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United StatesPsychology

Unit 5: Mental and Physical Health

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

What are the major categories of psychological disorders, and what symptoms define them?

Topic 5.4 Categories of Psychological Disorders: describe the major categories of psychological disorders, including anxiety, OCD, depressive and bipolar, schizophrenia spectrum, dissociative, trauma- and stressor-related, feeding and eating, neurodevelopmental, and personality disorders, and their defining symptoms.
A focused answer to AP Psychology Topic 5.4, surveying the major categories of psychological disorders: anxiety disorders, OCD, major depressive and bipolar disorders, schizophrenia spectrum disorders with positive and negative symptoms, dissociative disorders, PTSD, feeding and eating disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders, and personality disorders, with their defining features.
13 min answer →

How do psychologists define, explain, and classify psychological disorders?

Topic 5.3 Explaining and Diagnosing Psychological Disorders: explain how psychological disorders are defined and classified, the diagnostic systems (DSM and ICD), and the models used to explain disorders, including the biopsychosocial and diathesis-stress models.
A focused answer to AP Psychology Topic 5.3, covering how psychological disorders are defined (deviance, distress, dysfunction), the DSM and ICD diagnostic systems, the medical, psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, humanistic, and sociocultural perspectives, the biopsychosocial and diathesis-stress models, and the risks of labeling.
11 min answer →

How does stress affect the body and behavior, and how do people cope with it?

Topic 5.1 Introduction to Health Psychology: explain stress and stressors, the general adaptation syndrome, the effects of stress on health, and the strategies people use to cope with stress.
A focused answer to AP Psychology Topic 5.1, covering health psychology and the biopsychosocial model, types of stressors, Selye's general adaptation syndrome, the tend-and-befriend response, the effects of chronic stress on the immune and cardiovascular systems, and problem-focused and emotion-focused coping.
11 min answer →

What makes life go well, and how does positive psychology study well-being and resilience?

Topic 5.2 Positive Psychology: explain the aims of positive psychology, subjective well-being, the concepts of flow, gratitude, character strengths and virtues, resilience, and posttraumatic growth.
A focused answer to AP Psychology Topic 5.2, covering the aims of positive psychology, subjective well-being and the adaptation-level phenomenon, flow, gratitude, character strengths and virtues, resilience, posttraumatic growth, and the role of positive subjective experiences in flourishing.
10 min answer →

How are psychological disorders treated through psychotherapy and biomedical approaches?

Topic 5.5 Treatment of Psychological Disorders: describe the major approaches to treatment, including psychodynamic, humanistic, behavioral, cognitive, and biomedical therapies, and the formats and ethics of treatment.
A focused answer to AP Psychology Topic 5.5, covering psychodynamic, humanistic (person-centered), behavioral (exposure, systematic desensitization, token economies), cognitive and cognitive-behavioral therapies, and biomedical treatments including drug therapies, ECT, and TMS, plus treatment formats, the eclectic approach, and therapeutic ethics.
12 min answer →