Chapter 13 Flashcards
stressors
specific events or chronic pressures that place demands on a person or threaten the person’s well-being.
stress
the physical and psychological response to internal or external stressors
health psychology
the subfield of psychology concerned with the ways psychological factors influence the causes and treatment of physical illness and the maintenance of health.
Adding up the stress ratings of each life change experienced
is a significant indicator of a person’s likelihood of future illness.
positive events
often require readjustment and preparedness that many people find extremely stressful.
chronic stressors
sources of stress that occur continuously or repeatedly. Strained relationships, discrimination, bullying, overwork, money troubles can accumulate to produce distress and illness. People who report being affected by daily hassles also report more psychological symptoms and physical symptoms and these effects often have a greater and longer-lasting impact than major life events.
social relationships
many chronic stressors are linked to these. Being outside the in-group can be stressful. Being actively targeted by members of the in group can be even more stressful, especially if this happens repeatedly over time.
city life
noise, traffic, crowding, pollution, and the threat of violence provide particularly insistent sources of chronic stress.
rural areas
isolation and lack of access to amenities such as health care also causes chronic stress.
environmental psychology
the scientific study of environmental effects on behavior and health.
stressors challenge you to do something
to take action to eliminate or overcome the stressor. Events are most stressful when there is nothing to do and no way to deal with the challenge. Expecting that you will have control over what happens to you is associated with greater effectiveness in dealing with stress.
learned helplessness
the belief that one has no control over one’s situation based on past experience. Proposed to be a major contributor to the development of depression in humans who have experienced repeated stressful events.
after 9/11 attacks
people living within 1.5 miles of the World Trade Center during 9/11 were found to have less gray matter in the amygdala, hippocampus, insula, anterior cingulate, and medial prefrontal cortex relative to those living more than 200 miles away. Suggests that the stress may have reduced the size of these parts of the brain that play an important role in emotion, memory, and decision making. Children who watched more TV coverage had higher symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder.
fight-or-flight response
an emotional and physiological reaction to an emergency that increases readiness for action.
HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical) axis
Brain activation in response to a threat occurs in the hypothalamus, initiating a cascade of bodily responses including stimulation of the pituitary gland, which causes the stimulation of the adrenal glands.
Adrenal glands (threat)
release hormones, including catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine), which increase sympathetic nervous system activation (and therefore increase heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate) and decrease parasympathetic activation. Increase respiration and blood pressure make more oxygen available to muscles to energize attack or to initiate escape. Also release cortisol, a hormone that increases the concentration of glucose in the blood to make fuel available to the muscles.
General adaptation syndrome (GAS)
developed by Hans Selye; a three-stage physiological stress response that appears regardless of the stressor that is encountered.
Alarm phase (1st stage of GAS)
equivalent to the fight-or-flight response; the body rapidly mobilizes its resources to respond to the threat.
Resistance phase (2nd stage of GAS)
the body tries to adapt and cope with its stressor by shutting down unnecessary processes such as digestion, growth, and the sex drive.
Exhaustion phase (3rd stage of GAS)
the body’s resistance collapses, creating damage that can include susceptibility to infection, tumor growth, aging, irreversible organ damage, or death.
Exposure to chronic stress
experience actual wear and tear on their bodies and increased aging. Shorter telomere lengths.
Cells in our body our constantly dividing
our chromosomes are repeatedly copied so that our genetic info is carried into the new cells. Facilitated by telomeres.
telomeres
caps at the ends of each chromosome that protect the ends of chromosomes and prevent them from sticking to each other. Becomes slightly shorter each time a cell divides. When they become too short and can no longer divide, the development of tumors and a range of other diseases can occur.
shortened telomeres
can be caused by increased cortisol. Negative effects in the form of accelerated aging and increased risk of diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and depression. Prevented by exercise and meditation.
immune system
a complex response system that protects the body from bacteria, viruses, and other foreign substances. Responsive to psychological influences: stressors can cause hormones called glucocorticoids to flood the brain, wearing down the immune system and making it less able to fight invaders.
People who perceive themselves as low in social status
more prone to suffer from respiratory infections, for example, than those who do not bear this social burden. Same for low-status male monkeys.
Chronic stress is a major contributor to coronary heart disease
prolonged stress-activated arousal of the sympathetic nervous system raises blood pressure and gradually damages the blood vessels. The damaged vessels accumulate plaque, and the more plaque, the greater the likelihood of coronary heart disease.
Type A behavior pattern
a tendency toward easily aroused hostility, impatience, a sense of time urgency, and competitive achievement strivings.
Type B
less driven behavior pattern.
Primary appraisal
the interpretation of a stimulus as stressful or not.
Secondary appraisal
determining whether the stressor is something you can handle or not – whether or not you have control over the event. The body responds differently depending on whether the stressor is perceived as a threat or a challenge. Threats increase vascular reactivity.
Burnout
a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion created by long-term involvement in an emotionally demanding situation and accompanied by lowered performance and motivation. Can be caused by using your job to give meaning to your life. Particular problem in helping professions. Some emotionally stressful jobs lead to burnout no matter how they are approached.
Repressive coping
avoiding situations or thoughts that are reminders of a stressor and maintaining an artificially positive viewpoint.
emotional focused: distancing, wishful thinking, self-blame, tension reduction, self isolation, decreases stress symptoms, but stressor can get worse (like credit card bill).
Rational coping
facing the stressor and working to overcome it. Opposite of repressive coping.
problem focused: tackle the source of the stress to help reduce it.
Acceptance (1st step of RC)
coping to realize that the stressor exists and cannot be wished away.
Exposure (2nd step of RC)
attending to the stressor, thinking about it, and even seeking it out. Psychological treatment may help by helping victims confront and think about what happened.
Prolonged exposure
Produces significant reductions in anxiety and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder compared to no therapy and compared to other therapies that promote more gradual and subtle forms of exposure.
Understand (3rd step of RC)
working to find the meaning of the stressor in your life.
reframing
involves finding a new or creative way to think about a stressor that reduces its threat. Can take place spontaneously when time has been spent thinking and writing about stressful events.
Self-disclosing writing
found to improve immune function, whereas suppressing emotional topics weakened it. Useful in reframing trauma and reducing stress.
meditation
the practice of intentional contemplation. Some forms attempt to clear the mind of thought, others involve focusing on a single thought, concentration on breathing, or on a mantra (a repetitive sound such as om). Restful and revitalizing. Also an effort to experience deeper or transformed consciousness. Show deactivation in the default mode network (mind wandering) and more control over attention. Shown to improve the connectivity between part of the brain involved in conflict monitoring and cognitive and emotional control.
relaxation therapy
technique for reducing tension by consciously relaxing muscles of the body.
relaxation response
condition of reduced muscle tension, cortical activity, heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure.
relaxation
reduces symptoms of stress and blood levels of cortisol.
biofeedback
the use of an external monitoring device to obtain info about a bodily function and possibly gain control over that function. Help control physiological function you are not aware of otherwise.
aerobic exercise
exercise that increases heart rate and oxygen intake for a sustained period. Associated with psychological well being. Promotes stress relief and happiness. As effective as the most effective psychological interventions for depression. Effects may result from the increase of neurotransmitters such as serotonin or from increases of endorphins.
social support
aid gained through interacting with others.
lonely people
more likely than others to be stressed and depressed and they can be more susceptible to illness because of lower-than-normal levels of immune functioning.
tend-and-befriend
the female response to stress (male = fight-or-flight); taking care of people and bringing them together. Respond to stressors with sympathetic nervous system arousal and the release of epinephrine and norepinephrine; but unlike men, they also release oxytocin, a hormone secreted by the pituitary gland in pregnant and nursing mothers.
oxytocin
in the presence of estrogen it triggers social responses: a tendency to seek our social contacts, nurture others, and create and maintain cooperative groups.
religious experiences
associations between religiosity (affiliation with or engagement in the practices of a religion), spirituality (having a belief in and engagement with some higher power), and positive health outcomes, including lower rates of heart disease, creases in chronic pain, and improved psychological health.
engagement in religious/spiritual practices
may lead to a stronger and more extensive social network, may follow healthier recommendations (dietary restrictions), and endorse a more hopeful and optimistic perspective of daily life events.
humor
can reduce sensitivity to pain and distress. Can reduce the time needed to calm down after a stressful event. opioid and dopamine release to decrease pain and increase pleasure. improves cardiovascular and immune system functions.
sickness response
a coordinated, adaptive set of reactions to illness organized by the brain. Stress can prompt this response.
immune response to an infection
beings with the activation of white blood cells that destroy microbes and release cytokines, proteins that circulate through the body.do not enter the brain, but activate the vagus nerve that runs from the intestines, stomach, and chest to the brain carrying a message alerting it of an infection.
depression
connection between sickness response, immune reaction, and stress is present. Show signs characteristic of infection, including high levels of cytokines circulating in the blood.
people who report many physical problems
tend to be negative in other ways as well, describing themselves as anxious, depressed, and under stress.
fMRi brain scans during painful events
revealed that the anterior cingulate cortex, somatosensory cortex, and prefrontal cortex (areas known to respond to painful body stimulation) were particularly active in those participants who reported higher levels of pain experience.
hypersensitivity to symptoms
underlies a variety of psychological problems and can also undermine physical health.
psychosomatic illness
an interaction between mind and body that can produce illness. Explore ways in which mind (psyche) can influence body (soma) and vice versa.
somatic symptom disorders
the set of psychological disorders in which a person with at least one bodily symptom displays significant health-related anxiety, expresses disproportionate concerns about symptoms, and devotes excessive time and energy to symptoms or health concerns.
sick role
a socially recognized set of rights and obligations linked with illness.
malingering
people who feign medical or psychological symptoms to achieve something they want. Only possible with a restricted number of illnesses. Faking illness is suspected when the secondary gains of illness, such as ability to rest, etc., outweigh the costs.
keys to effective medical care interaction is
physician empathy. The clinician must simultaneously understand the patient’s physical state and psychological state.
compliance with doctors’ orders deteriorates when
treatments must be frequent, inconvenient or painful, and when the number of treatments increases.
two kinds of psychological factors influence personal health
health relevant personality traits and health behavior. Personality can influence health through relatively enduring traits that make some people particularly susceptible to health problems or stress while sparing or protecting others.
optimism
out of all the measures of psychological well-being studied, optimism is the one that most strongly predicted a positive outcome for cardiovascular health. Aids in the maintenance of psychological health in the face of physical health problems. When sick, optimists are more likely to maintain positive emotions, stick to medical regimens, and keep up relationships with others. Also aids in the maintenance of physical health.
stress-resistant group (hardy)
showed commitment, an ability to become involved in life’s tasks rather than just dabbling; control, the expectation that their actions and words have a casual influence over their lives and environments; and challenge, undertaking change and accepting opportunities for growth.
self regulation
the exercise of voluntary control over the self to bring the self into line with preferred standards. More effective when focusing on what to do rather than on what not to do.
illusion of unique invulnerability
a systematic bias toward believing that they are less likely to fall victim to the problem than are others.
smokers
1 in 2 smokers dies prematurely from smoking-related diseases such as lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and cancer of the mouth and throat.
demand
pos or neg event that motivates behavior
physiological response to stress: negative mood state
lasts up to 4 weeks; hopelessness, anhedonia, hypervigilance; risks for anxiety disorders and depression.
posttraumatic stress disorder
experience if you go through a trauma. > 4 weeks. emotional blunting, anxiety and arousal.
mindfulness practices
increases awareness of mental, emotional, and physical responses to stress. present-centered mindset decreases anxiety, increases creativity and problem solving. ex. method ACE (awareness of thoughts, feelings, collect your attention into your breath, expand attention throughout your body).
