Stress, Health, & Coping

Health Psychology

psychology that studies how biological, behavioral, and social factors influence health

What's the big factor that affects your health?

Stress

Stress

a negative emotional state occurring to events that are perceived as exceeding a person's resources

stress is more the result of...

how we evaluate the value of the stressor and less from the event itself.

Stress Appraisal

how you see or evaluate the stress or present situation

appraisal model

An experience of stress is determined in part by our subjective evaluation of the phenomenon.

Stressor

events we see as threatening or challenging

Traumatic Events

Events or situations that are negative, severe, and far beyond our normal expectations for everyday life or life events

Tend and Befriend Response

A behavioral response to stress where individuals provide support to others and seek support from others.

Psychologist of the Tend and befriend response

Shelley Taylor

What are the two main components of the Tend and Befriend Response?

Tending (providing support) and befriending (seeking support from others).

Who confirmed that the response to stress is a mind/body experience?

Walter Cannon

What did Walter Cannon conclude about stress responses?

The more you freak out, the more your body freaks out simultaneously.

the first to describe fight or flight

Walter Canon

Hans Selye

(1907-1982) Psychologist who researched a recurring response to stress that he called the general adaptation syndrome

General Adaption Syndrome (GAS)

the body's adaptive response to stress

What is the first stage of General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)?

Alarm

What happens during the Alarm stage of GAS?

Activates the sympathetic nervous system, preparing the body to fight the challenge.

What is the second stage of General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)?

Resistance

What occurs during the Resistance stage of GAS?

Blood pressure, temperature, and breathing remain high, and hormones flow. Prolonged stress can deplete the body's reserves.

What is the third stage of General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)?

Exhaustion

What happens during the Exhaustion stage of GAS?

The body's energy reserves become depleted, leading to illness and possibly death

Ex: (holocaust) if your mind dies, your body follows.

Psychophysiological illnesses

"mind-body" illness any stress-related physical illness (hypertension, headaches)

What are the two types of white blood cells involved in the immune system?

Lymphocytes

What types of lymphocytes fight foreign substances that cause illnesses?

B lymphocytes and T lymphocytes

How does stress affect the immune system?

Stress competes with the energy needed to fight disease and infection

Stress hormones suppress the disease fighting lymphocytes and impair immune system functioning.

So chronic stress triggers the secretion of corticosteroids, which influence immune system functioning.

What is psychoneuroimmunology?

A field that studies the interconnections among psychological processes, nervous, and endocrine system functions, and the immune system.

What systems are interconnected in psychoneuroimmunology?

Psychological processes, nervous system, endocrine system, and immune system.

What emotion is closely linked to stress-related illnesses, especially heart attacks?

Anger

What is the relationship between hostility levels and heart disease?

Hostility levels are positively correlated to heart disease.

Which personality type is particularly affected by stressors in relation to cardiovascular health?

Type A personalities.

What characteristics are associated with Type A personalities?

High in urgency, hostility, and competitiveness.

How does loss of control impact your health

Loss of control lowers the immune system and can result in illness.

How does loss of control lower your immune system?

it provokes an outpouring of stress hormones, rise in blood pressure, and immune responses drop.

Coping

alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods

What is problem-focused coping?

Attempting to alleviate stress directly by changing the stressor.

How does problem-focused coping interact with stressors?

By changing the way we interact with that stressor.

emotion focused strategy

managing the emotional impact of the situation

Alleviating stress

Feel a sense of control.

Develop a more optimistic explanatory style.

Build a base of social support.

Find your strength.

percieved control

the belief that control exists

When are we more likely to use More likely to use problem-focused coping?

if perceived control exists.

Personal Control

whether we learn to see ourselves as controlling or controlled by our environment.

External Locus of Control

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond your personal control determine your fate.

Internal locus of control

the perception that you control your own fate

optimistic

external, unstable, specific

pessimistic

internal, stable, global

resilience

the personal strength that helps you cope with stress and recover from adversity