Health, stress, and coping Flashcards
The overall condition of optimal well being displaying a soundness of mind and body, while being free of disease
Health
The study of the relationship between psychological variables and health
Health psychology
The overall pattern of decision and behaviors that determine health and quality of life (in the context of health psychology)
Lifestyle
Study of the interaction between psychological processes and the nervous and immune systems of the human body.
-Ex, cardiovascular disease, cancer, aids
Psychoneuroimmunology
Associated with poor health.
-Individuals tend to be chronically depressed, anxious, hostile, and frequently ill
Disease prone personality
Associated with warding off illness.
-Occurs by releasing emotions that are toxic to the mind and body
-Health can be positively affected
Disease resistant personality
Willingness to practice healthy habits depends on perception of the benefits and that reducing certain behaviors will impact life.
Health belief model
The method of the health belief model that educates and modifies poor health practices
Primary prevention
The method of the health belief model that emphasizes early detection.
Secondary prevention
Mental of physical condition that occurs which requires a person to adjust or adapt to the situation/ environment.
-Derives from a lack of awarness
Stress
Any event capable of causing physical or emotional stress
Stressors
What are the four types of stressors and how are they rated?
They are rated on intensity and duration. They can also combine to feel like avalanches of stress
1. Acute - crowds, traffic, running late
2. Intermittent
3. Chronic - chronic illness, family stressors
4. Universal - death, war
Physical reaction to stress that disturbs normal balance in the body.
-GAS
Stress reactions
What makes up the acronym GAS?
General adaptation syndrome:
1. Alarm reaction - the body prepares for action
2. Resistance - the body stays at a highly aroused state which drains resources
3. Exhaustion - the body’s resources are fatigued, leaving it susceptible to illness
Characteristic ways of responding to stress
Coping
The techniques an individual uses to solve personal and interpersonal issues.
-Problem solving
-Emotional focused
-Social focused
Coping skills
Stressful condition that occurs when a person must choose between contradictory needs, desires, motives, or demands
Conflict
Conflict situation that is easily resolved
Unstable equilibrium
both people are loosey goosey on their beliefs, they could go either way, they are unstable so it is more easily solved
Conflicts that are difficult to resolve
Stable equilibrium.
both people are firm on their beliefs, they are stable in their beliefs, making it hard to solve
One of the four types of conflict where a person is faced with making a choice between two or more desirable goals.
-What situation of conflict does this fall under?
Approach - approach
-Unstable equilibrium (UE)
One of the four types of conflict where a person is faced with two choices, both are viewed as negative or repellent.
-What situation of conflict does this fall under?
Avoidance - Avoidance
-Stable equilibrium (SE)
One of the four types of conflict where a person is both attracted and repelled by the same choice.
-What situation of conflict does this fall under?
Approach - Avoidance
-Stable equilibrium (SE)
One of the four types of conflict where more ofter a person is faced with two or more choices that have attracting and repelling qualities to them.
-What situation of conflict does this fall under?
Double Approach - Avoidance
-Stable equilibrium (SE)
Psychological strategies utilized by the unconscious mind to manipulate or distort reality and to maintain a socially acceptable self image.
-Used by Ego
-In the short term, the person can cope
-In the long term, the person lives in a distorted reality
Defense mechanisms of that bitch Freud
Freud’s 8 defense mechanisms:
Pushing from awareness
Repression.
pushing trauma down to forget about it
Freud’s 8 defense mechanisms:
Making actions seem reasonable
Rationalization
“it’s not that bad”
Freud’s 8 defense mechanisms:
Attributing one’s own undesirable thoughts to another
Projection
Person who is having an affair may accuse their partner of infidelity
Freud’s 8 defense mechanisms:
Acting the opposite to impulses
Reaction formation
An insecure man acting overly masculine
Freud’s 8 defense mechanisms:
Converting unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable actions
Sublimation
Boxing instead of fighting people on the street
Freud’s 8 defense mechanisms:
Deflecting impulses from the original target to one that is less threatening
Displacement
Boss yells at worker, they come home and yell at child
Freud’s 8 defense mechanisms:
Discounting the existence of impulses
Denial
“I don’t have a drinking problem”
Freud’s 8 defense mechanisms:
Dealing with events in a clinically detached way
Intellectualization
If someone is rude to me, I may intellectualize that as them having a bad day.
Treating scenarios as ones that need to be solved and discounting one’s own emotions
