ch16 stress Flashcards
1
Q
Stress Definition
A
- pattern of physiological, behavioural, & cognitive responses to stimuli (real or imagined) that disturb equilibrium & tax or exceed our ability to cope
- physical and psychological responses to internal or external stressors
2
Q
Stress Definition - physiological, behavioural, cognitive responses?
A
- physiological = real event in body: lungs are working harder, adrenaline, immune system producing corticosteroids
- Behavioural: running, fighting, moving quicker
- Cognitive : attention focuses, narrows on what you have to deal with – can’t notice things outside of it
3
Q
Stressors
A
- specific events or chronic pressures that place demands on a person or threaten the person’s well-being
- aka what causes stress – can be an earthquake, a person, etc
4
Q
Health Psychology
A
how psychological factors influence the causes and treatment of physical illness and maintenance of health
5
Q
Levels of Stress: hassles vs stress?
A
- Hassles: small stress like losing keys, social obligation you don’t want to go to, not sleeping well, environmental noise
- Duration is what differentiates it from stress: hassles have same effect as stress, but lasts shorter
- Stress: prolonged exposure to something taxing
6
Q
Chronic Stress
A
- stressful events that occur continuously or repeatedly – PTSD
- ex: Strained relationships, financial problems, etc
- Small stressors easy to ignore if they happen occasionally but accumulate to distress and illness
- More symptoms and greater and longer lasting impact than major life events
- Many are linked to particular environments – ex. city life
7
Q
Percieved control - study by who?
A
Glass & Singer (1972) did studies of perceived control: aftereffects of loud noise on people who could or couldn’t control it
8
Q
Fight or flight response
A
- autonomic NS - sympathetic
- emotional and physiological reaction to an emergency that increases readiness for action
9
Q
Nervous vs Endocrine System
A
- NS: rapid responses
- Endo: slower, more gradual and more sustained
10
Q
Endocrine System - purpose, what?
A
- Regulates mood, growth, metabolism, sexual and reproductive processes
- System of glands that secretes hormones that go directly to bloodstream
11
Q
Hormones
A
- like NT, but NT travel small distances
- hormones travel from one part of body to another
12
Q
Catecholamines
A
- type of hormone released by adrenal gland during stress
- biochemicals indicating activation of emotional systems
- Amphetamines inhibit breakdown of catecholamines
13
Q
Immune system - what and purpose?
A
- defense system
- fight invading bacteria/viruses
- Complex response system that protects the body from bacteria, viruses and other foreign substances
14
Q
Antigen vs Pathogen
A
- A: protein on surface of cell
- P: invading bacteria
15
Q
HPA axis
A
- threat activates hypothalamus
- hypothalamus secretes CRH which stimulates pit gland
- pit gland releases ACTH which stimulates adrenal gland
- adrenal gland secretes hormones
16
Q
HPA axis - adrenal gland secretes? (2)
A
- Cortisol, a major stress hormone - increases concentration of glucose in blood so muscles have fuel, also dampens immune system by muting white blood cells
- Catecholamines: epinephrine and norepinephrine - increase sympathetic NS (increase heart rate, blood pressure, respiration) so more oxygen is available to muscles for attack/escape
17
Q
Hans Selye
A
- studied physiological consequences of severe threats to well being
- GAS
18
Q
GAS - general adaptation syndrome
A
- description of the body’s short term and long-term reaction to stress
- three stage physiological stress response that appears regardless of the stressor that is encountered
- nonspecific so response doesn’t vary according to source of repeated stress
19
Q
Selye’s Three Phases of Stress Reponse?
A
- Alarm reaction - mobilize resources
- resistance - cope with stressor
- exhaustion - reserves depleted
20
Q
GAS - phase 1
A
- Alarm Phase
- Body rapidly mobilizes resources to respond to threat – aka fight or flight lasts only a few seconds
- muscles clench, heart rate and breathing increase, more blood sent throughout body
21
Q
GAS - phase 2
A
- Resistance Phase
- Body adapts to high state of arousal, tries to cope with stressor and maintain homeostasis
- continues to draw on resources of fat/muscle, release of hormones, blood sugar, blood pressure stays high
- stops unnecessary processes like digestion, growth, sex drive, menstruation, testosterone/sperm production
22
Q
GAS - phase 3
A
- Exhaustion Phase
- body depleted of resources, resistance collapses
- Resistance phase defenses created gradual damage = costs for body like susceptibility to infection, tumor growth, aging, organ damage, death
- Can still recover from this stage but will take longer than if stressor had ended at stage 2
23
Q
A
24
Q
Is stress always bad?
A
- sometimes you need a quick burst of speed
- shot of adrenaline
- stress gives you energy, vigilance and attention
25
Q
Stress bad because?
A
- prolonged stress can lead to anxiety and poorer performance (while a little bit of stress helps performance)
- can lead to chronic heart disease, increased risk of heart attack, damage to heart tissue, stunted growth, infertility, supresses immune system
26
Q
Hans Selye – there are two kinds of stress?
A
- Eustress: positive stress like having a baby, getting married, graduating
- Distress: what we think of when we think of stress – negative stress
27
Q
Causes of Stress - what do they have in common?
A
- Majority of the things are psychological in nature = in our heads, not in the real world
- That means 5/7 major stressors are unique to us as a species
28
Q
Stress and Immune System: phagocytes? lymphocytes? glucocorticoids?
A
- Phagocytes: neutrophils that are first on the seen, attach to antigens and destroy them
- Lymphocytes: produce antibodies that fight infection (T cells – rupture cell and B cells)
- Glucocorticoids flood the brain – wears down immune system so less able to fight invaders
29
Q
Physical vs Psychological Stressors
A
- Physical stressors: colds, bacterium, viruses - make us more likely to get sick
- Psychological stressors: inside our head, can be a result of for example, taking care of someone with a chronic disease
30
Q
Baboons - major stressor? perfect model? our stress is different?
A
- Each other – other baboons
- perfect model for western stress-related disease because a lot of our stress is social in nature, not physical
- How is our stress different from the stress of other animals, like zebras?
o They can turn it off after – we are constantly worrying - Examples of studies
o Medical volunteers received mouth wounds – healed slower during exams than summer
o Researchers swabbed cold virus into volunteer’s nose – people got colds depending on stress levels volunteers who had experience chronic stressors more likely to suffer colds
o Social status and health: British civil servants with higher status had lower rates of death
o People who perceive themselves in lower social status are more prone to suffer from respiratory infection
31
Q
Examples of studies - stress and mouth wounds? colds?
A
- Medical volunteers received mouth wounds – healed slower during exams than summer
- Researchers swabbed cold virus into volunteer’s nose – people got colds depending on stress levels
