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Psychology Unit 5: Mental and physical health

Health psychology connects stress to illness, the DSM classifies psychological disorders, and treatments range from therapy to medication.

Covers: Health psychology, stress and coping, positive psychology, perspectives on psychological disorders and the DSM, major categories of disorders, treatment approaches

Study guide

Health psychology studies how psychological factors affect physical health. Stress is the process of appraising and responding to challenges. Selye's general adaptation syndrome describes stages of alarm, resistance and exhaustion, and chronic stress weakens the immune system. Stressors range from catastrophes to daily hassles. Coping can be problem-focused (changing the situation) or emotion-focused (managing feelings), and social support, exercise and a sense of control help. Positive psychology studies well-being, strengths, gratitude, resilience and post-traumatic growth.

A psychological disorder involves significant disturbance in thinking, emotion or behavior that is dysfunctional or distressing. Perspectives include biological, psychodynamic, cognitive, behavioral, humanistic and sociocultural views, often combined in the biopsychosocial and diathesis-stress models. Clinicians use the DSM-5-TR to diagnose disorders, which aids treatment and research but can risk labeling.

Major categories include neurodevelopmental disorders (ADHD, autism spectrum disorder); schizophrenia spectrum disorders, with positive symptoms like hallucinations and delusions and negative symptoms like flat affect; depressive disorders (major depressive disorder) and bipolar disorders, with episodes of mania; anxiety disorders (generalized anxiety, panic disorder, specific phobias, social anxiety); obsessive-compulsive and related disorders; trauma- and stressor-related disorders like PTSD; dissociative disorders; feeding and eating disorders; and personality disorders such as antisocial and borderline personality disorder.

Treatment approaches include psychodynamic therapy (insight into unconscious conflicts), humanistic client-centered therapy (Rogers' active listening and unconditional positive regard), behavior therapies (exposure therapy, systematic desensitization, aversive conditioning), cognitive therapies (Beck's challenge of negative thoughts, Ellis's rational emotive behavior therapy), cognitive-behavioral therapy combining both, and group and family therapy. Biomedical treatments include medications (antidepressants such as SSRIs, antipsychotics, anti-anxiety drugs, lithium for bipolar disorder), electroconvulsive therapy for severe depression, and other brain stimulation. Research shows many therapies are effective, and a strong therapeutic alliance matters.

Competitive, hostile, impatient Type A people, especially those high in anger and hostility, have higher rates of heart disease than relaxed Type B people. Lazarus showed that stress depends on appraisal: we first judge whether an event threatens us (primary appraisal) and then whether we can cope with it (secondary appraisal). In OCD, obsessions are unwanted, repetitive, anxiety-causing thoughts, and compulsions are repetitive actions (like hand-washing) done to relieve that anxiety. Psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia involve losing touch with reality. Dissociative identity disorder involves two or more distinct identities.

Some behavior therapies use operant conditioning, rewarding desired behaviors and ignoring or withdrawing rewards for unwanted ones, as in token economies. Biofeedback gives people real-time readings of body signals like heart rate or muscle tension so they can learn to control them. Group therapy is less expensive per person, lets clients practice social skills, and shows them that others share similar problems.

Behavior judged abnormal only because it differs from cultural norms may be normal elsewhere. Diagnosis therefore relies on dysfunction and distress, not just on being unusual.

Key ideas

• Chronic stress harms physical health through the immune system.
• The biopsychosocial model combines biological, psychological and social causes.
• The DSM-5-TR is used to diagnose psychological disorders.
• Disorders are grouped into categories like anxiety, depressive and schizophrenia spectrum.
• Therapies include psychodynamic, humanistic, behavioral, cognitive and biomedical approaches.

Formulas and rules

Common mistakes

• Confusing schizophrenia with dissociative identity disorder.
• Thinking 'positive symptoms' are good; they're added experiences like hallucinations.

Words to know

Health psychology

The study of how psychological factors affect health.

Stress

The process of appraising and responding to challenging events.

General adaptation syndrome

Selye's stress stages: alarm, resistance, exhaustion.

Problem-focused coping

Reducing stress by changing the situation.

Emotion-focused coping

Reducing stress by managing emotional reactions.

Positive psychology

The study of well-being and human strengths.

Biopsychosocial model

Explains disorders through biological, psychological and social factors.

Diathesis-stress model

A predisposition plus stress leads to a disorder.

DSM-5-TR

The manual clinicians use to diagnose psychological disorders.

Generalized anxiety disorder

Persistent, excessive worry.

Panic disorder

Repeated, unexpected panic attacks.

Phobia

An intense, irrational fear of a specific object or situation.

OCD

Unwanted obsessions and repetitive compulsions.

PTSD

Lasting distress and flashbacks after trauma.

Major depressive disorder

Persistent sadness and loss of interest for at least two weeks.

Bipolar disorder

Alternating episodes of depression and mania.

Schizophrenia

A disorder with hallucinations, delusions and disorganized thinking.

Antisocial personality disorder

A pattern of disregard for others' rights.

Client-centered therapy

Rogers' humanistic therapy with active listening.

Systematic desensitization

Pairing relaxation with gradually increasing anxiety triggers.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

Therapy that changes both thinking and behavior.

SSRI

An antidepressant that increases serotonin availability.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

Brief electrical brain stimulation for severe depression.

Therapeutic alliance

The trusting bond between therapist and client.

Sample practice questions

5 more questions like these, from level 1 to 5, are in the practice set.