PERDEV REVIEWER

MENTAL HEALTH & COPING

➢ Mental health – Refers to your emotional and psychological well-being. It affects how you
think, feel, and act, especially when handling stress, building relationships, and making
choices.
➢ Depression – A serious mental health issue where a person feels deep sadness,
hopelessness, and loses interest in things they once enjoyed. It can affect sleep, energy,
and concentration.
➢ Burnout – A state of emotional, mental, and sometimes physical exhaustion due to long
periods of stress or overwork, often leading to low motivation and lack of focus.
➢ Stress overload – Happens when you're facing too many problems or pressures at once.
You may feel overwhelmed and unable to cope well.
➢ Eustress – A helpful kind of stress that can motivate you to study, perform well, or meet
deadlines. It pushes you to do your best.
➢ Distress – The harmful kind of stress that makes you feel anxious, drained, or helpless.
It can affect both mental and physical health if not managed.
➢ Psychosomatic symptoms – Physical issues like headaches, fatigue, or stomachaches
caused by emotional stress, not illness.
➢ Coping strategies – Healthy ways to deal with stress, like talking to someone, writing in
a journal, exercising, or doing hobbies.
➢ Unhealthy coping – Ways of dealing with stress that may cause more harm, like avoiding
problems, shouting, or hurting oneself or others.
➢ Self-care – Simple activities to maintain your well-being, like resting, sleeping on time,
eating healthy, and taking breaks from screens.
➢ Seeking support – Asking help from trusted people (family, friends, teachers) when you
are stressed or going through tough emotions.
➢ Support system – The group of people who offer emotional help when you need it. A
good support system gives you comfort, advice, and understanding.
➢ Creative outlet – Expressing emotions through drawing, writing, music, dance, or other
forms of creativity. It helps release stress in a healthy way.

BRAIN FUNCTION, LEARNING & THINKING

➢ Frontal lobe – The front part of the brain that controls decision-making, planning, problem-
solving, emotions, and self-control.
➢ Left brain – The side of the brain focused on logic, reasoning, structure, and math. Left-
brained people are often organized and analytical.
➢ Dyslexia – A learning condition that makes reading, spelling, or recognizing letters difficult.
Letter reversal and slow reading are common.
➢ Dyscalculia – A learning condition where a person struggles with numbers, basic math,
and understanding math concepts.
➢ Mind mapping – A way of organizing thoughts using diagrams, colors, and keywords. It
helps with studying and remembering ideas more clearly.
➢ Mental development – The process of improving your ability to think, reason,
concentrate, and solve problems over time.
➢ Metacognitive strategies – Thinking about how you think. These strategies include
planning how to study, checking your understanding, and changing learning methods if
needed.
SELF, PERSONALITY & EMOTIONS
➢ Persona – The version of yourself that you show to others to be accepted. It may not
always reflect your true personality.
➢ Self-analysis – Reflecting on your own behavior, choices, and experiences to better
understand yourself and grow from it.
➢ Displacement – A defense mechanism where you take out your emotions (like anger or
frustration) on someone or something not related to the real cause.
➢ Projection – A defense mechanism where you blame others for the feelings or thoughts,
you’re actually having yourself.
➢ Actual self – The real you—your current abilities, thoughts, habits, and how you act now.
➢ Ideal self – The person you aim to become in the future. It includes your dreams, values,
and personal goals.
➢ Self-concept – Your full view of who you are—your strengths, weaknesses, values, and
how you see yourself overall.
➢ Self-awareness – Understanding your own thoughts, feelings, and actions. It helps you
control how you behave and interact with others.
➢ Empathy – The ability to feel and understand what someone else is going through
emotionally. It builds strong and kind relationships.
➢ Emotional intelligence – The ability to understand, manage, and express your emotions,
while also understanding others’ feelings and reacting appropriately.
➢ Emotional growth – The process of learning how to deal with emotions in a mature and
healthy way. It helps you make better choices.
➢ Reflection – Looking back at what you’ve done, said, or felt to learn from your experiences
and improve yourself.

IDENTITY & DEVELOPMENT

➢ Identity vs. role confusion – A stage in Erikson’s theory where teenagers try to
understand who they are. They explore values, goals, and identity.
➢ Identity confusion – Happens when a person is unsure of their real self. They may act
differently with different groups of people.
➢ Adolescence – A stage in life (usually ages 12–18) with major changes in the body,
emotions, thoughts, and relationships.
➢ Johari Window – A tool showing how self-awareness and communication can improve
relationships. Sharing more with others reduces your hidden self.
➢ Nature and nurture – The idea that both genetics (nature) and environment or upbringing
(nurture) shape your personality and behavior.
➢ Holistic development – Growing in all areas of life: emotionally, mentally, socially, and
physically to become a well-rounded person.
➢ Social development – Learning how to build good relationships, cooperate with others,
and function in a group or society.
➢ Developing self – A person who keeps learning from experiences and mistakes to
become better.

GOALS, SELF-ESTEEM & PEER INFLUENCE

➢ SMART goals – A way of setting goals that are: Specific, Measurable, Achievable,
Relevant, and Time-bound. It makes goals easier to reach.
➢ Goal-setting – Creating clear steps to reach what you want in life—like getting good
grades or improving skills.
➢ Vision board – A collection of images or words showing your goals and dreams. It keeps
you inspired and focused.
 ➢ External validation – When you rely on others’ praise, likes, or approval to feel good
about yourself, instead of your own self-worth.
➢ Low self-esteem – Not feeling good about yourself. You may feel like you're not enough
or constantly compare yourself to others.
➢ Low confidence – Doubting your own abilities and often avoiding challenges due to fear
of failure.
➢ Unhealthy competition – Always wanting to win and feeling jealous when others
succeed, instead of being supportive or cooperative.
➢ Peer pressure – Being influenced to do something just to fit in with a group, even if it’s
not what you want.

BEHAVIORAL CONDITIONS
➢ Conduct disorder – A condition where someone often breaks rules, disrespects others,
or becomes aggressive without guilt.
➢ School phobia – A strong fear or anxiety about going to school, which may cause physical
symptoms or refusal to attend.
➢ ADHD – attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It causes difficulty with focus, staying
still, and controlling behavior.

GOODLUCK!