on an organic structure, the brain, whose composition is genetically determined.
• Behavioral
  • focuses on people’s overt behavior rather than on the brain structure of consciousness.
  • behaviorists analyze behavior in terms of stimulus, response, and reinforcement.
  • clients expose themselves in small amounts to the situations they fear, or they imagine doing so.
• Cognitive
  • looks for complicated attitudes, expectations, and motives.
  • identifying and exposing false ideas relieves anxiety and depression.
  • people are taught to notice their unrealistic thoughts and test their assumptions.
• Psychodynamic
  • emphasizes thoughts.
  • proponents of this model do not believe thoughts can be changed directly, because thoughts are fed by other unconscious ideas and impulses.
  • focusing more on the present than on the past, patients speak as freely as possible in front of their therapist and try to gain insights that help them overcome their maladaptive patterns.

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