AOS 4: MENTAL HEALTH & PHOBIAS

Question 1

mental wellbeing

Answer 1

• our state of mind
• our enjoyment of life
• our ability to cope with the normal stresses of everyday life
• our ability to develop to our potential

Question 2

level of functioning

Answer 2

the degree to which an individual can complete day-to-day tasks in an independent and effective manner
- e.g: SLICED
- daily living skills,
- interpersonal relationships
- emotions
- cognitive skills
- school/work/occupation
- leisure activities

Question 3

resilience

Answer 3

the ability to successfully cope with and manage change and uncertainty (overcoming adversity/ difficulty experiences)
- problem solving
- realistic plan
- organised
- self-esteem
- efficacy
- optimism
- flexible

Question 4

SEWB

Answer 4

used by Aboriginial and Torres Strait Islander people to describe the physical, social, emotional, spiritual and cultural wellbeing of a person

Question 5

‘self’

SEWB

Answer 5

• the sense of self is grounded in a collectivist perspective that understands self as intrinsically intertwined with family and community
• stronger connections to culture and Country builds individual and collective identities
• empowerment, pride, and strong identity contributes to sense of self and feeling whole

Question 6

connection to country and land

SEWB

Answer 6

• includes a deep experience of belonging to country, there is a traditional or spiritual association to kin and culture and a contemporary yearning to heal country
  
  • disruptions: dispossesion of land
  • restoration: learning about involvement and participation in cultural expression and knowledge

Question 7

connection to spirit

SEWB

Answer 7

• includes knowledge and belief systems, the Dreaming, and cultural healing practices, and value of wisdom and hope
  
  • disruptions: impact of mission life and assimilation
  • restorations: accepting evolving expressions of Indigeneity and expressions of spirituality coexisting with Christianity or mindful practices that enable peace and balance

Question 8

connection to body

SEWB

Answer 8

• includes normal biological markers of physical health such as diet and exercise
  
  • disruptions: smoking and chronic and communicable diseases and exclusion from health system
  • restorations: sports, hunts and gathering, traditional diets and medicines, and accessing services

Question 9

connection to mind

SEWB

Answer 9

• extends beyond mental health, to include recognising culture-bound disorders and the importance of positive emotions, self-confidence and experiencing of joy, rather than just the absence of disorder
  
  • disruptions: threat of safety, cultural trauma symptoms, and racism
  • restorations: accessing supports, education, truth-telling, and recognition of human rights

Question 10

connection to family and kinship

SEWB

Answer 10

• importance of family and group relations, kinship attachment systems of reciprocity and caring, gender and age roles, including respect for Elders and heritage
  
  • disruptions: include removal of children from their families
  • restorations: includes connecting with family history, strong parenting and family programs, spending time with Elders, and developing healthy relationships with significant others ,,

Question 11

connection to community

SEWB

Answer 11

• cultural structures of responsibilty and obligation, social inclusion and relationships. Community cohesion and community-based cultural revitalisation strengthen cultural identity
  
  • disruptions: lateral violence, family feuding, and isolation
  • restorations: self-determination and community-control, and utilising community to be engaged with others and as a place to give and seek support from others

Question 12

connection to culture

Answer 12

• includes cultural expression (yarning, ceremony, fire, art, dance, song, storytelling); cultural knowledge (language, protocol, sociocultural norms, lore, moral and ethical practices) and cultural identity (pride, belonging, values)
  
  • disruptions: cultural genocide and cultural clash
  • restorations: learning about, involvement and participation in cultural expression and knowledge

Question 13

political determinants

SEWB

Answer 13

political policies that shape the process of distributing resources and power to individuals and communities, and create or reinforce social and health inequalities
- e.g:
- unresolved issues of land
- control of local resources
- the rights of self-determination and sovereignty (individuals and communities making their own choices and managing
their own lives in culturally informed ways)

Question 14

historical determinants

SEWB

Answer 14

the ongoing influence of events, policies, and trauma on groups of people
- e.g:
- colonisation and its legacy (for example, the ongoing loss of culture and language)
- the impact of past government policies (for example, policies of Aboriginal child removal)

Question 15

social determinants

SEWB

Answer 15

the circumstances in which people grow, live, and work, and the systems put in place to deal with illness
- e.g:
- socioeconomic status (level of wealth)
- the impact of poverty
- unemployment
- racial discrimination

Question 16

cultural determinants

SEWB

Answer 16

enhance individual and community identity, wellbeing and resilience
- e.g:
- traditions
- expressions of cultural

Question 17

mental wellbeing continuum

Answer 17

a tool used to track fluctuating mental wellbeing, ranging from high levels of mental wellbeing to low levels of mental wellbeing
- constantly changing - not fixed

Question 18

mental health problem

continuum

Answer 18

• period of time: temporary
• bad levels of functioning
• good resilience to overcome problem

Question 19

mental health illness

continuum

Answer 19

• period of time: for a long period of time
• worst levels of functioning
• no resilience

Question 20

internal factors

Answer 20

influences that originate inside/within a person
- genetic predisposition
- thought pattern
- stress response

Question 21

external factors

Answer 21

influences that originate outside a person
- going through a break up
- access to support
- level of education

Question 22

stress

Answer 22

a psychobiological response produced by internal or external stressors.

Question 23

anxiety

Answer 23

a state of arousal involving feelings of apprehension or uneasiness that something is wrong or something unpleasant is about to happen.

Question 24

phobia

Answer 24

an extreme or irrational fear of an aversion to something
- maladaptive & dysfunctional

Question 25

GABA dysfunction

Answer 25

insufficient neural transmission or reception of GABA in the body due to a low level or production of GABA, or an insufficient reception or transmission of GABA across the synapse
_ may cause someone’s flight-or-fight-or-freeze or anxiety response to be activated more easily than someone with adequate GABA levels. the stress response is more easily triggered by certain stimuli.

Question 26

benzodiazepenes

Answer 26

• a group of drugs (’agents’) that work on the CNS, acting selectively on GABA receptors in the brain to increase GABA’s inhibitory effects and make postsynaptic neurons resistant to excitation
• stimulates a neurotransmitter’s activity: GABA agonists
• limitations: effective short term, potential negative consequences associated with long-term uses & only treats the symptoms and not the cause (specific phobia) of anxiety

Question 27

long-term potentiation

Answer 27

• repeated stimulation of two neurons can strengthen a response.
• therefore, if an individual keeps stimulating this neural pathway and synaptic connections, it enables more transmission along neural pathways associated with a fear response = the phobia will strengthen over time.

Question 28

breathing re/training

Answer 28

helps people to maintain correct breathing or correct abnormal breathing patterns when anticipating or exposed to a phobic stimulus, so it may also help to reduce anxiety or alleviate some of its symptoms

Question 29

precipitation in classical conditioning

Answer 29

can contribute to the development of phobias by increasing susceptibility to and contributing to their occurrence.
- before: NS no association
- during: NS and UCS repeatedly paired to produce a UCR
- after: NS becomes the CS and produces a CR

Question 30

perpetuation in operant conditioning

Answer 30

• antecedent: phobic stimulus
• behaviour: individual avoids phobic stimulus
• consequence: individual avoids fear response
  
  • negative reinforcement: behaviour is negatively reinforced due to the avoidance of an aversive stimulus - the fear response

Question 31

systematic desensitisation

Answer 31

applies classical conditioning principles in a process that involves unlearning the connection between anxiety and a specific object or situation and reassociating feelings of relaxation & safety with that particular object or situation
1. a therapist might teach a patient technique they can apply to reduce the physiological arousal and anxiety involved in the fear response.
2. creating a fear hierarchy - a list of anxiety inducing experiences relating to the patient’s phobia, listed in order of easiest to confront, to the most difficult to confront.
3. gradual step-by-step exposure to each item of the fear hierarchy, beginning with the least anxiety inducing stimulus, paired with practice of the learnt relaxation techniques with each new exposure.
4. the continuation of this exposure to items on the fear hierarchy until the most fear-inducing stimulus can be faced without producing the phobic response.

Question 32

memory bias

Answer 32

• a type of cognitive bias caused by inaccurate or exaggerated memory.
• as phobias are often caused by traumatic events, people may remember the trauma as extremely significant or harmful, and this impacts their present cognitions about related stimuli.

Question 33

catastrophic thinking

Answer 33

• a type of cognitive bias in which a stimulus or event is predicted to be far worse than it actually is.
• a person will often imagine the worst-case scenario possible when imagining an interaction with their phobic stimulus. This contributes to phobia, making stimuli seem worthy of extreme fear and anxiety.

Question 34

cognitive behavioural therapy

Answer 34

a form of psychotherapy that encourages individuals to substitute dysfunctional cognitions and behaviours with more adaptive ones.
- a therapist first has to work with the patient to identify their cognitions and behaviours that may perpetuate and contribute to their specific phobia.
- once identified, the therapist and counsellor can then work to modify these unhealthy cognitions and behaviours.

Question 35

specific environmental triggers

Answer 35

refer to stimuli or experiences in a person’s environment that evoke an extreme stress response, leading to the development of a phobia.
- direct confrontation with a traumatic stimulus or event, e.g. being bitten by a snake.
- observing another person having a direct confrontation with a traumatic stimulus or event,
e.g. watching someone be threatened with a weapon.
- learning about a potentially dangerous or traumatic stimulus or event indirectly, e.g. by
watching a movie about threatening motorcycle gangs or reading about the danger of snakes

Question 36

challenging unrealistic or anxious thoughts

Answer 36

family and supporters are encouraged to actively challenge these thoughts in order to help a person with a specific phobia to understand that some cognitive components
of their fears are potentially unfounded and irrational.
- should be done in a supportive, non-judgemental fashion.
- this can help the person with a phobia begin to recognise their dysfunctional thoughts.

Question 37

not encouraging avoidance behaviours

Answer 37

families and supporters are taught that they should not encourage avoidance behaviours, as they do not solve and only perpetuate the phobic anxiety.

Question 38

stigma around seeking treatment

Answer 38

the sense of shame a person might feel about getting professional help for their phobia.
- as phobias tend to involve some degree of irrational fear, seeking help can be very difficult.
- they might feel as though their phobia is too embarrassing or insignificant to seek professional help, or as though they are unusual and isolated from society in some way for doing so.

Question 39

psychoeducation for families and supporters

Answer 39

the provision and explanation of information to individuals about their phobia to assist their understanding of its characteristics and treatment.
* based on the assumption that increased understanding of symptoms, treatment options, services available and recovery patterns enables individuals to cope more effectively and live more productive and fulfilled lives