Chapter Two:
Achieving Psychological Health
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Psychological Health
• Also known as emotional wellness
• A broadly based concept pertaining to
cognitive functioning in conjunction with
the way people
– Express emotions
– Cope with stress, adversity, and success
– Adapt to changes in themselves and their
environment
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Psychological Health
• Biopsychological model
– Biological factors
– Psychological factors
– Social factors
• Positive self-concept
• Positive self-esteem
• Higher level of emotional intelligence
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Characteristics of Psychologically
Healthy People
•
•
•
•
•
Accept themselves and others
Like themselves
Express a full range of emotions
Give and receive care, love, and support
Express full range of emotions (positive and
negative)
• Accepts life’s disappointments
• Accept their mistakes
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Characteristics of Psychologically
Healthy People (cont.)
•
•
•
•
•
Express empathy and concern for others
Take care of themselves
Trust others as well as themselves
Establish goals
Can function both independently and
interdependently
• Lead a health-enhancing lifestyle
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Self-Esteem
 Having pride in yourself
 Treating yourself with respect
 Considering yourself valuable, important,
worthy
 Feeling good about yourself
 Having self-confidence, being self-assured
 Accepting yourself
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Emotional Intelligence
•
•
Ability to understand others and act
wisely in human relations
Five primary domains:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Know your emotions
Manage your emotions
Motivate yourself
Recognize emotions in others
Handle relationships
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Personality
• Specific patterns of behavior and traits that
identify and characterize an individual
–
–
–
–
–
–
Thoughts
Feelings
Behaviors
Motivation
Instinct
Temperament
• Two factors that can influence personality:
1.
2.
nature (innate factors)
nurture (environmental factors)
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Self-actualization: The highest level of
psychological health at which one reaches her
or his highest potential and values truth, beauty,
goodness, faith, love, humor, and ingenuity
• Basic needs: Essential and fundamental needs
• Metaneeds: Secondary concerns that can be
addressed only after basic needs are met
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Other Characteristics that Influence
Psychological Health
• Normal range of emotions
• Creative expression
– Nonconformity
– Independence
– Motivation
– Curiosity
– Persistence
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Other Characteristics that Influence
Psychological Health
• Spiritual health
– Sense of purpose, direction, and awareness
– Morals, ethics, intrinsic values, and beliefs
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Keys to Psychological Health
• Cultivate a sense of humor to build a
positive outlook on life
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Keys to Psychological Health
• Develop communication skills to foster
improved social relationships
– Verbal communication—be a skilled sender and
listener
– Nonverbal communication—facial expression, eye
contact, personal space, body posture
– Managing conflict
• Listen
• Focus on what to say and how to say it
• Use assertive communication with “I” statements
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Optimistic Approach to Life
• Learned helplessness (Pavlov) vs. learned
optimism (Seligman)
• Three key factors
– Permanence—“never,” “always,” “forever”
• Pessimists view causes of bad events as permanent and
tend to give up easily
– Pervasiveness
• Universal explanations vs. situation specific explanations
– Personalization
• Internal vs. external explanatory style
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Optimistic Approach to Life
• Building optimism—reframe
thinking about events
– Change thoughts and beliefs
– Create strategies for solving
problems
– Be persistent, work to overcome
obstacles
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Proactive Approach to Life
• Proactive approach promotes
better control of one’s overall life
– Construct mental pictures
– Accept mental pictures
– Undertake new experiences
– Reframe mental pictures
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Psychological Disorders
• Mood disorders
• Anxiety disorders
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD)
• Schizophrenia
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Mood Disorders: Depression
• Affects about one in ten Americans
• Symptoms include
–
–
–
–
Depressed mood
Lack of motivation, lack of interest in usual activities
Social withdrawal
Disturbed sleep, eating habits
• Risk factors
– Family history
– Environmental factors
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Mood Disorders: Depression
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Mood Disorders: Depression
• Treatments
– Counseling
– Medication
– Herbal supplements?
– Exercise
– Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Mood Disorders: Seasonal
Affective Disorder
• Develops in response to changes in the
seasons
• Treatments
– Counseling
– Antidepressant medications
– Light therapy
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Mood Disorders: Postpartum
Depression
• Affects women in the weeks and months
following childbirth
• Can last from a few days to more than a
year
• Different from postpartum psychosis,
which is marked by hallucinations and
delusions
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Suicide
• Third leading cause of death for young
adults
• Men have higher rates of suicide than
women
• Risk factors include
– Little or no social support
– Family history of mental illness and/or suicide
– Problems with drugs or alcohol
– Possession of a firearm
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Mood Disorders: Bipolar Disorder
• Characterized by alternating episodes of
depression and mania
• Symptoms of mania
– Excessive energy
– Racing thoughts and rapid speech
– Impulsive and/or reckless behavior
• Treatment
– Psychotherapy
– Mood stabilizing medications
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Anxiety Disorders
• Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
– Intensity and frequency of worry that is
excessive and out of proportion to the situation
•
•
•
•
Panic disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Phobias (social phobia, specific phobia)
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD)
• An estimated 15 million Americans suffer
from ADHD
• Symptoms often seen in adult cases:
– Difficulty getting organized
– Chronic procrastination
– Frequently searching for high stimulation
– Low tolerance for frustration
– Low self-esteem
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Schizophrenia
• Characterized by profound distortion of
thinking, emotion, perception, and behavior
• Symptoms may include
–
–
–
–
Delusions
Hallucinations
Disorganized thinking and speech
Catatonic behavior
• Treatment with antipsychotic medications and
psychotherapy
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Health Providers for Psychological
Disorders
• Psychiatrists (MDs)
– Treatment often focuses more on medical
management and less on talking through problems
• Psychologists
– Includes a variety of subspecialties
– Treatment generally focuses on behavior therapy and
problem solving
• Counselors
• Social workers
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Approaches in Treating
Psychological Disorders
• Dynamic therapy
– Focuses on forces underlying an individual’s
problems; may look at early childhood experiences
• Humanistic therapy
– Client-centered approach based on idea that people
can naturally grow in positive and constructive ways
• Behavior therapy
– Focuses on behavior modification
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy
– Focuses on changing cognitive patterns in order to
change behavior and emotional state
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Approaches in Treating
Psychological Disorders (cont.)
• Solution-focused therapy
– Goal-oriented approach that stresses looking
for solutions rather than dwelling on problems
• Couples and family therapy
• Group therapy
– Provides support; group members can also
learn from one another’s experiences
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Chapter Two:
Achieving Psychological Health
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.