PSYC1030 W10

• What is the definition of stress?

  Any circumstances that threaten an individual's well-being or they perceive it
• What 2 different types of appraisals did Folkman identify?

  Primary appraisal --> evaluation of whether a stressor is perceived as a threat (negative view) or a challenge (more positive)

  Secondary appraisal --> evaluation of whether the individual has necessary skills and resources to cope with the stress
• What does stress actually depend on?

  Who the perceiver is and how they perceive the stressful situation
• What are the 4 types of stress?


  Frustration, conflict, change, pressure
• What is frustration and 2 different reasons for frustration?

  Having a goal but pursuing it is interrupted, or failing to achieve it.

  2 different reasons are loss and failure
• What is conflict and the 3 types of conflict?

  When 2 or more incompatible motivations compete for expression.

  The 3 types are:

  Approach-approach --> choosing between 2 positive alternatives

  Avoidance-avoidance --> choosing between 2 unattractive possibilities (most stressful type)

  Approach-avoidance --> choice of a goal that has both positive and negatives to it
• What is change?

  Change in life would result in readjustment in their life, causing stress. Social readjustment rating scale (Holmes and Rahe) is used to assess change in people's life, which consist of 42 items
• What is pressure?

  Pressure from people's expectations for behaviour, and this is more strongly related to the experience of stress
• What things influence appraisal (estimation) of stress?

  Familiarity, controllability, predictability
• What are the 3 types of responses to stress?

  Emotional, physiological, behavioural
• What are the 3 stages in the General Adaption Syndrome (Hans Selye) model for response to stress?

  Alarm response, stage of resistance, stage of exhaustion
• What are the maladaptive behaviours to stress?

  Giving up and blaming oneself, striking out at others (catharsis), indulging oneself, defensive coping
• What is an adaptive behaviour to stress?

  Constructive coping, which are healthful efforts that make people deal with stressful events
• What are the social factors that moderate the impact of stress?

  Social support and optimism
• What are the 2 different types of consequences of stress?

  Psychological --> "choking under pressure", competing thoughts, burnout, PTSD

  Physical --> type A (angry or hostile), type B (relaxed and easy-going), immune system
• What is the age considered old in the scientific and medical community?

  65
• What percentage of people over 65 years have dementia?

  6%
• What are the 3 principles from gerontology (study of aging)?

  Difference between primary and secondary ageing, increased heterogeneity, cohort effect
• What is the difference between primary and secondary ageing?

  Primary --> changes that are results of the passage of chronological time

  Secondary --> changes due to diseases
• What does heterogeneity mean?

  People get more different from each other as age increases due to unique life experiences and choices
• What is a cohort effect?

  It's about what the generation experienced, not the age
• What is the WHO's definition of health?

  A complete state of physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity
• What is ageism?

  A form of discrimination about age
• What is a key presentation in later life for both depression and anxiety?

  Memory impairment. This makes it more likely that old adults will be misdiagnosed with dementia
• What are the key risk factors of depression?

  Disability, newly diagnosed medical illnesses, poor health status, poor self-perceived health, prior depression, bereavement
• What are the key risk factors of anxiety?

  Poor general health, physical or sexual abuse in childhood, being a current smoker
• What are the protective factors of depression and anxiety?

  Great perceived social support, regular physical exercise, higher socioeconomic status (depression), higher education level (anxiety)
• How is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) used for depression and anxiety?

  Making explicit links between how you are thinking and behaving, and how you are feeling
• What is relaxation training?

  Teaching deep breathing and letting go of worrying thoughts
• What is supportive therapy?

  Improving and sustaining a patient's physiological well-being, psychological self-esteem and self-reliance during their crisis
• What is interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT)?


  Highly structured and time-limited therapy that focuses on helping the patient to resolve interpersonal problems, which are thought to underlie depression
• What is problem-solving therapy?

  Form of CBT improving patient's ability to cope with stressful life experiences
• What is brief psychodynamic therapy?

  Time-limited intervention that is focused on past experiences but is oriented to current goals to better cope with anxiety or depression
• What does interdisciplinary treatment mean?

  Team members from different fields working together to treat a common disease
• With respect to schizophrenia, what percentage of older patients will have experienced the onset of the disorder in early and mid-life?

  75%
• What is the most beneficial strategy into therapeutic treatments?

  Integrating the patient's own learned coping strategies
• What is dementia?

  An acquired syndrome of intellectual impairment produced by brain dysfunction
• What is the difference between Alzheimer's disease and dementia?

  Dementia is the umbrella category of progressive neurological illnesses by changes in thinking, personality and behaviour. Alzheimer's disease is the most prevalent kind of dementia (50-70%)
• What is Kitwood's person-centred care?

  Having the focus of care on the person (every sort of interaction is involved), not just fulfilling the person's physical health needs