NR 326 MENTAL HEALTH EXAM 1 STUY GUIDE
Mental Health Exam 1:
Chapter 1:
Stress: the state manifested by a specific syndrome that consists of all the
nonspecifically induced changes within a biological system. Part of the ‘fight-or-
flight’ system.
Seyle’s General Adaptation System:
-Alarm reaction stage (brief)
-Stage of Resistance (management)
-Stage of exhaustion (manifestation)
Measured by the Miller and Rahe Recent Life Changes Questionnaire
o Does not consider individual’s perception of the event
o Does not take into account coping strategies or support systems
The definition of stress emphasizes the relationship between the individual and
the environment which is appraised by the individual as taxing or exceeding his
or her resources and endangering his or her well being
Precipitating Event: A stimulus arising from the internal or external environment
and perceived by the individual in a specific manner
Perception of the Event:
o Primary appraisal: a judgment about the situation in an irrelevant, benign-
positive, or stress appraisal way
o Secondary appraisal: an assessment of the skills, resources, and
knowledge that the person possesses to deal with the situation
Chapter 2:
Benjamin Rush: “father” of psychology
Dorothea Dix: activist successful in the lobbying for the establishment of state
hospitals for individuals with mental illness
Linda Richards: FIRST American psychiatric nurse
o Helped establish the first school of psychiatric nursing at the McLean
Asylum in Waverly, MA (1882)
Mental Health: successful adaptation to stressors from the internal or external
environment, evidenced by thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are age
appropriate and congruent with local and cultural norms
Mental Illness: maladaptive responses to stressors from the internal or external
environment, evidenced by thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are incongruent
with the local and cultural norms and interfere with the individuals social
occupational or physical functioning.
, **Cultural Influences**
o Incomprehensibility: the inability of the general population to understand
the motivation behind a behavior
o Cultural Relativity: the ‘normality’ of a behavior is determined by the
culture
**Anxiety and grief are two major primary psychological response
patterns to stress**
Anxiety: a diffuse apprehension that is vague in nature and is associated with
feelings of uncertainty and helplessness
Hildegard Peplau’s Four Levels of Anxiety:
o Mild: Seldom a problem
o Moderate: perceptual field diminishes
o Severe: perceptual fear is so diminished that concentration is centered
around one detail only, or many extraneous details
o Panic: most intense state
Functioning and the moderate to severe level of anxiety can cause migraines,
IBS, and cardiac arrhythmias
Repressed severe anxiety can result in anxiety disorders, somatic symptom
disorders and dissociative disorders
Extended periods of functioning at the panic level can cause psychosis and
psychotic behavior
**Kubler-Ross’s 5 Stages of Grief”
1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance
Anticipatory Grief: the experience of the grieving process before the actual loss
occurs
Resolution: The length of the grief process is entirely individual. Can last from a
few weeks to years and is influenced by a number of factors
**Resolution of the grief response is thought to occur when an individual can look
back on the relationship with the lost entity and accept both the pleasures and the
disappointments of the association
Chapter 3:
Personality is defined as the characteristic way in which a person think, feels, and
behaves; the ingrained pattern of behavior that each person evolves, both consciously and
unconsciously, as his or her style of life or way of being.
Stages are identified by age but influenced by temperament
Mental Health Exam 1:
Chapter 1:
Stress: the state manifested by a specific syndrome that consists of all the
nonspecifically induced changes within a biological system. Part of the ‘fight-or-
flight’ system.
Seyle’s General Adaptation System:
-Alarm reaction stage (brief)
-Stage of Resistance (management)
-Stage of exhaustion (manifestation)
Measured by the Miller and Rahe Recent Life Changes Questionnaire
o Does not consider individual’s perception of the event
o Does not take into account coping strategies or support systems
The definition of stress emphasizes the relationship between the individual and
the environment which is appraised by the individual as taxing or exceeding his
or her resources and endangering his or her well being
Precipitating Event: A stimulus arising from the internal or external environment
and perceived by the individual in a specific manner
Perception of the Event:
o Primary appraisal: a judgment about the situation in an irrelevant, benign-
positive, or stress appraisal way
o Secondary appraisal: an assessment of the skills, resources, and
knowledge that the person possesses to deal with the situation
Chapter 2:
Benjamin Rush: “father” of psychology
Dorothea Dix: activist successful in the lobbying for the establishment of state
hospitals for individuals with mental illness
Linda Richards: FIRST American psychiatric nurse
o Helped establish the first school of psychiatric nursing at the McLean
Asylum in Waverly, MA (1882)
Mental Health: successful adaptation to stressors from the internal or external
environment, evidenced by thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are age
appropriate and congruent with local and cultural norms
Mental Illness: maladaptive responses to stressors from the internal or external
environment, evidenced by thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are incongruent
with the local and cultural norms and interfere with the individuals social
occupational or physical functioning.
, **Cultural Influences**
o Incomprehensibility: the inability of the general population to understand
the motivation behind a behavior
o Cultural Relativity: the ‘normality’ of a behavior is determined by the
culture
**Anxiety and grief are two major primary psychological response
patterns to stress**
Anxiety: a diffuse apprehension that is vague in nature and is associated with
feelings of uncertainty and helplessness
Hildegard Peplau’s Four Levels of Anxiety:
o Mild: Seldom a problem
o Moderate: perceptual field diminishes
o Severe: perceptual fear is so diminished that concentration is centered
around one detail only, or many extraneous details
o Panic: most intense state
Functioning and the moderate to severe level of anxiety can cause migraines,
IBS, and cardiac arrhythmias
Repressed severe anxiety can result in anxiety disorders, somatic symptom
disorders and dissociative disorders
Extended periods of functioning at the panic level can cause psychosis and
psychotic behavior
**Kubler-Ross’s 5 Stages of Grief”
1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance
Anticipatory Grief: the experience of the grieving process before the actual loss
occurs
Resolution: The length of the grief process is entirely individual. Can last from a
few weeks to years and is influenced by a number of factors
**Resolution of the grief response is thought to occur when an individual can look
back on the relationship with the lost entity and accept both the pleasures and the
disappointments of the association
Chapter 3:
Personality is defined as the characteristic way in which a person think, feels, and
behaves; the ingrained pattern of behavior that each person evolves, both consciously and
unconsciously, as his or her style of life or way of being.
Stages are identified by age but influenced by temperament
