Axia College Material Appendix D Psychological and Psychophysiological Stress Disorders Respond to the following: 1. Stress can be the root cause of psychological disorders. Name four symptoms shared by acute and posttraumatic stress disorders. • Re-experiencing traumatic events; recurring nightmares, dreams, or memories connected to a traumatic event. • Avoidance towards activities that bring memories of the traumatic event. • Lack of responsiveness or a feeling of detachment from others. Trouble with memory, feeling of derealization. • Increased anxiety, arousal, or guilt.
They may feel guilty of surviving a traumatic event, an increase in awareness, and trouble with concentrating or sleeping. 2. What life events are most likely to trigger a stress disorder? There are several events that can trigger a stress disorder. Combat is a major even that may cause acute stress disorder or PTSD. Natural disasters are also responsible for triggering stress disorders. Victimization and terrorism may also cause stress disorders. 3. Traumatic events do not always result in a diagnosable psychological disorder. What factors determine how a person may be affected by one such event?
Certain factors such as biological or genetics, personality, childhood experiences, social support, and the severity of trauma helps to determine how a person may be affected by an event that could potentially cause stress disorders. 4. What are the four stages in meeting the psychological needs of disaster victims? The first stage in meeting psychological needs of disaster victims is educating them of the symptoms involved and reassuring them these are normal in such circumstances. This will help to normalize their feelings and may feel more at ease with them.
The second stage includes encouraging survivors to express their anxiety, anger, and frustration. The counselors encourage clients to discuss their experiences and feelings in a healthy manner. The third stage is educating the clients about self-help. Counselors will teach the survivors how to manage their stress levels and other skills they can use to help themselves recover. The fourth stage is to provide referrals for the clients who need further assistance and counseling. Some survivors need long term professional help and the referrals are useful in finding trustworthy counselors. 5.
What is the link between personality styles and heart disease? There is a strong link between personality and heart disease. Studies have shown that men who felt hopelessness were likely to suffer from fatal heart disease above the average rate. A person who handles challenges well seems to have healthier immune systems and is able to handle stress better. Stress causes a variety of health problems including contributing to heart disease. How a person responds to stress directly affects heart health. Some of the factors that contribute to stress also contribute to heart disease as well such as obesity. . List and briefly describe four psychological treatments for physical disorders. Four psychological treatments for physical disorders include relaxation training, meditation, hypnosis, and cognitive interventions. Relaxation training can help reduce or prevent illnesses related to stress. The client is taught how to relax muscles at will that may help diminish anxiety. This technique is often combined with medication and helps in remedying blood pressure, headache, insomnia, asthma, and a variety of other health issues.
Meditation is used by turning the concentration inward, slightly altering the state of consciousness. Clients who practice meditation often feel more creative, less stressed, and more connected to inner peace. This helps to reduce stress levels, manage pain, treating high blood pressure, and a host of other issues. Hypnosis is performed through having a patient reach a sleeplike, suggestible state when which a person may act differently, feel unusual sensations, and remember forgotten events. Hypnosis may be especially useful in pain management.
Hypnosis has also been helpful with skin diseases, asthma, as well as other medical problems. Cognitive interventions include self-instruction training which allows a patient to control his or her views of ailments such as pain. Negative thoughts are replaced with positive and progressive thoughts so that the patient can handle the stress and pain constructively. Cognitive training encourages the patient to reconstruct their ways of thinking of even severe pain or stressors rather than dwelling on them.
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