Introduction to Psychology

Introduction to Psychology of 97 anxiety and depression when they confront stressful events. Optimistic people tend to interpret their troubles as temporary, controllable, and specific to one situation, whereas pessimists view their problems as uncontrollable, long-lasting, and generalized across life domains. Control- The fact that people differ so dramatically in their responses to stressful events has prompted many health psychologists to search for personal and environmental factors that make people less reactive to stressful events. So called protective factors are environmental or personal resources that create resilience, helping people to cope more effectively with stressful events. Vulnerability and protective factors make people more or less susceptible to stressors. Social support is an important protective factor, having both direct and buffering effects that help people cope with stress. Recent attention has focused on two classes of cognitive strategies, known as dissociation and association. A dissociative strategy involves dissociating, or distracting, oneself from the painful sensory input. Associative strategies involve focusing attention on the physical sensations and studying them in a detached and unemotional fashion, taking care not to label them as painful or difficult to tolerate. Coping Methods- Although people may respond to a stressor in many ways, coping strategies can be divided into three broad classes. Problem-focused coping strategies attempt to confront and directly deal with the demands of the situation or to change the situation so that it is no longer stressful. Rather than dealing directly with the stressful situation, emotion-focused coping strategies attempt to manage the emotional responses that result from it. A third class of coping strategies involves seeking social support, that is, turning to others for assistance and emotional support in times of stress. Problem-focused coping and seeking social support generally relate to better adjustment than emotion-focused coping. However, in situations involving low personal control, emotion-focused coping may be the most appropriate and effective strategy. Abnormal Behavior- Abnormal behavior is defined as behavior that is personally distressing, personally dysfunctional, and/or so culturally deviant that other people judge it to be inappropriate or maladaptive. Behavior that is judged to reflect a psychological disorder typically is: distressing to the person or to other people; dysfunctional, maladaptive, or self-defeating; and/or socially deviant in a way that arouses discomfort in others and cannot be attributed to environmental causes. There is a great variety in the behaviors that are judged to be abnormal in contemporary society. Indeed, no less than 374 disorders are included in the current manual of the American Psychiatric Association- the DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition Textual Revision). DSM-IV-TR- The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition Textual Revision, is the most widely used diagnostic classification system in the United States. For each of its more than 350 diagnostic categories, the manual contains detailed lists of observable behaviors that must be present in order for a diagnosis to be made. Reflecting an awareness of interacting personal and environmental factors, the DSM allows diagnostic information to be represented along five dimensions, or axes, that take both the person and her or his life situation into account. The DSM-IV- TR is a categorical classification system. Axis I represents current clinical symptoms, that is, the © 2015 Achieve Page 74