Mental and Physical Health Notes

Unit 5: Mental and Physical Health

5.1a: Stress and Illness

Health Psychology: A branch of psychology focusing on how psychological, behavioral, and cultural factors affect health.
Psychoneuroimmunology: Examines the connections between psychological processes, neural functioning, and immune response.
Stress: Defined as the process of perceiving and reacting to stressors deemed threatening or challenging.
Approach and Avoidance Motives:
Approach-approach: Choosing between two attractive alternatives (e.g., tacos vs. pizza).
Avoidance-avoidance: Choosing between two undesirable outcomes (e.g., studying vs. failing).
Approach-avoidance: Dealing with a single goal that has both positive and negative aspects.

5.1a Continued

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS): Selye's theory of stress response consisting of three phases:

Alarm: Immediate reaction.
Resistance: Hormonal changes to resist stressor.
Exhaustion: Depletion of resources leading to physical or mental breakdown.

Tend-and-Befriend Response: A strategy, mainly used by women, for managing stress through nurturing and seeking social support.
Coronary Heart Disease: Resulting from restricted blood flow to the heart, largely due to stress.
Type A Personality: Competitive and aggressive, associated with higher stress levels.
Type B Personality: More relaxed and easygoing.
Catharsis: The idea that releasing pent-up aggression (through action or fantasy) may alleviate aggressive urges.

5.1b: Coping with Stress

Coping: Methods used to decrease stress through emotional, cognitive, or behavioral efforts.
Problem-focused coping: Directly addressing the source of stress.
Emotion-focused coping: Avoiding or ignoring stressors and attending to emotional needs.
Personal Control: The perception of control over one’s environment; the opposite is feeling helpless.
Learned Helplessness: The feeling of helplessness developed from repeated failure.
Locus of Control:
External Locus: Belief that external forces dictate personal fate.
Internal Locus: Belief that one has control over their fate.
Self-control: The ability to control impulses and prioritize long-term benefits over short-term gratification.

5.2a: Positive Psychology

Positive Psychology: The study of human flourishing, focusing on strengths and virtues that lead to well-being.
Subjective Well-Being: Personal happiness and life satisfaction assessments.
Feel-good, Do-good Phenomenon: Good moods increase altruism.
Adaptation-Level Phenomenon: Our judgments are based on past experiences.
Relative Deprivation: Feeling worse off compared to others.

5.2a Continued

Broaden-and-Build Theory: Positive emotions expand awareness and skills, enhancing overall well-being.
Character Strengths and Virtues: A classification for positive traits categorized into wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence.

5.2b: Enhancing Well-Being

Resilience: Personal strength to manage stress and recover from adversity.
Aerobic Exercise: Increases physical fitness and alleviates mental health issues.
Mindfulness Meditation: Focused attention on the present without judgment.
Gratitude: Emotion experienced when recognizing benefits from others or good fortune.

5.3: Psychological Disorders

Medical Model: View of psychological disorders as diseases with physical causes, treatable in hospitals.
Diathesis-Stress Model: Genetic predispositions combined with environmental stressors lead to psychological disorders.
Epigenetics: Study of how environments can influence genetic expression.
DSM-5-TR: Standard classification manual for diagnosing mental disorders.

5.4a: Anxiety, OCD, Trauma Disorders

Anxiety Disorders: Excessive fear and anxiety affecting functioning.
Social Anxiety Disorder: Extreme fear of social situations.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Persistent state of worry and tension.
Panic Disorder: Unpredictable panic attacks with intense dread.
Agoraphobia: Fear of losing control in situations where escape might be difficult.

5.4a Continued

Specific Phobia: Irrational fear of a specific object or situation.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Characterized by uncontrollable obsessions and compulsions.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Anxiety following traumatic events, lasting longer than a month.
Trauma-and-Stressor-Related Disorders: Distress following exposure to trauma.

5.4b: Depressive and Bipolar Disorders

Depressive Disorders: Persistent feelings of sadness and loss of interest.
Bipolar Disorders: Alternation between depression and mania.
Major Depressive Disorder: Minimum of five symptoms for two weeks.
Persistent Depressive Disorder: Chronic depressive mood lasting at least two years.

5.4b Continued

Bipolar I Disorder: Severe mania lasting a week or longer.
Bipolar II Disorder: Milder form involving episodes of hypomania.

5.4C: Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder: Characterized by delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized thought and behavior.
Chronic Schizophrenia: Symptoms appear late in adolescence/early adulthood, worsening over time.
Acute Schizophrenia: Symptoms can occur at any age, often triggered by trauma with generally favorable recovery.

5.4D: Other Disorders

Dissociative Disorders: Characterized by disruptions in consciousness and identity.
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID): Presence of two or more distinct identities.
Dissociative Amnesia: Memory gaps, often trauma-related.
Personality Disorders: Enduring maladaptive patterns causing distress.
Antisocial Personality Disorder: Lack of conscience and aggression toward others.
Eating Disorders: Include anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

5.4D Continued Again

Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Start in childhood affecting behavior and intellect.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Characterized by communication limitations and restrained interests.
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Marked by inattention and hyperactivity.

5.5A: Treatment

Eclectic Approach: Combining different therapy techniques.
Psychoanalysis: Freud's method involving free association and dream interpretation to uncover repressed feelings.
Key Concepts:
Resistance: Blocking of painful consciousness content.
Transference: Projecting emotions related to other relationships onto the therapist.

5.5A Continued

Psychodynamic Therapy: A type derived from psychoanalysis emphasizing unconscious processes.
Person-Centered Therapy: Developed by Carl Rogers, using active listening and a non-judgmental environment to facilitate growth.
Unconditional Positive Regard: Accepting and valuing clients regardless of circumstance.

5.5B: Behavioral, Cognitive, and Group Therapies

Behavior Therapy: Reducing undesired behaviors using learning principles.
Counterconditioning: Associating new responses to old stimuli.
Exposure Therapies: Treat anxieties by facing fears gradually.
Systematic Desensitization: Involves relaxation techniques linked to anxiety-inducing stimuli.
Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy: Simulates fears for effective exposure treatment.

5.5B Continued

Token Economy: Reward system for desired behaviors.
Cognitive Therapy: Aims at restructuring negative thought patterns.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Integrates cognitive and behavioral approaches.
Group Therapy: Uses group dynamics for treatment benefits.
Family Therapy: Addresses specific issues in the family context.

5.5C: Evaluating Psychotherapies

Confirmation Bias: Tendency to seek evidence that supports beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence.
Meta-Analysis: Statistical technique for combining results from multiple studies.
Evidence-Based Practice: Using the best available research to inform treatment decisions.
Therapeutic Alliance: The connection and trust between therapist and client.

5.5C: Preventing

Psychopharmacology: Study of drugs affecting mental functioning.
Types of Medication:
Antipsychotic Drugs: For treating severe mental disorders like schizophrenia.
Antianxiety Drugs: Helps with anxiety disorders.
Antidepressant Drugs: Manage symptoms of depression.
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT): Used mainly for severe depression.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS): Non-invasive procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells.
Psychosurgery: Surgical interventions for deep brain areas affecting behavior.
Lobotomy: A now-outdated procedure that disconnected the frontal lobes from other brain areas to alter behavior.

5.5D

Hypnosis: Inducing a trance-like state to promote suggestion for behavior change.
Dissociation: Disruption in consciousness involving splitting of thoughts or behaviors.
Posthypnotic Suggestion: Instructions given during hypnosis for post-session compliance.
Posttraumatic Growth: Positive change stemming from overcoming challenging life events.