AP Psychology - Unit 5.1 Introduction to Health Psychology

Health Psychology

focuses on how behavioral, cognitive, psychological, and cultural factors impact an individual’s physical health and wellness

looks at an individual from;

• a holistic perspective

• person’s behaviors

• coping strategies

• stressors

• psychological influences

• community engagement

Psychoneuroimmunology

• a branch of health psychology that studies how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect people’s immune systems

Eustress

• “positive stress”

• motivates an individual to take on a challenge, or perform better at a task

Distress

• “negative stress”

• often ends up overwhelming an individual, resulting in them feeling exhausted

Stress

• the process of perceiving and responding to stimuli to certain events that individuals appraise as threatening or challenging

• causes a variety of physiological reactions