5.1 Introduction to Health Psychology

Health psychology - Focuses on how a person's physical health and wellness shape their behaviors and mental processes. 

• The holistic perspective looks at a person’s behavior, coping strategies, stressors, psychological influences, and community engagement. 

Prolonged stress - Weakens the body’s ability to fight off different diseases. 

Chronic stress can lead to hypertension (high blood pressure), tension headaches, compromised immune systems, and migraines. 

Eustress - Considered “positive” stress, often ends up motivating an individual to take on a challenge or perform better at a task. 

Distress- Negative stress, often ends up overwhelming individuals, resulting in them feeling exhausted. 

Traumatic experiences affecting stress - Accidents, natural disasters, violent experiences, loss of a loved one. 

PTSD - Mental health condition that occurs after witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event. 

Adverse Childhood Experiences - Potentially traumatic events or chronic stressors occurring in a person's childhood. 

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) - Looks at how a person's body reacts to stress when confronted with it for a long period of time. 

• Has 3 stages: 1st - Alarm Reaction, when stressor is 1st [perceived. Causes a Flight- Flight-Freeze response which 1st prepares an individual to confront the stressor (fight), prepares an individual to run away from a stressor (flight), and causes an individual to be stuck and unable to act due to the stressor (freeze). 

• 2nd stage: Resistance - If the stress persists, during this stage the body attempts to adapt to the stressor. 

• 3rd stage - Over time if the stressor continues, the body storage becomes depleted. The body's immune system may become weakened, and individuals sare more susceptible, to anxiety, burnout, and disease. 

Tend-And-Befriend Theory - Under stress, some individuals are more likely to protect and care for themselves or others, or may seek social support from others. 

• Tending - Centered around nurturing care, here an individual will take care of themselves and others. 

• BEfrending - When an individual seeks out others and provides support. 

• More relating with women, differences between sexes 

Difference between TATT theory and GAS:

TATT: Behavioral responses, care, social connections    GAS - Focuses on physiological stages

2 coping strategies: Problem-focused coping and Emotion-focused coping 

Problem-focused coping - When an individual views a stressor as a situation or problem that can be solved. 

• It involves identifying the source of stress, creating a plan to reduce the stress, and implementing the plan. 

• Works best when there is a practical solution to a stressor. 

Emotion-focused coping is when an individual focuses on managing their emotional responses/reactions to stress instead of trying to change the stressor itself. 

• Most effective when the source of the stressor is out of one's control. 

Deep breathing- When an individual will practice slow, controlled breaths to reduce anxiety. 

Meditation and Mindfulness - Focus on being in the present moment. 

Physical activity or Artistic expression - Allows individuals to boost their mood, reducing their tension.