Psychology Flashcards
what is stress?
- we experience stress when the demands of a situation exceed our resources to cope with it
what are some causes of stress?
- acute: sudden illness, exams
- chronic: long illness, relationships, work
- major life events: divorce, bereavement
- external: events out of our control
- internal: how we appraise (make sense of) a situation
In the physiological response to stress, adrenaline (epinephrine is released from the adrenal gland, how does epinephrine act on cells of the liver, lungs, heart, digestive system, and muscles of the body?
Epinephrine acts on cells of the…
- liver: converts glycogen to glucose (glucose can be converted to ATP for energy release)
- lungs: increases respiratory rate
- heart: increases heart rate and blood pressure
- digestive system: causes vasoconstriction and slows digestion
- muscles of the body: causes vasodilation so more blood flow to these areas
what are the 2 main psychological approaches to stress management?
- Cognitive behavioural approaches (changing the mindset towards stress and how to deal with it)
- Mindfullness based approach
what is the biopsychosocial model of health?
- holistic view on health (treat the person not the disease): influenced by psychological factors, social factors, and biological factors
what is the WHO definition of health?
Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity
what are the 3 major pathways in which health behaviours influence?
- Generating direct biological change (eg. excessive alcohol > liver damage)
- Changing exposure to health risks (eg. condom use > protects against STIs)
- Early detection (eg. attendance to screening clinics > earlier treatment, better outcomes)
what are some protective health behaviours?
- eating well
- health screening clinic attendance
- vaccination
- condom use
- exercising
- teeth brushing
- applying sunscreen
- hand washing
what are some risk health behaviours?
- smoking
- excessive alcohol
- failing to apply sunscreen
- poor diet
- lack of exercise
- non compliance to medical regimes (anti-vaccinations, not taking medications)
Describe Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour.
A worked example of Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour…
what are the 4 areas to explore when trying to find out from a patient about their beliefs on a specific behaviour? (eg. smoking)
- Attitude: what do you think about smoking?…
- Social norms: what do your friends and family think about smoking?
- Perceived behavioural control: do you think you could give up smoking?
- Intensions: have you ever thought about giving up smoking?
The cycle of change model (Prochaska and DiClemente)
The stages of change model in action: weight loss…
The COM-B model of behavioural change…
- Capability: the patient’s psychological and physical capacity to engage in the activity (it includes having the necessary knowledge and skills)
- Motivation: all those brain processes that energise and direct behaviour (does the patient want to?)
- Opportunity: all the factors that lie outside the individual and make the behaviour possible or prompt it
what is the difference between disease and illness?
- Disease: defined as an ‘objective biological event’ that involves disruption of specific body structures or organ systems caused by pathological, anatomical, or physiological changes
- Illness: defined as a ‘subjective experience’ that a disease is present, it yields discomfort, limitations, and psychosocial disruption
Describe the four features of the anger stage of the grieving process
- Frustrated expression of bottled-up emotion
- Person may recognise anger as irrational, but unable to control it
- May drive away support
- Most anger expressed by those who are socially isolated
What are four likely psychological features of the depression stage of bereavement?
- Regret
- Hopelessness for future
- Helplessness
- Social isolation
- Heavily loaded with emotions
Stress quiz Q1…
Answer = B
Stress quiz Q2…
Answer = C
Stress quiz Q3…
Answer = C
Diathesis-stress model…
The wellness continuum…
Reactive influence vs proactive influence…
What are the general differences between acute pain and chronic pain?
Acute pain…
- clear reason for occurence
- good likelihood of resolving with healing / recovery
- good response to treatment where available
Chronic pain…
- less clear cause; no ongoing pathology / injury or healing
- often poor response to available treatments
- psychological component needs assessing and if needed, managing
The persistent pain cycle…
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)…
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)…
Pain management programmes…
Non-pharmaceutical treatments for persistent pain…
Biopsychosocial model for pain management…
What is attachment (attachment in the healthy child)?
Infants are born pro-social…
Secure attachment model…
Securely attached children…
Implications of secure attachment…
Avoidant / ambivalent attachment model…
Disorganised attachment model…
Insecurely attached children…
Implications of insecure attachments…
What is loss, grief, and bereavement?
- Loss = we experience loss when a person we are attached to becomes permanently unavailable
- Grief = the human reaction to loss (acute - integrated - complicated)
- Bereavement = the psychological process through which people adapt to loss
Normal grief reactions…
Phases of grief model…
Grief work model…
Dual-process model…
Comparisons of grief models (phases of grief model, grief work model, and dual-process model)…
How do children express grief?
Types of complex grief…
Responses to complicated grief…
Risk factors for PCBD (persistent complex bereavement disorder)…
Grief mock exam Q1…
answer = B
Grief mock exam Q2…
answer = E
Grief mock exam Q3…
answer = C
