Week 12 | Day 1 | PSYA02

• The amygdala perceives the fear first and senses the threat first

Hormone Responses to Stressors

1. Autonomic nervous system (ANS)

• Includes PNS and SNS

1. Hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA axis)

• Release catecholamines and cortisol to help body prepare for stressor

Immune System Responses to Stressors

• How stress responses enchanted the survival and success of our ancestors: small acute stressors activate inflammatory response of immune system > inflammatory response activates higher level of proteins that promote inflammation > allows body to cope with increased risk of injecting and injury from stressors (evolutionary, stressors used to be from bears or whatever we hunted and got injured from)
• Chronic stress weakens immune system

Perceptions Matter: Stress and Coping Theory

• A big source of individual differences in stress response is how we view stressors
  • Primary appraisal: determining whether a stimulus is a threat
  • Secondary appraisal: determining whether you can handle the stressor
    • Can you control it? Do you have the coping mechanism to deal with it? If you can, it causes less stress. If not, it’s a stressful event

Perceptions Matter: Challenge and Threat Theory

• Potential stressor > primary appraisal > secondary appraisal > threat OR challenge
  • threat: demands exceed resources
  • challenge: resources exceed demains

Perceptions Matter: Glass & Singer

Situation:

Placed individuals in a room and asked them to complete difficult puzzles. Group #1 did it with unpredictable loud noise they could not control. Group #2 did it with loud noise but they could control it. If group #2 could do it without turning it off, they could double the compensation.

Results: Noisy group without control did worse

• They were exposed to the same thing, the perception of control affected their stress response

– New Lecture —

Stress & Mental Health

• Psychological stressors are widely recognized as major risk factors for common psychological disorders (eg. PTSD and exposure to traumatic stressors)
• Stressors involving social rejection are most likely to trigger depression
• Loss events, humiliation events, entrapment situations, and danger events are strong risk factors for psychological disorders
• Childhood stressors particularly harmful with long-lasting effects

Stress and Physical Health

• Acute Illnesses
  • Stress impacts our risk for developing acute illnesses (eg. colds)
  • Asthma attacks can be more severe when stressed
  • Latent Viruses can be reactivated under stressful conditions
    • Eg. Herpes simplex virus
• Chronic Illnesses
  • More severe when individual is stressed
  • Cardiovascular diseases influenced by stress
  • Autoimmune disorders influenced by stress
    • Eg. Multiple sclerosis, lupus, and Crohn’s disease