Exam 3 Review: Stress, Psychological Disorders, and Treatment

Chapter 11: Stress and Health

Stress: Definition and Types

Stress refers to the body's response to challenging or threatening situations. It can be acute or chronic, and is influenced by both external and internal factors.

• Pressure: The psychological experience of demands or expectations to perform.

• Frustration: Occurs when pursuit of a goal is blocked.

• Conflict: Involves choosing between incompatible options. Types include:

  • Approach-Approach: Choosing between two desirable outcomes.

  • Approach-Avoidance: One option has both positive and negative aspects.

  • Avoidance-Avoidance: Choosing between two undesirable outcomes.

Responses to Stress

• Self-imposed Stress: Stress resulting from personal expectations or standards.

• Optimism vs. Pessimism: Optimists tend to cope better with stress than pessimists.

• Internal Locus of Control: Belief that one controls their own fate.

• External Locus of Control: Belief that external forces determine outcomes.

Managing Stress

• Hardiness: A personality trait involving commitment, control, and challenge.

• Resilience: Ability to recover from stress or adversity.

• Direct Coping: Taking action to eliminate or reduce the source of stress.

• Confrontation: Facing a stressor directly.

• Compromise: Finding a middle ground to resolve conflict.

• Withdrawal: Avoiding or removing oneself from a stressful situation.

Defense Mechanisms

Defense mechanisms are unconscious psychological strategies used to cope with stress and anxiety. Examples include denial, repression, projection, and rationalization.

Gender Differences in Stress

Research suggests that men and women may experience and respond to stress differently, often due to socialization and biological factors.

Physiological Responses to Stress

• Fight or Flight Response: The body's automatic reaction to perceived threat, involving increased heart rate, blood pressure, and energy mobilization.

• Health Psychology: The study of psychological factors in health, illness, and healthcare.

• Psychosomatic Disease: Physical illness caused or worsened by psychological factors.

Personality and Stress

• Characteristics of a Well-Adjusted Person: Includes adaptability, emotional stability, and effective coping strategies.

Chapter 12: Psychological Disorders

Models of Abnormality

• Biological Model: Views psychological disorders as resulting from biological factors such as genetics, brain chemistry, and neuroanatomy.

• Cognitive-Behavioral Model: Focuses on maladaptive thought patterns and learned behaviors.

• Diathesis-Stress Model: Proposes that psychological disorders result from a combination of genetic vulnerability and environmental stressors.

• Systems Theory Model: Considers multiple interacting factors (biological, psychological, social).

Classification and Diagnosis

• DSM-5: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, is the standard classification system for psychological disorders.

• ICD-9: International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, used for medical diagnosis.

Major Psychological Disorders

• Mood Disorders: Includes depression and bipolar disorder.

• Anxiety Disorders: Includes generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, phobias.

• Personality Disorders: Enduring patterns of behavior and inner experience that deviate from cultural expectations.

• Types of Personality Disorders: Examples include borderline, antisocial, and narcissistic personality disorders.

• Schizophrenia: A severe disorder characterized by disturbances in thought, perception, and behavior.

Symptoms of Schizophrenia

• Hallucinations: False sensory perceptions, such as hearing voices.

• Delusions: Strongly held false beliefs.

• Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Disorders that affect brain development, such as autism spectrum disorder.

Table: Major Psychological Disorders and Key Features

Disorder	Main Features
Mood Disorders	Depression, mania, bipolar episodes
Anxiety Disorders	Excessive fear, worry, panic attacks
Personality Disorders	Enduring maladaptive patterns
Schizophrenia	Hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking
Neurodevelopmental Disorders	Impaired development, social/communication deficits

Additional info: Bipolar disorder is classified under mood disorders.

Chapter 13: Treatment of Psychological Disorders

Types of Psychotherapy

• Insight Therapies: Focus on increasing awareness of underlying motives and conflicts.

• Psychodynamic Therapy: Based on Freudian theory; explores unconscious processes.

• Client-Centered Therapy: Developed by Carl Rogers; emphasizes empathy, unconditional positive regard.

Behavioral Therapies

• Systematic Desensitization: Gradual exposure to feared stimuli while practicing relaxation.

• Flooding: Intense exposure to feared stimuli without gradual buildup.

• Extinction: Elimination of a conditioned response.

• Token Economy: Use of tokens as rewards for desired behaviors.

Cognitive and Group Therapies

• Cognitive Therapy: Focuses on changing maladaptive thought patterns.

• Group Therapy: Therapy conducted with groups, including families, couples, or self-help groups.

Other Treatment Modalities

• Drug Therapy: Use of medications to treat psychological disorders.

• Tardive Dyskinesia: A side effect of antipsychotic drugs, involving involuntary movements.

• Lithium: Used to treat bipolar disorder.

• Antidepressants: Medications for depression and some anxiety disorders.

• ECT (Electroconvulsive Therapy): Electrical stimulation of the brain to treat severe depression.

Table: Types of Therapy and Main Features

Therapy Type	Main Features
Insight Therapy	Explores unconscious motives, increases self-awareness
Behavioral Therapy	Modifies behavior through conditioning
Cognitive Therapy	Changes maladaptive thought patterns
Group Therapy	Provides support and feedback in a group setting
Drug Therapy	Uses medication to manage symptoms
ECT	Electrical stimulation for severe depression

Additional info: For exam preparation, students should be familiar with all major disorders and their treatments, as well as the distinguishing features of each therapy type.