Download Adjustment Disorders

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Introduction

Stress
- the pressure or demand that is placed
upon an organism to adapt or adjust

Stressor
- a source of stress

Distress
- a state of physical or mental pain or
suffering
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Adjustment Disorders

Is a maladaptive reaction to an identified
stressor that develops within a few
months of the onset of the stressor

Adjustment disorder is characterized by
significant impairment in social,
occupational, or academic functioning
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Stress and Illness

Stress increases the risk of various types of
physical illness

Psychoneuroimmunology
studies relationships between psychological
factors and the working of endocrine system,
the immune system and the nervous system
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Stress and Life Changes

The General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)
- To describe a common biological response
pattern to prolonged or excessive stress
- 3 stages
1. alarm reaction
- fight or flight reaction
2. resistance stage
3. exhaustion stage
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
There are six major adjustment disorders:
 Adjustment disorder with depressed mood;
 Adjustment disorder with anxiety;
 Adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety
and depressed mood;
 Adjustment disorder with disturbance of
conduct;
 Adjustment disorder with mixed
disturbance of emotions and conduct;
 Adjustment disorder unspecified.
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
A person with an adjustment disorder
with depressed mood may have
mostly a depressed mood, hopeless
feelings, and crying spells.

A person with an adjustment disorder
with anxiety would experience anxious
feelings, nervousness, and worry.
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 Someone
with an adjustment disorder
with mixed anxiety and depressed
mood would, obviously, have a
mixture of anxious and depressed
feelings.
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
An individual with an adjustment
disorder with disturbance of conduct
may act out inappropriately. This
person may act out against society,
skip school, or begin to have trouble
with the police.
A person with an adjustment
disorder with mixed disturbance of
emotions and conduct would have a
mixture of emotional and conduct
problems.
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A Multifactorial View of Health and Illness

Biological Factor

Psychological Factors
- Self-Efficacy Expectancies
- Psychological Hardiness
- Optimism
- Humor
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
Socioeconomic, Sociocultural, and Ethnic
Factors
- Social Support

Natural Environmental Factors

Technological Factors
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Psychological Factors and Physical
Disorders

Headaches

Cardiovascular Disease

Asthma

Cancer

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
(AIDS)
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Your heart is an amazing powerhouse that pumps and
circulates 5 or 6 gallons of blood each minute through your entire body.
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Heart disease begins when cholesterol, fatty material, and
calcium build up in the arteries, a process known as atherosclerosis.
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Some of the risk factors for heart disease include smoking,
high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity.
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Additional heart disease risk factors include lack of
exercise, an unhealthy diet, and stress
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One of the most devastating consequences
of heart disease can be sudden cardiac arrest.
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Besides chest pain (angina) and shortness of breath, some other common
symptoms of heart disease include jaw pain, back pain, and heart
palpitations.
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Other symptoms of heart disease may include dizziness,
weakness, irregular heartbeat, nausea, and abdominal pain.
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