U4AOS2A - Defining Mental Wellbeing Flashcards
(38 cards)
1
Q
Define mental wellbeing
A
- State of (contextual) emotional and social health in which individuals can…
- Cope with the normal stresses of life
- Work productively
- Contribute to their community
- Can at anytime be eroded by risk factors or enhanced by protective factors
- Factors that can help…
- Ability to function and contribute
- Social and emotional wellbeing
- Ability to cope with setbacks
- Self efficacy
2
Q
Describe levels of functioning
A
-
Degree to which an individual can complete day-to-day tasks in an independent and effective manner
- Setting goals
- Development
- Meeting demands of everyday life
- ⬆️ - Live alone, pay bills
- ⬇️ - Lack of engagement in self care
3
Q
How can levels of functioning be used to consider mental wellbeing?
A
- If an individual can complete everyday tasks in an independent and effective manner…
- It can be concluded that they are highly likely to be mentally healthy
4
Q
What is adaptive behaviour?
A
- Any behaviour that enables one to adjust to their environment appropriately and effectively
5
Q
What is maladaptive behaviour?
A
- Any behaviour that is counterproductive - Interferes with one’s ability to adjust to their environment
- Reduced ability to do everyday things
- Most people have done at some point but → Persistent maladaptive behaviour is associated with a low level of overall functioning
AKA Dysfunctional Behaviour
6
Q
What is resilience?
A
- Ability to cope and manage change and uncertainty
- Recover quickly from setbacks and manage stress
- ‘Bounce back’
- Restore positive functioning
- Reason for difference in perspective with each individual
-
Adjust to or overcome adversity
- Individuals tend to have good social support systems
- Not a fixed ability → Something that is learnt and built through relationships and experiences
- ⬆️ → Linked to greater life satisfaction and happiness - Bad mark = Reach out to teacher for advice
- ⬇️ → School absence to avoid
7
Q
How can resilience be used to consider mental wellbeing?
A
- An individual is likely to possess high levels of mental health if they are able to cope with change
8
Q
What is social wellbeing?
A
- Ability for an individual to form and maintain meaningful bonds with others → Adapt to different social situations
- Feeling connected, reciprocated, valued and desired
- ⬆️ → Reciprocation in friendships - Same energy
- ⬇️ → Disengagement (no checking up on friends)
9
Q
What is emotional wellbeing?
A
- Ability for an individual to appropriately control and express their own emotions in an adaptive way → Also understand emotions of others
- Feeling balanced
- Experiencing normal range of emotions
- Coping strategies (!)
- Responding appropriately
- ⬆️ → Emotions seen clearly
- ⬇️ → Reactions blown out of proportion or apathy
10
Q
Describe characteristics of a mentally healthy person
A
- Can form and maintain positive relationships with others
- Able to deal (or cope) with normal stressors in everyday life
- Reason logically and think clearly
- Manage and control their feelings and emotions without extreme highs or lows
- Experience pleasure and enjoyment in day-to-day activities
- Use their abilities to achieve goals and realise their potential
11
Q
What is the Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) framework?
A
- Approach to understanding all elements of being for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
-
Multidimensional and holistic
- Many components
- Wellbeing of individual + their family and community (collectivist)
- Change throughout a persons lifespan → Varies according to needs of different age groups
12
Q
What are the different SEWB framework dimensions?
A
- Connection to…
- Culture → Most important
- Country
- Spirituality and Ancestors
- Body
- Mind and Emotions
- Family and Kinship
- Community
Interrelated and overlap
13
Q
Describe the Connection to: Body (1) and Mind (1)
What they are, what disrupts them and what restores them
Domains of SEWB
A
-
Body
- Normal biological markers of physical health → Diet and exercise
- ❌ Disruptions → Smoking, diseases
- ✅ Restoration → Sports, hunting and gathering
-
Mind
- Beyond mental health → Recognise importance of positive emotions, self-confidence
- ❌ Disruptions → Threats to safety, cultural trauma & racism
- ✅ Restoration → Accessing supports, education, recognition of human rights
Speak only about the domains that are required from the question
14
Q
Describe the Connection to: Family/Kinship (1) and Community (1)
What they are, what disrupts them and what restores them
Domains of SEWB
A
-
Family/Kinship
- Importance of family and group relations → Caring and reciprocating, respect for Elders and heritage
- ❌ Disruption → Removal of children from families
- ✅ Restoration → Connecting w/ family history, spending time w/ Elders & developing healthy relationships with significant others
-
Community
- Community cohesion
- ❌ Disruptions → Lateral violence (individuals feel oppressed/ displaced), family feuding
- ✅ Restoration → Self-determination, utilising community for engagement and support
Speak only about the domains that are required from the question
15
Q
Describe the Connection to: Culture (1- EKI), Country (1) and Ancestors/ Spirituality (1)
What they are, what disrupts them and what restores them
Domains of SEWB
A
-
Culture
- Expression → Yarning, ceremony, art, storytelling
- Knowledge → Language, norms, morals
- Identity → Pride, belonging, values
- ❌ Disruptions → Cultural genocide and clash
- ✅ Restoration → Learning and involvement in cultural EKI
-
Country
- Deep experience of belonging to Country → Traditional and spiritual
- ❌ Disruption → Dispossession of land
- ✅ Restoration → Returning to land to heal
-
Ancestors/Spirituality
- Knowledge and belief systems, the Dreaming, value of wisdom and hope
- ❌ Disruption → Impact of mission life and assimilation (Aboriginals expected to live like White Australians)
- ✅ Restoration → Coexisting w/ Christianity, acceptance and mindfulness (peace and balance)
Speak only about the domains that are required from the question
16
Q
What are the determinants in the SEWB framework?
A
-
Cultural (most important)
- More detail in last chapter
-
Social
- Circumstances in which people grow, live and work
- Socioeconomic status
- Racial discrimination
-
Historical
- Ongoing influence of events, policies and trauma on groups of people
- Colonisation → Impacts
- Past government policies
-
Political
- Policies that shape the process of distributing resources and power → Ones that create/ reinforce social and health inequalities
- Land issues
- Rights of self-determination and sovereignty
Concurrent and cumulative impact on wellbeing
17
Q
What are similarities between SEWB and the western approach for mental wellbeing?
A
- Determinants + Protective and Risk factors are similar
- Both are related to the concept of self efficacy → Resilience
- Varies from each person
- Based off of experiences
- Both include social, emotional, physical and spiritual elements
18
Q
What are differences between SEWB and the western approach for mental wellbeing?
A
- Focus
- SEWB - Mental wellbeing in the context of the individual in a collective sense (community, ancestors)
- Western - Selective focus on the individual and where they lie on the continuum
- Elements
- SEWB - Has kinship and more cultural involvement + Connection to Country
19
Q
What is the mental wellbeing continuum?
A
- Tool used to track flunctuating mental wellbeing
- Influenced by external and internal factors
- ⬇️ - Distressed and unable to meet the demands of environment for long periods
- ⬆️ - Functioning independently and coping with everyday demands
20
Q
How is mental health similar to physical?
A
- Both vary on continuum
- Ever-changing
- Constantly shifting depending on current life events
21
Q
What is a mental health disorder?
A
- Something that can interfere with a person’s…
- Thoughts
- Emotions
- Perceptions
- Behaviours
- Disrupts normal function
- Examples
- Mood - Depression, Bipolar
- Anxiety - OCD, Phobias
- Schizophrenia
- Dissociative identity disorder
22
Q
What criteria does a psychologist use to diagnose mental illness?
A
-
Serious and prolonged
- 4 weeks and beyond
- Inability to function/ cope independently (low levels of functioning)
- Examples
- Inability to carry out social relationships
-
Changes to thoughts/feelings/behaviours
- Lack of interest/apathy
- Changes are atypical
23
Q
What are the advantages of a mental health continuum?
A
- Decreased stigma
- Increased ability to see if functioning has improved
- Increased ability to see if treatment is helping
- ★ Allows for early signs of mental health problems to be identified
24
Q
What are the disadvantages of a mental health continuum?
A
- Unclear where intervention/ treatment is necessary
25
What are internal factors?
* Influences that **originate inside or within a person**
* **Biological** → **Physiologically based or determined** influences ★ *Often out of control*
* Genes, sex, neurotransmitter imbalance
* **Psychological** → Influences involved with **mental** processes
* Interacting with other, perceptions, how we learn
26
What are external factors?
* Originate **outside a person**
* School & work
* Support available from others
* Socioeconomic status
27
Describe the relationship between internal and external factors
* **Affect and are affected by one another**
* Internal factors combine with others in addition to external
* Creates **individual differences in mental wellbeing**
* Certain factors **may have more or less influence** on an individual's mental wellbeing at a given time
* Event A would *normally not have a large impact* but if in *conjunction with Event B* → Person may be more mentally affected
28
What is anxiety?
* State of psychological and physiological **arousal**
* Feelings of apprehension (worry) or **uneasiness** that **something is wrong or something unpleasant is about to happen**
* Intense physiological responses → Body *mobilising* to prepare
* Breathlessness
* Sweating
* Dizziness
* Psychological responses
* Feelings of losing control
* **Impending doom, dread**
* **Future-orientated** response
* **Generally unhelpful** to performance or functioning → Likely to negatively impact mental wellbeing (especially if persisting over a longer period)
* Can be **helpful if short lived**
* Source is **possibly unknown**
29
How is fear different from anxiety?
* Fear is...
* **Appropriate, present-oriented and short-lived** response
* Anxiety is...
* Often **inappropriate** and **disproportional (if prolonged)**
* **Future-oriented**
30
When is it appropriate to experience anxiety?
* **Short-term** anxiety is adaptive
* Must be **brief and temporary to have benefit**
* Mild-moderate anxiety makes us more **alert** → **Improve ability to cope**
* Just before a presentation
* Unexpected test
31
When does anxiety become damaging?
* Severe or exaggerated and **does not subside** → **Counterproductive and disabling**
* Reduce ability to...
* Concentrate
* Learn
* Perform motor tasks
* **Prolonged** period → Indicate anxiety **disorder**
* Significantly **interferes with daily life**
* Stops them from doing what they want to do
* E.g Phobia (is anxiety **disorder**)
32
What are specific phobias?
* Type of **anxiety disorder**
* **Persistent, irrational and intense fear** of a ***particular* object or event**
* Animals
* Situations
* Blood/injections/injuries
* Natural environments
* Fear response **typically out of proportion to danger** posed by phobic stimulus
* Can be evoked through *thoughts* of the object/ situation
* *Compelling desire* to **avoid phobic stimulus at all costs**
* **Diagnosis** should only be made if the fear has persisted for **6 months** (DSMM)
## Footnote
Specific, Out of proportion, Avoidance
33
What happens when one is exposed to a phobic stimulus?
* Either **directly or via thoughts**
* **Involuntary anxiety response** similar to a stress response
* Heart and blood pressure
* Sweating
* Shortness of breath
* Dizziness
* TLDR - **FFF response**, **panic attacks**
* Experiencing **intense fear** → Individual likely to go to **great lengths to avoid the stimulus**
* Can interrupt daily functioning and cause overwhelming anxiety
34
What is stress?
## Footnote
(Repeat for deck)
* **Psychobiological** response produced by **internal and external factors**
35
How is fear different from phobias?
* Fear is...
* **Appropriate** response to situation at hand
* Can be **any stimulus** that provokes a response
* **Adaptive** and functional
* Phobias are...
* An **extreme or irrational aversion** to a **specific** stimulus
* **Maladaptive** and dysfunctional
36
Why is a continuum useful for representing stress, anxiety and phobia?
* They **vary in degrees in individuals at any point in time**
* A continuum **does not require fixed dividing lines or margins between categories**
37
Can stress, anxiety and phobia be mapped on the same continuum?
* Although they *share characteristics* they are **different concepts that vary respectively**
* More appropriately mapped on their **own continuums**
38
What do stress, anxiety and phobia have in common?
* Initiate physiological response → **Fight-flight-freeze**
