common phd

Psychological Health

The Basics of Psychological Health • Psychological health—the ability to deal effectively

with the psychological challenges of life.

– Becomes more positive or negative as one responds

to a constantly changing environment

– The quality of one’s psychological health often affects other components of health, such as social,

spiritual, and physical health.

Characteristics of Psychologically

Healthy People

Influences on Psychological

Health

• Our nervous system

– Central nervous system

– Peripheral nervous system

• Our mind

– Collective parts of our brain

• Our personality

Personality

• A set of distinct thoughts and behaviors, including

emotional responses, that characterize how one

responds to situations

• Our temperament is the predictable way a person

responds to the environment.

Influences on Personality

• Many factors influence personality:

– Biological

– Cultural

– Social

– Psychological forces

– Interactions with family members

– Learning from experiences

Freud’s Framework of Personality

• The unconscious mind influences behaviors.

• Defense mechanisms are ways of thinking and

behaving that reduce or eliminate anxiety and guilt by

altering a person’s perceptions of reality.

• Defense mechanisms protect the mind against

psychological conflicts and threats.

Common Defense Mechanisms

Erickson’s Psychosocial Stages of Personality Development

• Social influences shape

personality.

• Individuals progress

through stages.

• Emotional well-being is

achieved through conflict

resolution.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs

• Behavior is value driven.

• Human have basic biological

and complex psychological

needs.

• Personality development is

driven by the need to achieve

psychological fulfillment or

self-actualization.

Adjustment and Growth

• Psychological adjustment—adjusting to life demand

or stressors.

• Psychological growth—occurs when a person learns

that certain adjustment strategies enhance his or her

sense of freedom and control over self and the

environment.

Adjustment and Growth

• Interpersonal conflicts can hinder psychological adjustment and growth.

– Aggressive reactions often injure others physically or emotionally.

– Assertive reactions maintain one’s rights without interfering with the rights of others or harming them.

• Psychological growth fosters the development of autonomy, which is associated with self-esteem.

Self-Esteem

• Influences one’s thoughts, actions, and feelings

• Begins to develop early in childhood

• Remains fairly constant over time

• Is greatly influenced by caretakers

Self-Esteem

Positive

• Display autonomy

• Are self-confident

• Accept challenges

• Work well with others

• Adjust easily to change

• Accept responsibility

Low

• Have difficulty making decisions

• Resist changing behavior

• Resent any form of criticism

• Put down others to make themselves look or feel better

Improving Psychological Health

• Lifestyle behaviors such as exercising regularly,

obtaining adequate sleep, and eating a nutritious diet

• Improve intellectual health and attend to spiritual

needs.

• Foster social contacts.

• Protect the quality of your environment.

Understanding Psychological (Mental)

Illness

• Occasionally, healthy people have disturbing

thoughts, experience unpleasant feelings, or display

inappropriate behaviors.

• Mentally ill individuals experience abnormal feelings,

thoughts, and behaviors that persist, interfere with

daily life, and hinder psychological adjustment and

growth.

Understanding Psychological

(Mental) Illness • Psychosis—a severe type of mental illness

characterized by disorganized thoughts and unreal perceptions that result in strange behavior, isolation, delusions, and hallucinations

• Delusions—inaccurate and unreasonable beliefs that often result in decision-making errors

• Hallucinations—false sensory perceptions that have no apparent external cause, but are real to the psychotic individual

Understanding Psychological

(Mental) Illness

• Between 2005 and 2009,

about one in ten adult

Americans reported

experiencing “frequent mental distress” for 14 or more days during the

previous 30 days.

Causes of Psychological Disorders

• Alterations of the normal chemical environment of the

brain (may be genetic)

• Brain damage from injuries, tumors, or infections

• Drugs such as cocaine

• Extremely stressful experiences, particularly in

childhood

• Pollutants such as pesticides and toxic minerals (e.g.,

lead, mercury, and arsenic)

Treating Psychological Disorders

• Fewer than 50% of Americans seek treatment.

• Treatment for psychological problems generally

involves a combination of:

– Counseling – Cognitive behavioral therapy

– Group therapy

– Support groups

– Medications

Anxiety Disorders

• Generalized anxiety disorder—uncontrollable chronic worrying and nervousness

• Phobias—intense and irrational fear of objects or situations

• Panic disorder—panic attacks, unpredictable episodes of extreme fear and loss of emotional control

Trauma- and Stressor-

Related Disorders • Post-traumatic stress disorder—persistent arousal,

avoidance, negative thoughts or feelings, and reexperiencing of traumatic events

• Acute stress disorder—severe anxiety, disassociation, decreased emotional response, and feelings of guilt about pursuing usual life tasks

• Adjustment disorders—feeling sad or experiencing physical symptoms (e.g., twitching, skipped heart beats) associated with a difficult life event (e.g., major illness, death of a loved one)

Obsessive-Compulsive

and Related Disorders

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder—repetitive thoughts that produce anxiety and obsessive behaviors that follow in order to reduce anxiety

• Hoarding disorder—persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions due to distress associated with discarding them

• Tricholtillomania—compulsive urge to pull out, and in some cases eat, one’s own hair

Impulse Control Disorders

• Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder— short attention span and/or hyperactivity that results in serious social impairment

• Problem gambling— compulsive and excessive gambling that disrupts personal, family, or vocational pursuits

Mood Disorders

• Major depressive disorder—persistent and profound feelings of sadness, hopelessness, helplessness, and worthlessness

• Seasonal affective disorder—depression that is a result of lack of exposure to bright light (e.g., sunlight)

• Bipolar disorder—episodes of depression followed by episodes or elevated mood (mania)

Feeding and Eating Disorders

• Anorexia nervosa—

disorder in which

individuals refuse to eat

enough food to maintain

a healthy weight

Feeding and Eating Disorders

• Bulimia nervosa— disorder characterized by a craving for food that is difficult to satisfy; often involves eating excessive amounts of food followed by purging (vomiting)

Feeding and Eating Disorders • Binge eating disorder—pattern of excessive eating,

without purging or exercise, in response to emotional distress

• Female athlete triad—disordered eating affecting female athletes characterized by absence of menstruation and osteopenia

• Muscle dysmorphia—condition that affects weightlifters/bodybuilders; characterized by dissatisfaction with body, disordered eating, excessive exercise, and abuse of steroids

Psychotic Disorders

• Schizophrenia—mental disorder characterized by disorganized thoughts, hallucinations and delusions, strange behaviors, inappropriate emotions, and disjointed speech

Suicide

• Although suicide is not a psychological disorder, it is

usually preceded by other psychological problems

such as depression.

• Often, those who commit suicide:

– Feel overwhelmed by the demands of life

– Are unable to solve their problems or adapt to their

situation

– Abuse alcohol

• In 2011, Suicide was the third leading cause of death

for Americans between 18 and 24 years of age.

Suicide Prevention • Consider a person at high suicide risk if he or she:

– Is preoccupied with thoughts of death

– Communicates the intent to commit suicide to

others

– Has a history of suicide attempts

– Has a family history of suicide

– Grieves excessively over the death of a loved one

– Has marital or financial problems

• Take all signs of impending suicide seriously and

immediately seek help for the suicidal person

Suicide Prevention

• Mental health centers

have trained counselors

available 24 hours a day

• Visit the National Suicide

Prevention Lifeline

website or call 800-273-

TALK