B1: Stress Flashcards
What are life events?
Very important events in someone’s life
Give an examples of life events
Marriage, pregnancy, moving homes
Which theorists measured life events
Holmes and Rahe
What did Holmes and Rahe come up with?
The social readjustment rating scale
What are daily hassles
Everyday irritations that can cause us to feel stressed
What is primary appraisal
Thinking about how threatening hassles are to our psychological health
What is secondary appraisal
When we see a threat and think about how well equipt we are to cope
Who developed the hassles scale
Kanner
How are daily hassles linked to illness
We experience a lot of daily hassles and because we experience them directly, they can be stressful
What is role conflict
When there are incompatible demands upon a person relating to their job
What is intra role conflict
When am employees’ role in the workplace presents competing demands (e.g. two projects that can’t be completed at the same time)
What is inter role conflict
When a person has two roles with competing demands (a parent looking after their child but also having work responsibilities)
What are effects in the workplace environment that can cause stress
Temperature and noise
What are the 3c’s of a hardy personality
Commitment, challenge, control
What is someone with a type A personality described as
Competitive, impatient, time urgent
How can having a type A personality affect health
It’s associated with the development of coronary heart disease
What is someone with a type B personality described as
Laidback, relaxed and tolerant
How did Selye come up with the general adaptation syndrome
He experimented on rats subjecting them to different stressor. He found that it didn’t matter what the stressor was, the response was the same
What are the stages of the general adaptation syndrome
Stage 1: alarm reaction, Stage 2: resistance, Stage 3: Exhaustion
What is acute stress
A threat requiring an immediate response
What is the SAM system
The body’s response to an acute stressor
What is chronic stress
Long term stress
What is the HPA system
The body’s response to a chronic stressor
What are the stages of the SAM system in order
Hypothalamus, systematic branch, adrenal medulla, adrenaline/noradrenaline. Then when the stress stops the parasympathetic branch takes over (goes back to calm)
What are the stages of the HPA system in order
Hypothalamus, CRF, pituitary gland, ACTH, adrenal cortex, cortisol
Name some women hormones that can cause stress
Oestrogen, PMDD, postnatal depression, menopause
Name a man hormone that can cause stress
Altered testosterone
What is the immune system
The body’s defensive barrier against antigens
What is immunosupression
Prevents our immune system from working efficiently because of stress
What is atherosclerosis
Narrowing of the arteries
Name the two stress hormones that can cause atherosclerosis
Cortisol and adrenaline
Name some short term effects of stress and physical ill health
Headaches, upset stomach, fatigue
Name some long term effects of stress and ill health
Hypertension, heart attack, stroke
