Psychology & Health - Chapter 10

Health Psychology

• Health Psychology is a subfield of psychology focusing on:
  • Examining relationships between behavioral, cognitive, psychophysiological, social, and environmental factors and their impact on health.
  • Integrating psychological and biological research to design interventions for illness prevention and treatment.
  • Evaluating physical and psychological status before, during, and after medical and psychological treatment.
• Health psychologists work in universities, hospitals, and government agencies, conducting research and creating health promotion/disease prevention programs.

Stress

• Stress is defined as the physiological or psychological response to internal or external stressors, affecting nearly every bodily system and influencing feelings and behaviors.
• Stress can arise in both expected and unexpected situations.
• Stressor: Any event, force, or condition leading to physical or emotional stress, potentially requiring coping strategies.
• Stress Reaction: The combination of physiological and psychological responses to a stressor.
• Prolonged or chronic stress has significant negative physical and psychological side effects.
• The appraisal and evaluation of stressors significantly influence the impact of stress, both short-term and long-term.

APA Statistics on Stress

• The American Psychological Association (APA) conducts annual nationwide surveys to examine stress levels and understand its impact.
• APA Stress in America 2023 report highlights:
  • Long-term stress since the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted well-being, leading to increased mental health issues and chronic illnesses.
  • Adults aged 18-34 reported the highest rate of mental illnesses at 50% in 2023.
  • Adults aged 35-44 experienced a significant increase in mental health diagnoses, from 31% in 2019 to 45% in 2023.
  • Chronic illnesses among those aged 35-44 increased from 48% in 2019 to 58% in 2023.
  • Significant sources of stress include the future of the nation (68%) and violence/crime (61%).
  • Other stressors: U.S. debt (57%), mass shootings (56%), social divisiveness (55%), and healthcare (54%).
  • Top day-to-day stressors: health-related issues (65%), money (63%), and the economy (64%).

APA Statistics on Stress (Ages 18 to 34)

• Top stressors for the 18-34 age group in 2023: health-related issues and money (both 82%).
  • Mental health was the highest health-related stressor at 72%, the highest among all age groups.
• Largest increases in major stressors since 2019:
  • Economy: from 52% in 2019 to 72% in 2023.
  • Housing costs: from 57% in 2019 to 70% in 2023.
• This age group is more likely to report the effects of stress and less likely to want to discuss their stress to avoid burdening others.

Short-Term Stress & Resilience

• Short-term stress can have positive impacts, particularly on the immune system.
  • The body's initial stress response to infection can help allocate energy to fight infections.
  • S. Segerstrom - Stress, Energy, & Immunity - 2007: acute stressors induce an immunological profile in which low-energy-consuming immune components are enhanced, and high-energy-consuming ones are suppressed.
  • The body boosts immunity while reducing overall energy expenditure.
• Positive impacts on arousal and motivation:
  • Short-term stressors increase arousal, focus, and concentration, positively impacting motivation to address the stressor.
• Resilience:
  • Resilience: Successfully adapting to difficult life experiences through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility.
  • Factors contributing to resilience: how individuals view and engage with the world, availability and quality of social resources, and specific coping strategies.
  • Resources and skills associated with resilience can be cultivated and practiced.

Long-Term & Chronic Stress

• Long-term stress can significantly harm individuals.
• Chronic stress: The physiological or psychological response to a prolonged stressful event.
  • The stressor does not need to be physically present to have effects; recollections can sustain chronic stress.
• Impacts of long-term/chronic stress:
  • Physiological:
    • Increased infectious disease-related deaths.
    • Increased cardiovascular disease.
    • Slowed healing from injuries and surgeries, with elevated risk of post-operative infections.
  • Psychological:
    • Proneness to pessimistic outlooks.
    • Vulnerability to depression, anxiety, irritability, and burnout.

Types of Stressors

• Stressors typically fall into 4 main categories:
  • Catastrophes: Large-scale disasters (e.g., floods, earthquakes, wars, terrorist attacks, pandemics) resulting in widespread injuries or damage.
  • Significant Life Changes: Life transitions (e.g., moving, taking on debt, marriage/divorce, having children, graduating, new job, job loss).
  • Daily Hassles: Everyday events and tasks (e.g., attending class, studying, managing social relationships, financial needs, health matters, household tasks, work tasks).
  • Frustrations: Negative emotional states when goal pursuit is blocked.
    • Nevid, p. 385
• All types of stressors can impact people in the short-term and long-term.
• The cumulative effect of stressors can impair coping abilities.

Factors That Can Impact Stress Levels

• Multiple factors influence stress and overall stress levels:
  • Examples: prejudice and discrimination, resource availability, ability to make changes, control/influence in situations.
• Approach & Avoidance Conflicts:
  • Approach & Avoidance conflicts (aka motives): Our drive to move toward or away from a stimulus or stressor can contribute to stress levels. Nevid, p. 385
  • Approach-approach conflict: Conflict between two attractive but incompatible goals (e.g., choosing between favorite restaurants).
  • Avoidance-avoidance conflict: Conflict between two undesirable alternatives (e.g., doing homework vs. getting a zero).
  • Approach-avoidance conflict: Simultaneous attraction and repulsion (e.g., enjoying adulthood but disliking adulting tasks).

The Stress Response System & The Fight-or-Flight Response

• Stressors activate the body's stress responses, including the release of adrenal stress hormones: epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline).
  • These hormones are released by the adrenal glands.
• Secretion of stress hormones occurs when the brain activates the sympathetic nervous system in response to a stressful stimuli.
• Fight-or-Flight Response: The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) arouses us and triggers a response to a stressor.
  • Originally proposed by Walter Cannon (Harvard physiologist).

The 3 Phases of General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

• Hans Selye expanded upon Cannon’s Fight-or-Flight Response with the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS).
• GAS: A 3-phase process when exposed to a stressor:
  • Phase 1 (Alarm Reaction): Sympathetic nervous system is activated.
  • Phase 2 (Resistance): Epinephrine & norepinephrine circulate, maintaining elevated bodily responses (heart rate, breathing, body temperature).
    • Epinephrine and norepinephrine levels gradually decrease over time.
  • Phase 3 (Exhaustion): Increased vulnerability to disease and biological breakdown.
• The body copes relatively well with temporary (acute) stress.
• Long-term stress can damage the body and reduce its effectiveness in managing health-related matters.

Additional Ways We Respond to Stress

• In addition to the fight-or-flight response, there are other ways we respond to stress:
  • Freeze Response: Feeling paralyzed or unable to respond quickly to a stressor (deer in the headlights response).
  • Fawn Response: Reacting to a fear trigger by trying to please or appease to prevent or reduce harm.
  • Tend-and-Befriend Response: Providing support to others and bonding to provide and seek support under stress.