Revision definitions

• Health


  Complete physical, mental and social well being, not just absence of disease
• Ill Health


  Absence of complete physical, mental and social well being
• Biomedical model


  Physical/biological factors that cause illness. Illness is physical disease, health is the absence of disease. Associated with technological advances (e.g. brain scanning, chemotherapy)
• Biopsychosocial model


  The interaction between biological, psychological and social factors. Aims to enhance health, focus on prevention. Influential is treating mental disorders - holistic approach
• Health as a continuum


  Health/ill health are two extremes, but we could be anywhere in between
• Stress


  An emotional response to situations of threat
• Stressors


  Physical stressors (environmental) e.g. temperature, noise. Psychological stressors e.g. life events and daily hassles
• Stress response


  Physiological stress: bodily symptoms e.g. increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, pupil dilation, increased breathing rate, sweating to return to homeostasis (normal), feeling sick. Psychological stress: emotions that you experience when a stressor occurs
• Perceived ability to cope


  People react differently to the same stressors depending on cognitive appraisal, previous experience, ability to cope, level of resilience, social support, and having coping strategies etc. Stress occurs when your perceived demands of the environment are greater than your perceived ability to cope e.g. exams. Response is affected by our perception of internal (e.g. resilience) and external (e.g. social support) coping resources
• Addiction


  Complex mental health disorder, pleasurable despite the harmful consequences
• Physiological Addiction


  Dependence on a substance, shown when an addict gives up and experiences withdrawal symptoms. Physical effects: Withdrawal - experienced when substance use/behaviour stops. Tolerance: higher dose needed to get the same effect
• Behavioural Addiction


  Occurs when someone compulsively continues a behaviour and experiences withdrawal when they stop it. Produces the same physical effects as substance addiction (e.g. withdrawal, tolerance) e.g. gambling, mobile phone usage
• Griffiths' six components of addiction


  • Physical & psychological dependence (salience): addiction dominates the addict's life
  • Tolerance: more is needed to get the same effect
  • Withdrawal: when stopping drug or addictive behaviour
  • Relapse: after abstinence/stopping, going back to the habit
  • Conflict: within self and with others
  • Mood alteration: positive and negative subjective experiences
• Mood alteration


  Changing a person's emotional state. May be caused by addictive drugs and behaviour. Person might feel a 'high' or 'rush' or a feeling of 'numbness'
• Relapse


  Reverting to addiction after a period of giving up
• Tolerance


  A reduction in response to a drug, so that the addicted individual needs more to get the same effect
• Withdrawal


  A set of symptoms that develop when the addicted person abstains from or reduces their drug use
• Conflict


  Interpersonal conflict: between an addicted person and other people - addict chooses short-term pleasure and ignores the consequences of their behaviour on other people e.g. family, friends, work colleagues. Intrapersonal conflict: occurs within the addicted individual. They experience a loss of control because they want to stop behaving in ways that are damaging to themselves and others, but they cannot do so
• Health Belief Model


  1. How serious are the consequences (perceived seriousness)? 2. How likely am I to get the disease or illness (perceived susceptibility)? 3. What are the advantages (perceived benefits) versus the disadvantages (perceived barriers) of taking action to change the health behaviour - costs/benefits analysis. 4. Modifying factors - this will influence whether you make the behaviour change or not: Demographic Variables, Cues to Action, Self-efficacy
• Locus of Control


  Internal LoC: we are responsible for what happens to us. External LoC: belief that it is luck/fate that is responsible for what happens to us
• Perceived behavioural control


  How much control a person believes they have over their own behaviour
• Personal attitudes


  The balance of a person's favourable and unfavourable attitudes about their behaviour
• Subjective norms


  An individual's behaviour about whether people who matter to them e.g. friends/family, approve or disapprove of their behaviour and are supportive/unsupportive of the behaviour change
• Theory of planned behaviour


  Changes in behaviour can be predicted from our intention to change that behaviour. This is the outcome of our personal attitude towards the behaviour in question, our subjective norms, and our perceived ability to control that behaviour (so is a behaviour change easy or hard for them to do?
• Self-efficacy


  A person's confidence in themselves in being able to do something. Such confidence generates expectations and these act as a self-fulfilling prophecy
• Vicarious Reinforcement


  Occurs when a learner observes a model's behaviour being reinforced/rewarded. So we are more likely to copy that behaviour
• Systematic Desensitisation


  A behavioural technique that involves gradually exposing someone to an anxiety-producing object, thought, or experience whilst simultaneously performing relaxation techniques to reduce the symptoms of anxiety. They gradually get used to whatever is causing the anxiety
• Types of self-efficacy in addiction


  • Resistance self-efficacy: A person's belief about their ability to prevent an addictive behaviour from starting
  • Harm-reduction self-efficacy: A person's belief about their ability to keep the harmful effects of their addiction to a minimum
  • Coping self-efficacy: A person's belief about their ability to avoid relapse
  • Recovery self-efficacy: A person's belief about their ability to overcome relapses once they occur
• Transtheoretical Model


  People change their behaviour through a series of progressive stages: 1. Precontemplation 2. Contemplation 3. Preparation 4. Action 5. Maintenance
• Role Conflict


  Occurs when an employee faces competing demands as a result of their responsibilities in the workplace. This causes stress and can lead to dissatisfaction, illness and absenteeism
• Stress Hardiness


  Commitment - deeply involved in relationships and activities; throwing themselves into everything they do with a strong sense of purpose. Challenge - hardy people are resilient and welcome change - they see it as an opportunity/challenge rather than a threat. Control - hardy people have a strong internal locus of control - they see themselves as the person to make things happen, rather than things just happening to them
• Type A Personality


  Closely related to development of coronary heart disease. They have high levels of competitiveness, so are ambitious; time urgency - are fast talking, impatient and see artistic/creative activities as a waste of time; are hostile - very intolerant of others and get angry easily
• Type B Personality


  More relaxed and laid back; tolerant of others and situations; less competitive or hostile. They are better at coping with stress, less physiologically aroused and less likely to develop stress related illnesses
• General Adaptation Syndrome


  1. Alarm Reaction - when you recognise you are under threat or there is a stressor. Hypothalamus triggers production of adrenaline/noradrenaline (fight or flight). 2. Resistance - If the stressor continues, long-term stress response starts to use up the body's resources e.g. sugars, hormones. The body seems like it is coping, but physiologically, things are deteriorating as your body is trying to get you back to normal (homeostasis). The immune system becomes less and less effective. 3. Exhaustion - resources are now depleted; adrenal glands may become damaged; immune system is highly compromised. Coronary heart disease and other stress-related illnesses are now likely
• Fight or Flight Response


  A useful response in our past to ensure survival by running away from an animal or fighting it; stress was short lived, but now modern day stressors are often long term and not something we can escape from
• Adrenaline


  A hormone produced by the adrenal glands as part of the body's acute (immediate) stress response). It stimulates heart rate and contracts blood vessels
• Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system


  The body's response to a chronic (long term) stressor. The hypothalamus triggers the pituitary gland to release the hormone ACTH which in turn stimulates release of cortisol from the adrenal cortex
• Sympathomedullary (SAM) system


  The body's response to acute (short-term) stressors. The hypothalamus triggers the sympathetic nervous system which causes the adrenal medulla to release adrenaline and noradrenaline. This is the fight or flight response
• Hypertension


  High blood pressure, which puts a strain on the blood vessels and heart. May lead to a heart attack or a stroke
• Stroke


  A life-threatening disorder caused by narrowed or blocked blood vessels in the brain, stopping blood flow and disrupting oxygen supply