AP Psychology Unit Five Study Notes

Mental & Physical Health

Learning Target Checklist

  • Health Psychology
      - Explain how health psychology addresses issues of physical health and wellness as they apply to behavior and mental processes.
  • Stress
      - Explain how stress applies to behavior and mental processes.
      - Explain how reactions to stress apply to behavior and mental processes.
      - Explain how the ways that people cope with stress applies to behavior and mental processes.
  • Positive Psychology
      - Explain how positive psychology approaches the study of behavior and mental processes.
      - Explain how positive subjective experiences apply to behavior and mental processes.
  • Psychological Disorders
      - Describe the approaches used to define behaviors and mental processes as psychological disorders.
      - Explain how psychological perspectives define psychological disorders.
      - Explain how interaction models define psychological disorders.
  • Disorders and Their Symptoms
      - Describe the symptoms and possible causes of selected neurodevelopmental disorders.
      - Describe the symptoms and possible causes of selected schizophrenic spectrum disorders.
      - Describe the symptoms and possible causes of selected depressive disorders.
      - Describe the symptoms and possible causes of selected bipolar disorders.
      - Describe the symptoms and possible causes of selected anxiety disorders.
      - Describe the symptoms and possible causes of selected obsessive-compulsive disorders and related disorders.
      - Describe the symptoms and possible causes of selected dissociative disorders.
      - Describe the symptoms and possible causes of selected trauma and stressor-related disorders.
      - Describe the symptoms and possible causes of selected feeding and eating disorders.
      - Describe the symptoms and possible causes of selected personality disorders.

Introduction to Health Psychology

Studying Stress
  • Health Psychology Definition: Health psychology is a subfield of psychology that provides psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine.
  • Psychoneuroimmunology: The study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect the immune system and health.
      - Key Findings:
        - Stress Effects: Diverts energy from the immune system, inhibiting B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes, macrophages, and NK cells.
          - B Lymphocytes: Release antibodies that fight bacterial infections.
          - T Lymphocytes: Attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances.
          - Macrophage Cells: Identify, pursue, and ingest harmful invaders and worn-out cells.
          - Natural Killer Cells: Attack diseased cells infected by viruses or cancer.
        - Stress and Illness: Stress does not directly cause illnesses but alters immune functioning, making individuals more vulnerable to diseases and influencing their progression.

What is Stress?

  • Definition: Stress is the process of appraising and responding to a threatening or challenging event.
  • Types of Stressors:
      - Eustress: "Good" stress leading to growth (e.g., significant life changes like moving, marriage, pregnancy).
      - Distress: "Bad" stress with negative impacts (e.g., Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), catastrophes, significant life changes like divorce, daily hassles).

Hans Selye & General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

  • Selye's Contribution: Made stress a prominent concept in psychology and medicine.
  • Three Phases of GAS:
      1. Alarm Reaction: Sympathetic nervous system activation; heart rate increases, blood diverts to muscles, feelings of shock occur.
      2. Resistance: Body maintains high levels of physiological responses; hormones pumped into bloodstream, resources mobilized to meet demands.
      3. Exhaustion: Body's reserves dwindle; vulnerability to illness increases, potential collapse or death.

Impact of Stress

  • Long-term Effects: Prolonged stress can damage physical health, leading to severe childhood stress impacting adult health responses and disease risk.
  • Neuronal Effects: Decreased production of new neurons and degeneration of neural circuits.
  • Telomere Shortening: Observed in those with severe childhood stress; related to premature aging.
  • Gender Responses to Stress:
      - Women may exhibit a tend-and-befriend response while men may withdraw, turn to alcohol, or become aggressive.

Coping with Stress

  • Coping Mechanisms: Necessary to alleviate problems and stress; methods can be emotional, cognitive, or behavioral.
      - Problem-Focused Coping: Directly addressing stressors to change the situation.
      - Emotion-Focused Coping: Relieving stress through social support or unhealthy habits when the situation cannot be changed.
  • Influencing Factors: Ability to cope effectively is influenced by feelings of personal control, explanatory style, and social support connections.

Positive Psychology

  • Definition: Positive psychology is the scientific study of human flourishing focused on strengths and virtues to help individuals and communities thrive.
      - Subjective Well-Being: Perception of happiness or life satisfaction; relative to personal and others' experiences.
      - Happiness Findings: Good mood enhances perception; happy individuals generally show better health and increased altruism. However, moods triggered by events don't last beyond the immediate period.

Aerobic Exercise & Meditation

  • Aerobic Exercise: Increases heart and lung fitness; benefits include enhanced self-image, and relief from depression, linked to longer life and better cognitive functioning.
  • Meditation: Reduces stress by relaxing muscles, lowering blood pressure, and improving immune functioning.
  • Mindfulness Meditation: Focuses on current experiences nonjudgmentally.
  • Massage Therapy: Also relaxes muscles and alleviates depression.

Impact of Outlook & Support

  • Optimism Benefits: Stronger immune response, better recovery rates, longer life expectancy.
  • Social Support Advantages: Reduces stress levels and fosters better health through relationships and finding meaning in adversity.

How to Be Happy

  • Strategies for happiness include:
      - Taking control of time, acting happy, seeking engaging work/leisure, prioritizing relationships, and practicing gratitude.

Defining Disorders

  • Psychological Disorder Definition: Syndrome marked by clinically significant disturbances in cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior.
      - 3 D's:
        - Dysfunctional: Impairs day-to-day functioning.
        - Deviant: Abnormal behavior.
        - Distressing/Maladaptive: Causes psychological, emotional, physical, or social harm.

DSM-V Overview

  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V): Main tool for describing and estimating mental illness prevalence in the U.S.
  • Comorbidity: The presence of more than one psychological disorder, often linked (e.g., anxiety & depression).

The Medical Model

  • Definition: Concept that psychological disorders have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and often cured.
  • Psychopathology: Disorders viewed as illnesses of the mind, diagnosable based on symptom collections.

Biopsychosocial Approach

  • Components: Biological, psychological, and social-cultural influences on behavior, thoughts, and feelings. Particularly important for understanding varying disorders across cultures and contexts.
      - Examples of Culture-bound Syndromes:
        - Susto: Severe anxiety due to cultural beliefs (Latin America).
        - Tajin-kyofusho: Social anxiety about personal appearance (Japan).
        - Eating Disorders: Such as bulimia and anorexia (U.S.).
        - Amok: Sudden violent behavior (Malaysia).

Diathesis-Stress Model

  • Suggests that predispositions combined with environmental stressors can lead to the development of psychological disorders.

Epigenetics

  • Definition: Study of environmental influences on gene expression without changing DNA.
      - Example: Schizophrenia's genetic aspect may remain dormant until activated by stressors like trauma.

Psychological Perspectives

  • Causes of Disorders:
      - Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic: Internal unconscious drives.
      - Humanistic: Failure to reach potential or disconnected feelings.
      - Behavioral: Reinforcement history/environment.
      - Cognitive: Irrational or dysfunctional thinking.
      - Sociocultural: Societal dysfunction.
      - Biomedical/Neuroscience: Organic issues or biochemical imbalances.

Categories of Psychological Disorders

  • Breakdown into various disorders including neurodevelopmental, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, and more.

Schizophrenia

  • Definition: Characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thoughts, and inappropriate emotions.
  • Symptoms: Paranoia, disturbed perceptions, disorganized speech, and flat affect.
      - Positive Symptoms: Hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thought.
      - Negative Symptoms: Diminished emotions, reduced social interaction.
  • Onset: Typically arises in late adolescence or early adulthood; distinct gender differences in onset and severity.