stress and related disorders Flashcards
what is stress?
a physical or psychological response to events, called stressors, that challenge a person’s normal functioning.
what are the three types of stressors?
cataclysmic events: strong stressors that occur suddenly and typically effect many people at once.
personal stressors: major life events, such as death of a family member, or getting married.
background stressor: everyday annoyances, such as being stuck in traffic that cause minor irritations and may have a long term ill effect.
what are the 6 characteristics of a stressor?
the severity
its chronicity
its timing
how closely does it effect a life
how expected is it
how controllable is it
what are the 4 types of consequences of stress?
mental: worry, confusion, troubles concentrating, faulty judgement.
emotional: frustration, irritability, confidence, anxiety.
behavioral: change in sleep and eating, procrastination, anger issues, relentless.
physical: headaches, twitches, high blood pressure, infections.
what is adjustment disorder?
an irrational reaction to a stressor. people undergoing severe stress that exceed their coping resources may warrant the diagnosis of adjustment disorder.
diagnosis: 3 months onset of the stressor and recovers within 6. must experience more distress than the situation warrants.
the symptoms lessen or disappear when the stressor ends or they learn to adapt.
what are the 2 dimension of stress?
positive (eustress), negative (distress)
what is PTSD?
post traumatic stress disorder.
nightmares, intrusive mental images, dissociative flashbacks.
they try to make distance from the event - by suppressing memories or avoiding locations or activities.
distorted thinking, may loose interest in activities, become detached, amnesia for aspects of the trauma, unable to experience positive emotion.
reactivity and hyper arousal: reckless, irritability, startle response, concentration issues.
what are some symptoms of prolonged grief?
symptoms crowd over other thoughts and behavior last over 5 years. longing for or preoccupying thoughts of departed that is accompanied by emotional pain or numbness. the view that life has became meaningless. problems with identity. Avoidance of reminders.
what is acute stress disorder?
from a traumatic event, for up to a month.
intrusive depressive memories, dissociative experiences, severe mental distress precipitated by reminders.
hyper arousal: irritability, hypervigilance, insomnia.
what is general adaptation syndrome?
stressor
alarm and mobilization. meeting and resisting stressor.
resistance coping with stress and resistance to stressor
exhaustion - negative consequences of stress occur when comping with the aftermath.
what’s the 3 levels of psychoneuroimmunology and stress?
direct physiological effects: elevated blood pressure, decreased functioning of immune system, increased hormonal activity.
harmful behaviors : increased smoking, alcohol use, decreased nutrition, decreased sleep, increased drug use.
indirect health related effects: decreased compliance with medical advice, increase in delays in seeking medical advice, decrease likelihood of seeking medical advice.
what is reactive attachment disorder and disinhibited social engagement disorder?
children who have been mistreated become markedly withdrawn or pathologically outgoing.
each disorder is conceived as a reaction to an environment of parental inconsistency.
RAD: withdrawal from social contacts, resist separation, may exhibit failure-to-thrive syndrome, desperately clingy.
SED: typical wariness, small children boldly approach strangers, they appear indifferent when a parent leaves. abnormal responses are more obvious when the main caregiver is absent.
