Chapter 11

Wellbeing

positive state of life, health satisfaction & absence of disease

Biopsychosocial Model

health/illness is due to biological, psychological, and social factors

Health Disparities

differences in health outcomes among groups

Opioid and Alcohol Abuse

lowers life expectancy for white rural Americans the most

Immigrant Paradox

immigrants have better health outcomes than their later U.S born generations

Socioeconomic Status Health Gradient

those with fewer resources (income, frontline worker, polluted, violent, unpredictable) experience more conflict, life disruptions and poor sleep = poorer health outcomes

Health Behaviors

actions that promote wellbeing and prevent onset or slow progression of disease

Healthy Diet

natural, not processed food, not too many calories, lots of fruits, veggies, light on animal proteins

Metabolic Syndrome

caused by eating too much fat or sugar, includes a bunch of risk factors like high blood sugar and cholesterol, insulin resistance, and cardiovascular disease

Nicotine

addictive substance in cigarettes (smoking)

Aerobic

type of exercise that increases your breathing and heart rate temporarily

Benefits of Aerobic Exercise

increases neuron growth, larger brain, more white and gray matter, hippocampus growth, memory/cognitive benefits, lowers blood pressure, strengthens heart and lungs

Metabolic Uncoupling

psychological stress is bad for cardiovascular health but exercise stress is good

Minutes of exercise needed to enhance mood and vigor

10 minutes

Minutes of exercise needed to gain the most positive mental state

30 minutes

Any brief infrequent exercise at any age still

has a psychological and physiological benefit

Availability Heuristic

tendency to believe that the information that comes most easily to your mind is more likely to occur

Stress

an unpleasant state as a response to the way we think about events b/c they require you to make some adjustments

Eustress

stress of positive events

Distress

stress of negative events

Stressor

external situation or stimulus that is perceived as threatening or demanding

Major Stressors

changes/disruptions that strain central areas of people’s lives

Chronic Stress

set of ongoing problems that are linked to long term illness, poverty, caregiving

Daily Hassles

small irritations and annoyances

Coping Response

attempt to avoid, escape or minimize the stressor

Stressor activates the fast acting ____ at the same time

sympathetic nervous system

Steps for sympathetic NS

Brain perceives stressful event, hypothalamus activates sympathetic NS, sympathetic NS activates adrenal glands, adrenal glands release norepinephrine and epinephrine, heart rate increases, blood resupplies, glucose is released, all energy to combat threat

Stressor activates the slower responding at the same time

hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis

Steps for hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis

Hypothalamus sends a message to pituitary gland, Pituitary gland sends a hormone to the adrenal glands, Adrenal glands secrete cortisol, cortisol increases glucose, cortisol reaches the hypothalamus = turns off HPA, cortisol helps hippocampus and amygdala encode the memories

Fight or Flight Response

physiological preparation to deal with an attack or stressor to survive/reproduce

Prolonged Stress's Effect on

cortisol brain receptors become less receptive to cortisol, requiring more than normal to shut off the HPA

Stress can STILL affect the body even after the stressor is removed

TRUE

Chronic Stress can

disrupt working memory, long term memory impairments, damage neurons, make you unable to retrieve info from long term memory

General Adaptation Syndrome

same pattern of nonspecific stress responses to any stressor in any species

Alarm

1st step of GAS, emergency flight or fight, releasing cortisol and epinephrine to boost physical abilities and immune system

Resistance

2nd stage of GAS, body preps for long term defense against stressor, immune system and body defenses are at a max

Exhaustion

third and final stage of GAS, physiological and immune systems start to fail, body organs become weak

Allostatic Load

wear and tear on the body from stress ADD UP, after repeated/chronic stress biological systems become stuck in certain states or less responsive, cumulative effect of multiple stressors = response system is inflexible

Abnormalities in fear learning, heightened physiological responses to stress can affect behavior over generations / in offspring

Tend and Befriend Response

females tend to respond to stress by protecting/caring for others, forming alliances to reduce risk to themselves and others

Oxytocin (hormone associated with bonding/trust) is higher in women not men when stressed

Lymphocytes

specialized white blood cells in the immune system

B cells

produces antibodies (marks foreign agents for destruction), makes identification of cells in the future easier by remembering

T cells

attacks intruders, increases immune response

Natural Killers

kills viruses and tumors

Type A

personality traits that predict heart disease (competitive, achievement oriented, aggressive, HOSTILITY, impatient, time pressed)

Primary Appraisal

to decide whether stimuli are stressful or irrelevant

Secondary Appraisal

used when a stimuli is deemed stressful, used to evaluate ways to respond and choose coping behaviors

Anticipatory Coping

coping occuring before the onset of a future stressor

Emotion Focused Coping

prevent emotional response to stressor, distract/numb, DOES NOT solve the problem

Problem Focused Coping

taking direct steps to solve the problem, only works when stressors are controllable

Positive Reappraisal

focuses on good things about the situation

Downward Comparison

comparing oneself to those who are worse off

Creation of Positive Events

giving positive meaning to ordinary events

Hardiness

stress resistant, able to adapt to life changes by viewing events constructively (commitment, challenge, control)

Broaden and Build Theory

positive emotions prompt new solutions to problems

Resilience

ability to cope in the face of adversity, can be taught and learned

People that are resilient

anxiety related brain regions only increase in activity when threatening pictures are shown instead of every picture, have increased positive thoughts about themselves WHEN stressed

Happiness's Three Components

positive emotion/pleasure, engagement in life, meaningful life

Higher levels of hope

= reduced risk of high blood pressure, diabetes and respiratory tract infections

Higher levels of curiosity

= reduced risk of hypertension and diabetes

Buffering Hypothesis

when provided emotional or social support from others, the recipient can better cope with stress

Shotgun Interventions

fast acting happiness/stress relieving activities (giving a card, keeping a journal, etc.) for a small investment and little risk

Holmes and Rahe's Social Readjustment Rating Scale

stress measurement that ranks life events from most to least stressful using point values (add up all the points for each stressful event you had for the year)

Cognitive Reappraisal

changing how we interpret our situation, shift on thinking can lessen stress’s negative effects on your body