Mental and Physical Health
Unit 5 of AP Psychology, worth 15–25% of the exam. 13 questions below, each with the working. Every answer was checked by a second pass before it was published.
Health psychology and stress, positive psychology, defining and diagnosing psychological disorders, categories of disorders, treatment approaches.
How this unit is tested
Start with health psychology: learn Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome and the difference between problem-focused and emotion-focused coping, since stress questions on the exam usually ask you to identify a stage or a coping strategy in a short scenario. Then move to positive psychology, which is a smaller but reliable slice of the exam — know subjective well-being, resilience, flow, and explanatory style well enough to spot them in a vignette.
For disorders, memorize the criteria for diagnosis (the four D's) before you memorize any specific disorder, because AP loves to test whether a described behavior actually crosses the threshold into 'disorder.' Then learn the diathesis-stress and biopsychosocial models as explanatory frameworks you can apply to any disorder, rather than as isolated facts.
When studying disorder categories, don't just memorize definitions — practice matching symptom clusters in short vignettes to the correct category (anxiety vs. OCD vs. trauma-related vs. mood vs. schizophrenia spectrum vs. personality). The exam almost always presents a mini case study rather than asking 'define GAD.'
Finally, for treatment, organize each approach around its core assumption about why the person is suffering: psychodynamic (unconscious conflict), humanistic (blocked growth), behavioral (learned maladaptive behavior), cognitive (distorted thinking), biomedical (biological dysfunction). Practice matching a client description to the therapy that would be used, and know which drug classes treat which disorders.
What you have to know
General Adaptation Syndrome (Selye)
The body responds to prolonged stress in three stages: alarm reaction (fight-or-flight activation), resistance (body mobilizes to cope, appears normal but resources are draining), and exhaustion (resources depleted, increased vulnerability to illness).
Four D's of Abnormality
A pattern of thought or behavior is typically considered disordered when it shows deviance (violates social norms), distress (causes suffering to the person), dysfunction (interferes with daily life), and/or danger (poses risk to self or others).
Diathesis-Stress Model
Psychological disorders result from the interaction of a biological or psychological predisposition (diathesis) with environmental stressors; the predisposition alone is usually not sufficient to produce the disorder.
Biopsychosocial Model
Health and psychological disorders are best explained by the interaction of biological factors (genes, neurochemistry), psychological factors (thoughts, coping style, learning history), and social-cultural factors (relationships, stress, cultural norms).
DSM-5
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, provides descriptive diagnostic criteria for classifying psychological disorders based on symptoms; it describes disorders but does not explain their causes.
13 practice questions
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During which stage of Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome does the body's resources become depleted, leaving the person increasingly vulnerable to illness?
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Answer. The exhaustion stage
In the alarm stage the body mobilizes fight-or-flight resources; in the resistance stage it works to cope while appearing outwardly normal; by the exhaustion stage those resources are used up, weakening the immune system and increasing vulnerability to illness. -
Explain the difference between problem-focused and emotion-focused coping, and give one example of each.
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Answer. Problem-focused coping directly addresses the stressor to reduce or eliminate it (e.g., making a study schedule to handle exam stress). Emotion-focused coping manages the emotional response to a stressor without changing it directly (e.g., talking to a friend to feel better about a stressful situation).
Problem-focused coping is generally more effective when the stressor is controllable, while emotion-focused coping is often used when the stressor cannot be changed. Both are valid strategies depending on the situation. -
A student feels excited and energized before giving a class presentation, viewing the pressure as motivating rather than threatening. This is an example of:
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Answer. Eustress
Eustress is stress that is perceived as positive and helps improve performance or motivation, unlike distress, which is perceived as negative and overwhelming. -
Define 'flow' as used in positive psychology, and identify the condition under which it typically occurs.
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Answer. Flow is a state of complete absorption and energized focus in an activity. It typically occurs when a person's skill level closely matches the challenge level of the task.
Csikszentmihalyi described flow as occurring in the balance zone between boredom (challenge too low) and anxiety (challenge too high), producing intense engagement and enjoyment. -
Explain the diathesis-stress model using a concrete example involving depression.
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Answer. The diathesis-stress model proposes that a disorder develops when a predisposition (diathesis), such as an inherited tendency toward depression, is triggered by an environmental stressor, such as the loss of a job.
Neither the predisposition nor the stressor alone is usually sufficient to cause the disorder; it is the interaction of biological vulnerability and environmental trigger that produces the disorder. -
A client reports recurrent intrusive thoughts about contamination and feels compelled to wash her hands repeatedly to reduce the resulting anxiety. Which disorder does this best match?
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Answer. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
OCD is characterized by obsessions (intrusive, unwanted thoughts) paired with compulsions (repetitive behaviors performed to reduce the anxiety caused by the obsessions), distinguishing it from generalized anxiety disorder, which lacks compulsive rituals. -
Distinguish between positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia, giving one example of each.
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Answer. Positive symptoms are excessive or added behaviors, such as hallucinations or delusions. Negative symptoms are the absence or reduction of normal functioning, such as flat affect or social withdrawal (avolition).
The terms 'positive' and 'negative' refer to whether a symptom adds something abnormal to behavior or subtracts something normal from it, not to whether the symptom is good or bad. -
Which mood disorder is diagnosed when a person experiences at least one full manic episode, often alternating with episodes of major depression?
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Answer. Bipolar I disorder
Bipolar I disorder requires at least one full manic episode; it may or may not include depressive episodes. This is distinct from bipolar II, which requires hypomania plus a major depressive episode, and from cyclothymia, which involves milder mood swings. -
What is the key difference between bipolar I disorder and bipolar II disorder?
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Answer. Bipolar I requires at least one full manic episode, while bipolar II requires a milder hypomanic episode along with at least one major depressive episode.
The severity of the elevated mood episode is the distinguishing factor: full mania in Bipolar I versus hypomania (a less severe, shorter version) in Bipolar II. -
A therapist emphasizes unconditional positive regard, empathy, and genuineness to help a client move toward self-actualization. What type of therapy is this?
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Answer. Humanistic therapy
Humanistic (client-centered) therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, focuses on providing a supportive, nonjudgmental environment that helps clients access their own capacity for growth, in contrast to psychodynamic therapy's focus on unconscious conflict. -
Describe how systematic desensitization works as a behavioral treatment for phobias, referencing classical conditioning.
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Answer. Systematic desensitization pairs relaxation techniques with a gradual, step-by-step exposure to the feared stimulus, using counterconditioning to replace the fear response with a relaxation response.
Because fear was originally learned through classical conditioning (an object becoming associated with anxiety), the therapy works by conditioning a new, incompatible response (relaxation) to the same stimulus, weakening the original fear association. -
A patient with schizophrenia is prescribed a medication that blocks dopamine receptors to reduce hallucinations and delusions. What class of drug is this?
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Answer. Antipsychotics
Antipsychotic medications primarily work by blocking dopamine receptors, which reduces positive symptoms like hallucinations and delusions; this differs from SSRIs (which affect serotonin for depression/anxiety) and mood stabilizers (used for bipolar disorder). -
Explain what it means to say psychological disorders are best understood through a biopsychosocial approach, using depression as an example.
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Answer. The biopsychosocial approach explains disorders as arising from the interaction of biological factors (e.g., low serotonin activity or genetic predisposition), psychological factors (e.g., pessimistic thinking patterns), and social factors (e.g., lack of social support or a stressful life event) rather than any single cause.
This model avoids reducing a disorder to just biology or just environment, and instead treats it as the product of multiple interacting influences, which also justifies combining treatments (e.g., medication plus therapy) for the best outcome.
What people get wrong
- Treating eustress and distress as the same thing — eustress is stress that is perceived as positive and motivating (e.g., excitement before a competition), while distress is stress perceived as negative and overwhelming; the exam expects you to identify which one a scenario describes.
- Assuming a DSM-5 diagnosis explains why someone has a disorder — the DSM-5 only lists descriptive symptom criteria used for classification; it does not identify causes, so don't cite 'DSM-5 diagnosis' as an explanation in a free-response question.
- Confusing bipolar I and bipolar II disorder — bipolar I requires at least one full manic episode, while bipolar II requires a hypomanic episode plus a major depressive episode; students often assume both require full mania.
- Mixing up positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia — positive symptoms are added, excessive behaviors (hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech), while negative symptoms are diminished or absent normal functions (flat affect, avolition, social withdrawal); memorize 'positive = added on.'
- Treating humanistic and psychodynamic therapy as interchangeable because both are 'talk therapy' — psychodynamic therapy focuses on uncovering unconscious conflicts rooted in the past, while humanistic therapy focuses on conscious growth, self-acceptance, and unconditional positive regard in the present.
- Confusing systematic desensitization with flooding — both are exposure-based behavioral techniques, but systematic desensitization pairs gradual exposure with relaxation, while flooding involves immediate, intense exposure to the feared stimulus without gradual buildup.
Drill this unit until it sticks
These questions come back on a schedule built from what you get wrong, alongside the rest of AP Psychology. Free, and no account needed to start.