PSYCHOLOGY 2 Final exam topic review

WHAT IS A STRESSOR?

• A stressor is any external stimulus that causes stress and/or triggers a stress response to a living organism.

WHAT IS EUSTRESS?

• Eustress is any external stimulus that be positive and/or motivational in nature.

CONFLICT SITUATION: APPROACH-APPROACH

• This type of conflict situation provides two equally appealing outcomes.

• This type of conflict situation provides two competing outcomes, one that is appealing and one that is unappealing.

CONFLICT SITUATION: APPROACH-AVOIDANCE

• This type of conflict situation provides two equally unappealing outcomes.

CONFLICT SITUATION: AVOIDANCE-AVOIDANCE

• This type of conflict situation provides two sets competing outcomes, one set that is appealing and one set that is unappealing.

CONFLICT SITUATION: DOUBLE APPROACH-AVOIDANCE

WHAT IS CONSIDERED NORMAL?

• Normal is considered to be what most people do in a specific context.

WHAT IS ABNORMAL?

• Abnormal behavior is considered to be one’s failure to adjust to norms in a given context.

WHAT IS THE DSM AND WHAT IS ITS PURPOSE?

• The DSM V is the most current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychological Association. The manual contains an extensive list of definitions for psychological disorders with their known symptoms to help mental health professionals identify and treat these disorders.

WHAT IS A TYPE A PERSONALITY?

• The Type A individual as ambitious, rigidly organized, highly status-conscious, sensitive, truthful, impatient, always try to help others, take on more than they can handle, want other people to get to the point, proactive, and obsessed with time management. People with Type A personalities are often high-achieving "workaholics" who multi-task, push themselves with deadlines, and hate both delays and ambivalence.

• The Type B personality by definition generally live at a lower stress level and typically work steadily, enjoying achievement but not becoming stressed when they do not achieve. When faced with competition, they do not mind losing and either enjoy the game or back down. They may be creative and enjoy exploring ideas and concepts. They are often reflective, thinking about the outer and inner worlds.

What is a Type B personality?

WHAT ARE HASSLES AND HOW CAN THEY AFFECT MENTAL HEALTH?

• This category includes daily annoyances and minor hassles. Examples include: making decisions, meeting deadlines at work or school, traffic jams, encounters with irritating personalities, etc. Often, this type of stressor includes conflicts with other people. Daily stressors, however, are different for each individual, as not everyone perceives a certain event as stressful. For example, most people find public speaking to be stressful, nevertheless, a seasoned politician most likely will not.

TYPES OF STRESS REACTIONS: EMOTIONAL

Stress may leave people with a short fuse. When people are under pressure, they may find themselves arguing with co-workers, friends or loved ones — sometimes with little provocation or about things that have nothing to do with their stressful situation. (Crying) Stress may trigger crying jags, sometimes seemingly without warning. Little things unrelated to stress may leave people in tears. People also may feel lonely or isolated.

• Stress can lead to unexplained physical pain. Stress also may cause a variety of other health ailments, including upset stomach, shortness of breath, back pain, headaches and insomnia.

TYPES OF STRESS REACTIONS: PHYSICAL

Stress may trigger people to eat even when they're not hungry, or they may skip exercise. In contrast, they may eat less, actually losing weight when under more stress.

Even if someone quit smoking long ago, a cigarette may seem like an easy way to relax when they're under pressure. In fact, stress is a leading cause of having a smoking relapse. People may also find themselves turning to alcohol or drugs to numb the effects of stress.

TYPES OF STRESS REACTIONS: BEHAVIORAL

• When people don't cope well with stress, a person may automatically expect the worst or magnify the negative aspects of any undesirable situation.

TYPES OF STRESS REACTIONS: COGNITIVE

WHAT IS DISSOCIATIVE FUGUE?

• Fugue is a rare psychiatric disorder characterized by reversible amnesia for personal identity, including the memories, personality, and other identifying characteristics of individuality. The state is usually short-lived (ranging from hours to days), but can last months or longer. Dissociative fugue usually involves unplanned travel or wandering, and is sometimes accompanied by the establishment of a new identity.

WHAT IS DISSOCIATIVE AMNESIA?

• A memory disorder characterized by sudden retrograde autobiographical memory loss, said to occur for a period of time ranging from hours to years. More recently, "dissociative amnesia" has been defined as a dissociative disorder "characterized by retrospectively reported memory gaps. These gaps involve an inability to recall personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature."

WHAT IS CONVERSION DISORDER?

• A conversion disorder causes patients to suffer from neurological symptoms, such as numbness, blindness, paralysis, or fits without a definable biological cause. It is thought that symptoms arise in response to stressful situations affecting a patient's mental health.

WHAT IS SEASONAL AFFECTIVE DISORDER?

• Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression, winter blues, summer depression, summer blues, or seasonal depression, was considered a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter or summer.

WHAT IS OCD (OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER?• Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by

intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry; by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing the associated anxiety; or by a combination of such obsessions and compulsions. Symptoms of the disorder include excessive washing or cleaning; repeated checking; extreme hoarding; preoccupation with sexual, violent or religious thoughts; relationship-related obsessions; aversion to particular numbers; and nervous rituals, such as opening and closing a door a certain number of times before entering or leaving a room. These symptoms can be alienating and time-consuming, and often cause severe emotional and financial distress. The acts of those who have OCD may appear paranoid and potentially psychotic. However, OCD sufferers generally recognize their obsessions and compulsions as irrational and may become further distressed by this realization.

WHAT IS PTSD (POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER)?

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating mental disorder that follows experiencing or witnessing an extremely traumatic, tragic, or terrifying event. People with PTSD usually have persistent frightening thoughts and memories of their ordeal and feel emotionally numb, especially with people they were once close to.

WHAT IS SCHIZOPHRENIA?

• Schizophrenia is characterized by a broad range of unusual behaviors that cause profound disruption in the lives of people suffering from the condition, as well as in the lives of the people around them. One of the most obvious kinds of impairment caused by schizophrenia involves how a person thinks. The individual can lose much of the ability to rationally evaluate his or her surroundings and interactions with others. They often believe things that are untrue, and may have difficulty accepting what they see as "true" reality. Schizophrenia most often includes hallucinations and/or delusions, which reflect distortions in the perception and interpretation of reality. The resulting behaviors may seem bizarre to the casual observer, even though they may be consistent with the schizophrenic's abnormal perceptions and beliefs.

WHAT ARE SOME KNOWN CAUSES OF SCHIZOPHRENIA?

Scientists have long known that schizophrenia runs in families. The illness occurs in 1 percent of the general population, but it occurs in 10 percent of people who have a first-degree relative with the disorder, such as a parent, brother, or sister. Other recent studies suggest that schizophrenia may result in part when a certain gene that is key to making important brain chemicals malfunctions. Many environmental factors may be involved, such as exposure to viruses or malnutrition before birth, problems during birth, and other not yet known psychosocial factors.

WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF CRIMINALLY INSANE BEHAVIOR?

• The insanity defense is used by criminal defendants. The most common variation is cognitive insanity. Under the test for cognitive insanity, a defendant must have been so impaired by a mental disease or defect at the time of the act that he or she did not know the nature or quality of the act, or, if the defendant did know the nature or quality of the act, he or she did not know that the act was wrong.

WHAT ARE THE KNOWN TYPES OF SCHIZOPHRENIA?

There are three known causes of schizophrenia:•Biochemical imbalances•Traumatic social interactions•Family inheritance

WHAT IS AUTONOMY AND HOW CAN IT AFFECT YOUNG ADULTS?

• Autonomy is the concept that a person has control and power over his/her life and can make decisions independent of parents/guardians. Because young people have had a lifetime of support from parents/guardians newly realized autonomy and adult responsibilities can cause unanticipated stress.

WHAT IS ADJUSTMENT?

• Adjustment is the process of altering behavior to match the needs of a situation in order to have success.

WHAT IS THE PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS?

WHAT IS A PHOBIA?

• A phobia is an intense, irrational fear that interrupts healthy life functions.

WHAT IS CONVERSION?

• Conversion is a physical disorder such as blindness and paralysis that is caused by a stressful or traumatic experience.

WHAT IS HYPOCHONDRIASIS?

• Hypochondriasis, also known as hypochondria, is a dissociative disorder effecting one’s exaggerated beliefs about illness that contradicts clear medical evidence of good health.

WHAT IS A DELUSION?

• A delusion is a belief held with strong conviction despite superior evidence to the contrary such as a person who is 5’2” believing she is the tallest person in the world.

WHO WAS DOROTHEA DIX AND HOW DID SHE HELP THE MENTALLY ILL?

• Dorothea Dix was a devoutly religious Christian woman from Massachusetts who worked to reform the care of mentally ill inmates that according to her were mistreated in prisons. Her work lead to the creation of mental health institutions throughout the United States.

WHAT IS PSYCHOTHERAPY AND WHAT IS ITS PRIMARY GOAL?

• Psychotherapy is therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client, patient, family, couple, or group. Simply, Psychotherapy is a general term for treating mental health problems by talking with a psychiatrist, psychologist or other mental health provider. During psychotherapy, one hopes to learn about their condition and moods, feelings, thoughts and behaviors, how to take control of one's life and respond to challenging situations with healthy coping skills. The problems addressed are psychological in nature and can vary in terms of their causes, influences, triggers, and potential resolutions. Accurate assessment of these and other variables depends on the practitioner's capability and can change or evolve as the practitioner acquires experience, knowledge, and insight.

WHAT ARE SOME IMPORTANT TRAITS OF EFFECTIVE PSYCHOTHERAPISTS?

Many psychological professionals believe that there are three characteristics found in effective therapists:•Psychological health•Empathy•Experience

WHAT IS PSYCHOANALYSIS?

• Psychoanalysis is a type of therapy aimed at making patients aware of their unconscious motives so they can gain control over their behavior.

HOW DOES COGNITIVE THERAPY WORK?

• Cognitive therapy works by using thoughts to control emotions and behaviors.

HOW DOES BEHAVIOR THERAPY WORK?

• Behavior therapy works by changing undesirable behavior through conditioning techniques.

WHAT ARE THE SPECIFIC TYPES OF DRUG THERAPIES?

There are four main types of drug therapies:

•Antipsychotic drugs-these block the activity of dopamine and acts as a tranquilizer to reduce agitation, hallucinations and delusions.

•Antidepressant drugs-these normalize the flow of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters thereby relieving signs of depression.

•Lithium-a natural element that controls the level of norepinephrine which controls the level of mood swings some people experience.

•Antianxiety drugs-these depress the central nervous system and relieve anxiety disorders.

WHAT ARE BIOLOGICAL TREATMENTS FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS?

There are three specific types of biological treatments for psychological disorders:•Drug therapy•ECT (electroconvulsive therapy)•Psychosurgery

WHAT ARE KNOWN REASONS PEOPLE SELECT FRIENDS?

• It is believed that close personal contact is associated with satisfaction of basic needs.

WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT SOME PARENT-ADOLESCENT CONFLICTS?

• Divorce, single-parent families and generational identities are all associated with parent-adolescent conflicts.

WHAT IS A SELF-SERVING BIAS?

• A self-serving bias is tendency to claim success as result of one’s own effort and blame failure due to circumstances beyond one’s control.

WHAT ARE SOME HEALTHY ADJUSTMENTS TO MARRIAGE MADE BY PEOPLE?

• There seems to be several adjustments healthy marriages make such as whether partners’ individual needs are met, whether the couple's needs are compatible, and whether the couple's images of themselves coincide with their images of each other.