Mental Wellbeing and Phobias

Question 1

Abnormal

Answer 1

behaviours that are statistically unusual, not socially approved, cause distress to the person or interfere with their ability to function

Question 2

Acute

Answer 2

a condition that has a rapid onset, severe intensity, but generally short duration

Question 3

adaptive behaviours

Answer 3

behaviours that enable an individual to adjust to another type of behaviour or situation. such as behaviours seen as a positive, constructive and productive, and enable an individual to adjust to a situation or respond to a challenge

Question 4

Adrenaline

Answer 4

Hormone produced by the adrenal glands that also acts as a neurotransmitter, generally arousing the body through a sympathetic response to prepare it for action. (a.k.a. epinephrine in U.S.A.)

Question 5

Anti-anxiety agents

Answer 5

a medication or other intervention that inhibits anxiety and its related psychological and physical symptoms

Question 6

Anxiety

Answer 6

a state of physiological and emotional arousal associated with feelings of apprehension, worry or uneasiness that something is wrong or something bad is going to happen

Question 7

Anxiety disorder

Answer 7

a mental disorder characterised by chronic feelings of tension, distress, nervousness and apprehension or fear about the future

Question 8

Arousal

Answer 8

activation of bodily resources leading to a heightened state of physical alertness and readiness for action

Question 9

Attention

Answer 9

a concentration of mental activity that involves focusing on specific stimuli while ignoring other stimuli

Question 10

Attentional bias

Answer 10

in relation to phobia, the tendency to selectively attend to threat-related stimuli rather that to neutral stimuli

Question 11

Atypical

Answer 11

behaviour that is different to what is usually displayed by an individual and/or is displayed by the minority of people

Question 12

Avoidance behaviours

Answer 12

behaviours that attempt to prevent exposure to a fear-provoking object, activity or situation

Question 13

Behaviour

Answer 13

any directly observable action made by a living person

Question 14

Behaviour disorder

Answer 14

a general term used for a significant behavioural problem of which society disapproves, and which requires help from a mental health professional

Question 15

Behavioural model

Answer 15

an approach to understanding and treating or managing a mental disorder that emphasises the role of learning and experience. the therapy focuses on extinguishing undesirable behaviour patterns through the application of classical and/or operant conditioning techniques

Question 16

Behavioural therapies

Answer 16

methods of treatment for specific problems that apply the principle of classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning

Question 17

Benzodiazepine agents

Answer 17

a class of drug, sometimes called sedatives or mild tranquilisers, commonly prescribed in the short term to calm the body by reducing physiological arousal and tension to help people cope with anxiety and panic attacks. they act as a GABA agonist, by imitating its inhibitory effects on postsynaptic neurons throughout the brain

Question 18

Biological factors

Answer 18

Within the biopsychosocial framework, physiological influences that can affect an individual’s wellbeing (e.g. genetics, brain function, general physical health).

Question 19

Biopsychosocial model

Answer 19

a holistic approach proposing that an individual’s physical and mental health outcomes affect and are affected by the interaction and combination of biological, psychological, and social factors

Question 20

Breathing retraining

Answer 20

a technique that enables those with anxiety to have more control over their condition by teaching correct breathing habits in order to slow down their breathing and prevent hyperventilation

Question 21

Catastrophic thinking

Answer 21

a type of negative thinking involving rumination about irrational worst-case outcomes and overestimation of the potential dangers or negative implications of future events and underestimating the ability to cope with negative events which may occur in your life

Question 22

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

Answer 22

a form of therapy which combines cognitive and behavioural therapies to redirect thoughts, feelings and behaviour, based on the idea that emotional or behavioural problems result from unrealistic or irrational thinking about oneself and others

Question 23

Clinical psychology

Answer 23

a specialised area of psychology that deals with the prevention, assessment, diagnosis and treatment of behavioural/psychological problems and mental disorders

Question 24

Cognitive bias

Answer 24

a patters of inaccurate thinking whereby an individual creates their own subjective reality from their distorted perception of the input resulting in an illogical interpretation and an inaccurate judgment about other people and situations

Question 25

cognitive model

Answer 25

in relation to phobias, an approach to understanding and treatment or management that emphasises how the individual processes information about a phobic stimulus and related events, particularly their ‘distorted’ way of thinking

Question 26

continuum

Answer 26

a continuous uninterrupted sequence or succession of interrelated aspects that vary in degree between two extremes

Question 27

counter-conditioning

Answer 27

therapeutic procedure that associated new responses to stimuli that trigger unwanted behaviours

Question 28

cumulative risk

Answer 28

the compounded effects of exposure to numerous risk factors within a series or pattern of circumstances and events in an individual’s life

Question 29

diagnosis

Answer 29

the process of identifying and classifying an illness, disorder or abnormality on the basis of the presence of particular symptoms or results of tests and examination

Question 30

Disorder

Answer 30

any physical and/or psychological abnormality

Question 31

emotional wellbeing

Answer 31

an individual’s ability to understand their emotions and manage them constructively to meet the demands of everyday life without experiencing too much distress

Question 32

environmental trigger

Answer 32

a specific object, event and/or experience that can act as a stimulus for the onset of a particular condition

Question 33

exposure therapies

Answer 33

behavioural techniques that treat anxiety by subjecting people, in reality or imagination, to the things they fear and avoid

Question 34

flooding

Answer 34

A therapeutic technique
involves bringing into sudden direct contact with anxiety- or fear-producing stimuli
keeping contact with it until conditioned response is extinguished.
The aim to hasten the process of extinction.

Question 35

Functional normality

Answer 35

Approach that focuses on how effectively an individual is able to do what is expected in everyday life, taking into account the adaptiveness of the behaviour and how it affects the well-being of the individual or the social group.

Question 36

Genetic predisposition/vulnerability

Answer 36

An inherited tendency (or increased risk) for developing a particular physical or psychological characteristic or pattern of characteristics.

Question 37

Graduated exposure

Answer 37

a.k.a. systematic desensitisation
therapeutic process used in the treatment of disorders
involve fear and anxiety where an individual is gradually subjected, to increasingly similar stimuli to the conditioned stimulus itself through a series of tasks to eventually extinguish the conditioned response.

Question 38

Interpretive bias

Answer 38

With a phobia, the tendency to interpret or judge ambiguous stimuli and situations in a threatening manner

Question 39

Maladaptive behaviours

Answer 39

Behaviours that are often used to reduce one’s anxiety, but the result is dysfunctional and non-productive
behaviours do not address the actual problem and are often associated with forms of mental illness.

Question 40

Medical normality

Answer 40

Being physically healthy
a view that behaviour that’s not normal is caused by an illness that usually has a physiological/biological cause that can be diagnosed and treated

Question 41

Mental disorder

Answer 41

A significant impairment of a person’s thoughts, emotions or behaviour which causes distress to themself or other people, and also affects their day-to-day functioning

Question 42

Mental health

Answer 42

A state of emotional and social well-being in which a person can effectively fulfil his or her abilities, cope with normal stresses of life, work productively or fruitfully and be able to make a contribution to his or her community.

Question 43

Mental health problems

Answer 43

Common mental health complaints which affect our feelings, thoughts and actions and cause distress and which can interfere with our performance and enjoyment in a range of life areas (e.g. school, work and relationships), but are typically not very severe and temporary in nature.

Question 44

Mental illness

Answer 44

A health condition that severely affects the way a person thinks, feels and acts and that causes the person significant distress and difficulty in functioning or coping with everyday life, often involving behaviours that are atypical of the person and may also be inappropriate within their culture.

Question 45

Normality

Answer 45

Patterns of thoughts, feelings or behaviour that conforms to what is acceptable or what can be expected to happen in most circumstances. In a clinical context, it is a condition that does not require treatment or assistance.

Question 46

Perpetuating risk factors

Answer 46

Longer term, on-going factors which tend to maintain the psychological problem after it has been elicited, inhibiting recovery by prolonging the disorder and preventing its resolution

Question 47

Phobia

Answer 47

An anxiety disorder characterised by an intense, excessive, irrational or persistent fear directed towards a particular object, situation or event which causes significant distress or interferes with everyday functioning.

Question 48

Precipitating risk factors

Answer 48

the current specific personal or situational dynamics that occur shortly before the development of a disorder and appear to be the triggers for the onset or exacerbation of the psychological problems or behavioural response.

Question 49

Predisposing risk factors

Answer 49

Those aspects within the individual’s characteristics, many of them operating from a person’s formative early years, that increase their vulnerability to other influences that act close to the time of the development and presentation of psychological problems.

Question 50

Protective factors

Answer 50

An individual’s strengths, resilience, social supports and positive patterns of behaviour which prevent or reduce the likelihood or severity of conditions due to the risk factors present.

Question 51

Psychiatrist

Answer 51

A medical doctor who specialises in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of mental health problems. A psychiatrist evaluates a person’s mental health along with his or her physical health and can prescribe medications.

Question 52

Psychologist

Answer 52

A mental health professional who has received specialised training in the study of the mind and emotions, who can conduct psychological testing, research, or therapy.

Question 53

Resilience

Answer 53

The capacity to cope and deal constructively with change or challenges and bounce back to maintain or re-establish their social and emotional wellbeing in the face of difficult events

Question 54

Self-efficacy

Answer 54

individual’s belief and confidence in their ability to exert control over their own behaviour and social environment
to perform actions to achieve specific goals, like maintain their desired behaviour change in situations that often trigger relapse.

Question 55

Social stressor

Answer 55

A specific event or situation arising from social interactions with others in everyday life that an individual assesses as being a challenge, problematic or undesirable, which leads him or her to experience stress.

Question 56

Social wellbeing

Answer 56

An individual’s ability to maintain positive and effective relationships with others.

Question 57

Specific phobia

Answer 57

an anxiety disorder characterised by significant anxiety produced by exposure to a specific feared object or situation, often leading to avoidance behaviour.

Question 58

Stigma

Answer 58

Negative attitudes and beliefs held in the wider community and society in general that motivate people to fear, reject, avoid and discriminate against people with a mental disorder.

Question 59

Stress

Answer 59

unpleasant state of physiological and/or psychological tension
is experienced when a situation is perceived as threatening to one’s wellbeing, and may tax/exceed one’s ability to cope.

Question 60

Stress exposure model

Answer 60

The proposal that individuals who have been exposed to a very significant stressor or stressors will be more likely to develop a mental disorder such as major depression or schizophrenia than those who have not.

Question 61

Stressor

Answer 61

A specific physical or psychological event or situation that is assessed by an individual as being a challenge or potential threat to their well-being which leads them to experience stress.

Question 62

Transmission of threat information

Answer 62

in relation to a phobia, the delivery of information from parents, other family members, peers, teachers, the media and other secondary sources about the potential threat or actual danger of a particular object or situation.

Question 63

Wellbeing

Answer 63

A state characterised by an optimum level of physical and mental health and fitness that allows an individual to function actively over the full range of life activities and be able to respond to difficult circumstances.