Stress and Illness

Stress: The process by which individuals perceive and respond to certain events known as stressors.
Appraisal of Stressors: Stressors can be appraised as either threatening or challenging.
- Threatening Stressors: Can lead to long-lasting negative reactions. Prolonged stress can result in harm and health issues.
- Challenging Stressors: Short-lived stressors can have positive effects on motivation and resilience.

Primary and Secondary Appraisals:
- The way we think about or appraise events affects how we experience stress.
- Primary Appraisal: Initial evaluation of whether an event is a threat or challenge.
- Secondary Appraisal: Evaluation of resources and options to cope with the perceived stressor.

Physiological Response: Stress mobilizes the immune system and can boost life satisfaction and resilience in manageable doses.
Example of Stress: Taking a difficult math test.
- Appraisal as Threat: Leads to stress and distraction, hindering cognitive performance.
- Appraisal as Challenge: Enhances focus and motivation, leading to better performance.

Can lead to risky decisions and unhealthy behaviors.
Extreme stress, particularly during pregnancy, can risk health for unborn children.
Daily Hassles: Everyday challenges can negatively affect physical and mental well-being, including conflicts that lead to social stress.

Catastrophes: Large-scale, unpleasant events that significantly damage emotional and physical health.
- Examples: War, natural disasters (flood, earthquake, hurricane).
Significant Life Changes: Personal transitions that may increase disease and death risks.
- About half of people in their 20s report having significant life changes, and one-fifth of those over 65 do as well.
Cluster Crises: Series of significant life changes occurring in quick succession.
Daily Hassles: Small, everyday stressors that can accumulate and impact physical and mental health.
- Example: Approach-avoidance conflict, where simultaneous attraction and repulsion lead to indecision and stress.

Stress Response: Viewed as a unified mind and body response system.
- Flight or Fight Response: Triggered by extreme stimuli (cold, lack of oxygen, emotional events), releasing adrenaline (epinephrine, norepinephrine).
- Cortisol Response: Additional stress hormones released from the adrenal glands during prolonged stress.

Proposed by Hans Selye, describing the body's generalized response to stress in three phases:
1. Alarm Reaction: Mobilizes resources and defenses as the body recognizes a threat.
2. Resistance: Coping phase where body uses resources to deal with stressor but is still under strain.
3. Exhaustion: Resources are depleted, leading to potential negative health consequences.

Individuals in ongoing conflict zones (e.g., volunteer rescuers) experience chronic stress, risking exhaustion and health issues as their resistance wears thin.
Tend-and-Befriend Response: Often observed in women, involving nurturing behavior and seeking social support.
Male Responses: May include withdrawal, alcohol use, or aggression under stress.

Health Psychology: Field studying the interplay of psychological factors and health, and includes subfields like psycho-neuroimmunology.
Stress influences immune functioning, diverting energy away from immune response leading to increased vulnerability to physical illnesses (e.g., hypertension, tension headaches).
Stress does not directly cause diseases like AIDS or cancer but can worsen immune responses and development of these diseases.

Key Components of Immune System:
- B Lymphocytes: Produce antibodies to fight infections.
- T Lymphocytes: Attack infected or cancerous cells.
- Macrophages: Engulf and digest intruders.
- Natural Killer Cells (NK Cells): Attack tumor cells and viruses directly.
Immune responses can malfunction, leading to:
- Overreaction: Self-attacking diseases (e.g., lupus, rheumatoid arthritis).
- Underreaction: Increased risk of infections, flare-ups of dormant viruses.

Stressed individuals may experience slower healing from surgical wounds and a higher vulnerability to illness.
Academic stress related to midterms and finals can correlate with increased sickness due to stress-related immune dysfunction.

More than 9 million deaths annually attributed to coronary heart disease.
Stress contributes to chronic inflammation, a known risk factor for heart disease.
Specific studies show that:
- Personality Type A: More competitive and aggressive, showing greater risk for heart attacks.
- Friedman and Rosenman's Findings: Type A individuals have higher cholesterol levels due to stress and negative emotions.
- Type B individuals are typically more relaxed and less prone to cardiovascular issues.

Pessimism and Depression: Higher risks of heart disease; depression linked to earlier mortality.
Healthy, happy individuals generally enjoy better health outcomes.
- Studies on Grief: Increased heart attack risk following the death of a partner.
Inflammation from Chronic Stress: Can lead to significant health problems, including heart disease, asthma, and worsened depressive symptoms.

Recognizing the impact of stress on health, individuals are encouraged to engage in self-care practices:
- Physical activity, yoga, meditation, and taking breaks from screens and social media.
Importance of prioritizing mental health and managing stress as a proactive measure for lasting well-being.