Mar 2 - Stress

Stress

  • a pattern of physological, behavioural, emotional and cognitive responses to real or imaged stimuli that are perceived as

  • symptoms: exhausted, headaches, high blood pressure, muscle tension, chest pain,

  • Emotional and mental symptoms: anxiety, depression panic attacks, sadness

Stress process

  • Stressors (catastrophes, life changes, hassles) → intervening factors (appraisal, perceived control, personality, social support, coping)→ Stress reaction (physiological, emotional, behavioural)

Hans Selyes - General adaptation syndrome

  • phase 1: alarm phase → initial sympathetic reaction - shock

  • Phase 2: resistance → high hormonal level

  • Phase : Exhaustion → depletion of resources → illness

Body

  • Sense stressor → sympathetic NS → adrenal medulla (on top of kidneys) → dump epinephrine into body

  • Sense stressor → signal to hypothalamus → anterior pituitary → adrenal cortex → clucocorticoids (cortisol)

Cortisol

  • effected similar to epinephrine

  • Concerns protein to glucose

  • Makes fats available for energy

  • Increased blood flow

  • Almost every cell in body has receptor for glucorticoids

Immune system

  • stress can suppress immune system making person more vulnerable

  • How → stress results release of glucocorticoids directly surges the action of white blood cells

  • Rats faced with inescapable shock showed a decrease in lymphocyte production

  • Husbands show decreased immune response after wife’s death

  • People are likely to get sick after a stressful event

  • Acute infectious disorders increase during final exams

  • Reaction depends on appraisal

  • Do you perceive that situation as a threat and that you can not cope = distress

Psychosomatic disorder

  • disorders with primarily physical symptoms it caused or maintained by psychological factors ex) hypertension

  • Hypertension in air traffic controllers = high stress

  • Gastric ulcers → painful lesions of stomach lining, over 500k new cases per year, linked to living in stressful enviornment, but not due to stress alone → importance of control!

Control

  • Weiss → tests rats

    • Group 1: no shock

    • Group 2: avoidable shock

    • Group 3: unavoidable shock

    • Note: group 2 and 3 are yoked

  • Length of ulceration → unavoidable shock has most

  • Weiss → 2nd test

    • Group 1: no shock

    • Group 2: Signalled shock process

  • Unsingaled shock has the most ulcers

Noise

  • Anke → 4.6 M

  • Close to airport more likely to have a heart attack

  • 10-20% increase in stroke, coronary heart disease

  • Similar results for traffic, pollution and heat

Anxiety disorder

  • A native emotion experienced as an uncomfortable level f apprehension/far marked by phsyiological arousal, doubt concerning the source of threat and self doubting

  • General symptoms:

    • Subjective distress

    • Phsyiological activation

    • Avoidance/escaoe behaviour

    • Intereferance/restriction in daily routine, occupational or social functioning

  • Disorders

    • Generalized

    • Panic disorder →

    • Phobic disorder

    • OCD

    • Post traumatic stress disorders

  • Phobias → specific = immediate, unreasonable fear of specific object or situation or social phobias = fear of embarrassment in social or performance

    • Simple phobia → intense, irrational fear of object or situation, relatively common 1/3 of population have symptoms-14% for women and 8% for men, nicety disorder, patient is still in touch with reality

    • Agoraphobia → open spaces

    • Claustrophobia

    • Arachnophobia

    • Trisakaidekaphobia → nume r 13

    • Uxoriphbia → ones wif

    • Monophobia

    • Nyctophobi

    • Siderophobia

    • Belonophobia

    • Taphophobia

    • Over 200 recognized, some easy to deal with, some are more serious

    • Caused by classical conditioning → little evidence for genetic link (except agoraphobia)

  • PTSD

    • Results from specific traumatic event → severe anxiety, arousal, distress → trauma relived in flashbacks → emotional but numb to the world → avoid exposure to related stimuli → survivor guilt

    • Seen in situation like torture, raped horrible accident, war → onset immediate or months later

    • Multiple exposures to events more promlematic than single highly traumatic event → importance of coping syle and social support

    • Individuals may try to self medicate with drugs and alcohol → increased risk for other disorders ex) depression

    • Treatment: remove from traumatic situation, educate survivors and family, medication, exposure therapy, training in coping

Vulnerability and protection

  • Social support → ability to rely and talk to other

    • House → those wit weak social ties twice as likely to die

    • Pennebaker → students talked about traumatic or trivial events → higher immune function, less visits to campus health

  • Hardiness: commitment, control, challenge → control is most important

  • Copig self efficacy: belief that you have sufficient resources to deal with stressor - provides behavioural options → improves immune functioning

  • Optimism: lower risk for anxiety and depression → fever infectious diseases → live longer

  • Problem focused coping: confront and deal directly with stressor → works better than emotional coping

  • Emotion focuses coping: manage the emotional response

  • Self medication: Naltexone = opioid antagogomsit → reduces cravings and prevents the buzz

  • Psyhological treatment: motivational interviewing → focus on where you are and where you want to be → allows clients to draw own conclusions about change

    • Multimodal treatment: aversion therapy, relaxation training, self monitoring, coping/skills training, family counseling, positive reinforcement

  • Stress management techniques: music, exercise, tv, games, eat, church, shop, drink, spots, mediate, professional

  • dealing with stress: recognize the symptoms, change what you an and learn to live with the rest, relax and exercise, talk, don’t self medicate,