Stress Unit

health psychology

concerned with how psychosocial factors relate to the promotion and maintenance of health and with the causation, prevention and treatment of illness

stress

any circumstances that threaten or are perceived to threaten one's well-being and that thereby tax one's coping abilities

Eustress

Threatening events that have a relatively short duration and a clear endpoint.

Distress

Threatening events that have a relatively long duration and no readily apparent time limit.

approach-approach conflict

a choice must be made between two attractive goals

avoidance-avoidance conflict

a choice must be made between two unattractive goals

approach-avoidance conflict

a choice must be made about whether to pursue a single goal that has both attractive and unattractive aspects

optimal level of arousal (Yerkes-Dodson)

Theory arguing that humans are driven to increase or decrease arousal to produce a comfortable level that is not over- nor under stimulating.

fight-or-flight response

A physiological reaction to threat in which the autonomic nervous system mobilizes the organism for attacking (fight) or fleeing (flight) an enemy

general adaptation syndrome

Seyle's concept that the body responds to stress with alarm, resistance and exhaustion

emotion-focused coping

attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one's stress reaction

problem-focused coping

Attempting to alleviate stress directly by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor.

learned helplessness

Condition in which repeated attempts to control a situation fail, resulting in the belief that the situation is uncontrollable.

catharsis

release of emotional tension

resilience

successful adaptation to significant stress and trauma, as evidenced by a lack of serious negative outcomes

immune response

body's defensive reaction to invasion by bacteria, viral agents, or other foreign substances

Adverse Childhood Experiences

potentially traumatic events occurring before age 18, including abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction

Tend-and-Befriend Theory

A theory that suggests people seek social support and tend to others in times of stress.