Unit 5: Health Psychology and Psychological Disorders

Health Psychology

• Stress: Refers to events perceived as threatening or challenging.

• Eustress vs. Distress:

• Eustress: Positive stress, motivates and can enhance performance.

• Distress: Negative stress, leading to anxiety and decreased performance.

• Positive Psychology:

• Virtue Strengths: Culturally valued characteristics such as wisdom, courage, and compassion.

• Gratitude: Recognizing and appreciating what you've received.

• Compassion: Empathy and concern for others.

• Goals: Aim to enhance well-being, resilience, and happiness.

• Subjective Well-Being: Personal perception of happiness in life.

• Barbara Fredrickson's Broaden and Build Theory:

  1. Broaden: Expand psychological resources.
  2. Build: Develop lasting personal resources.
  3. Transform: Enhance happiness, which further broaden perspectives.

• Feel Good Do Good Phenomenon: Positive moods can lead to positive actions.

• Positive Ratio: Optimal life balance is 3 positives to 1 negative.

• Grit: Perseverance and passion over time leads to achievement.

• Wellness Fridays: Reflecting on past positive experiences.

• Adaptation Level Phenomenon: Judgments based on prior experiences.

• Relative Deprivation: Feeling worse in negative comparisons to others.

• Faith Factor: Religious involvement correlates with longevity.

• Post-Traumatic Growth: Positive psychological change following adversity.

• Signature Strengths: Six categories of positive attributes:

  1. Courage: Traits like bravery, honesty, and enthusiasm.
  2. Humanity: Kindness, social intelligence, love.
  3. Justice: Fairness, leadership, teamwork.
  4. Temperance: Traits like forgiveness, humility, and self-regulation.
  5. Transcendence: Hope, spirituality, humor, and gratitude.
  6. Wisdom: Curiosity, creativity, and judgment.

Psychological Disorders

• Historical Context:

• Salem Witch Trials, moral treatment movements.

• Development of the medical model for diagnosing and treating mental disorders.

• Deinstitutionalization: Movement to move individuals from psychiatric hospitals.

• Rosenhan's Experiment: Highlights dysfunction, distress, and deviation from social norms.

• Dorothea Dix: Advocated for mental health reform.

• Gender and race issues in perceptions of insanity.

• Science of Disorders:

• DSM-5: Diagnostic manual for American mental health professionals.

• ICD-11: Global diagnostic coding system.

• Psychological Perspectives:

1. Behavioral: Focus on learned behavior and associations.
2. Psychodynamic: Influence of unconscious childhood experiences.
3. Humanistic: Emphasis on reaching full potential through support.
4. Cognitive: Examining how thoughts influence behavior.
5. Evolutionary: Behavioral aspects from a survival perspective.
6. Sociocultural: Consideration of cultural norms and societal influences.
7. Biological: Impact of genetics and neurobiology on mental health.

• Eclectic Approach: Integrating multiple perspectives for a better understanding.
• Biopsychosocial Model: Interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors.
• Diathesis-Stress Model: Interaction of genetic predispositions and environmental stressors.

Specific Psychological Disorders

• Neurodevelopmental Disorders:

• ADHD: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with symptoms:

  • Type 1: Inattention.
  • Type 2: Hyperactivity and impulsivity.
  • Type 3: Combination of 1 and 2.

• Autism Spectrum Disorder: Characterized by restricted behaviors and interests.

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD):

• Obsessions: Intrusive thoughts.

• Compulsions: Repetitive behaviors addressing obsessions.

• Hoarding Disorder: Inability to discard possessions, reflecting obsessions and compulsions.

• Depressive Disorders:

• Major Depressive Disorder (MDD): Depressive episodes lasting 2 weeks or more.

• Persistent Depressive Disorder (PDD): Chronic low-level depression lasting at least 2 years.

• Bipolar Disorders:

• Alternating states of depression and mania.

• Bipolar I: Most severe form.

• Bipolar II: Less severe and harder to diagnose.

• Anxiety Disorders:

• Specific Phobias: Intense fear related to specific objects/contexts.

• Panic Disorder: Characterized by panic attacks.

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Prolonged anxiety without specific fears.

• Social Anxiety Disorder: Fear of being judged in social situations.

• Schizophrenia:

• Divides into acute (short-term) and chronic (long-term) forms, featuring symptoms:

  • Delusions: False beliefs (persecution, grandeur).
  • Hallucinations: False sensory perceptions.
  • Disorganized Thinking/Speech: Incoherent or nonsensical speech.
  • Disorganized Motor Behavior: Examples include catatonia.
  • Flat Affect: Limited emotional expression.

• Dissociative Disorders:

• Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID): Presence of two or more distinct identities.

• Dissociative Amnesia: Loss of personal memory, possibly including fugue states.

• Personality Disorders:

• Enduring patterns of behavior and inner experience, divided into three clusters:

  • Cluster A: Odd/eccentric behaviors.
  • Examples: Paranoid, Schizoid, Schizotypal Personality Disorders.
  • Cluster B: Dramatic/emotional behaviors.
  • Examples: Antisocial, Borderline, Narcissistic, Histrionic Personality Disorders.
  • Cluster C: Anxious or fearful behaviors.
  • Examples: Avoidant, Dependent, Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorders.