U4A2 mental wellbeing

Question 1

define mental wellbeing

Answer 1

individual’s current state of mind, including ability to think, process info and regulate emotions.

Question 2

what are the four ways of considering mental wellbeing?

Answer 2

• levels of functioning
• resilience
• social wellbeing
• emotional wellbeing

Question 3

define ‘levels of functioning’ in terms of mental wellbeing.

Answer 3

levels of functioning refers to degree an individual can be independent and effective in completing day-to-day tasks.

Question 4

define ‘resilience’ in terms of mental wellbeing.

Answer 4

resilience refers to the ability to cope with and manage change and uncertainty.

Question 5

define ‘social wellbeing’ in terms of mental wellbeing.

Answer 5

social wellbeing refers to the ability of an individual to form and maintain meaningful bonds with others and adpt to different social situations.

Question 6

define ‘emotional wellbeing’ in terms of mental wellbeing.

Answer 6

emotional wellbeing refers to the ability for an indvidual to appropriately control and express their emotions in an adaptive way, and understand the emotions of others.

Question 7

what are the 7 aspects of the ‘social and emotional wellbeing framework for aboriginal communities’ or SEWB?

Answer 7

• connection to body (physical health)
• connection to mind and emotions (emotional health and identity)
• connection to family and kinship
• connection to community
• connection to culture
• connection to country (beliefs tied to the land)
• connection to spirit, spirituality and ancestors

Question 8

what are internal and external factors that influence a person’s mental wellbeing?

Answer 8

internal: arise from within the individual (stress, thoughts, genetics)
external: arise from an individual’s environment (relationships, difficulty, access to support)

Question 9

define and compare stress and anxiety.

Answer 9

stress is a psychological and physiological experience occuring when an individual encounters something significant that demands attention and efforts to cope.
anxiety is a psychological and physiological response that involves feelings of worry about a percieved threat.
both happen from time to time.
both usually don’t interrupt daily functioning.
both can be adaptive at times.

Question 10

define specific phobia.

Answer 10

diagnosable anxiety disorder characterised by excessive and disproportionate fear when encountering/anticipating particular stimulus.

Question 11

list and explain the biological protective factors for mental wellbeing.

Answer 11

• adequate nutrition and sleep (mediterranean diet, 2-3L of water.
• sleep (duration varies across age groups)

Question 12

list and explain the psychological protective factors for mental wellbeing.

Answer 12

• cognitive behavioural strategies (identify dysfunctional cognitions/behaviours, replace with more functional cognitions/behaviours.)
• mindfulness meditation (focus on present experience to promote peace and calm)

Question 13

list and explain the social protective factors for mental wellbeing.

Answer 13

• support (genuine assistance from family, friends and community)

Question 14

list and explain the biological contributing factors for specific phobia.

Answer 14

• GABA dysfunction (insufficient neural transmission/reception of GABA or low production of GABA, causing FFF response to occur more easily.)
• long-term potentiation (repeated coactivation of synaptic connections, signals for percieving phobic stimulus trigger more easily)

Question 15

list and explain the psychological contributing factors for specific phobia.

Answer 15

behaviour models:
- classical conditioning (precipitating factors increase susceptibility to and contribute to occurence of developing specific phobia)
- operant conditioning (perpetuating factors inhibit a person’s ability to recover from specific phobia through negative reinforcement.)

cognitive bias:
- memory bias (innacurate or exaggerated memory, impacting present cognitions of stimuli)
- catastrophic thinking (stimulus is predicted to be worse than it actually is)

Question 16

list and explain the social contributing factors for specific phobia.

Answer 16

• specific environmental triggers (stimuli in a person’s environment that evoke extreme stress response, leading to development of phobia.)
• stigma (feelings of shame/disgrace about seeking professional help for phobia.)

Question 17

list and explain the biological interventions for specific phobia.

Answer 17

• GABA agonists (drug that imitates neurotransmitters and initiates neural response, eg. benzodiazapenes)
• breathing retraining (slow breathing techniques that calm nervous system)

Question 18

list and explain the psychological interventions for specific phobia.

Answer 18

• cognitive behavioural therapy (changing thoughts to change behaviours)
• systematic desensitisation (pair phobic stimulus on a fear hierarchy with relaxation practices)

Question 19

list and explain the social interventions for specific phobia.

Answer 19

• psychoeducation (challenge unrealistic thoughts, discourage avoidance behaviours.)

Question 20

what are the cultural determinants of wellbeing in first nations australians?

Answer 20

• cultural continuity (passing down knowledge)
• self-determination (rights to freely pursue development without interference)