Chapter 3 - Stress as a Psychobiological process Flashcards
stress
Stress is a psychological and physiological experience that occurs when an individual encounters something of significance that demands their attention and/or efforts to cope.
internal stressor
+ Eg
a stimulus from within a person’s body that prompts the stress response.
- originate from within an individual
- psychological and biological processes
Eg,
* Attitude – If someone has a negative attitude more likely that they consider a situation to be outside of their capacity to cope, increasing the likelihood of experiencing stress.
* Rumination – Repeatedly thinking about the negative components of an event increasing the likelihood of experiencing stress.
external stressor
+ Eg
a stimulus from outside of a person’s body that prompts the stress response.
Eg
* a test or an exam
* financial difficuties
Distress
form of stress characterised by a negative psychological state.
Eustress
form of stress characterised by a positive psychological state.
Acute stress
form of stress characterised by intense psychological and physiological symptoms that are brief in duration.
Flight response
- an organism flees from the stressor.
- This is generally because escaping the situation is perceived by the organism to be the safest option.
- activation/domination of the sympathetic nervous system, which prompts the release of adrenaline from the adrenal glands and allows the body to quickly flee from the threat.
fight response
organism confronts their stressor.
* activation/domination of sympathetic responses that energise the body and make it better able to deal with danger.
freeze response
- characterised by the body’s immobility and shock in response to a stressor.
- involves a brief activation/domination of the parasympathetic nervous system.
- also involve an almost simultaneous activation/domination of the sympathetic nervous system, with the freeze response often only lasting seconds.
chronic stress
form of stress that endures for several months or longer.
cortisol
a hormone that is released by the adrenal glands in times of stress to aid the body in initiating and maintaining heightened arousal.
cortisol effects
responses to acute stress:
* Cortisol helps to energise the body by inducing the release of glucose and a rise in blood-sugar levels
* Confronts the threat (fight)
* Fleeing from the source of danger (flight)
* Immobility and shock (freeze).
responses to chronic stress:
* Energising the body
* Reducing inflammation
* Immuno-suppression.
GAS
is a biological model involving three stages of physiological reactions that a person experiences in response to a persistent stressor.
Alarm Reaction - Shock
involving decreased bodily arousal for a brief period of time following the initial exposure to a stressor.
the body experiences a temporary state of shock. It reacts as though it has been injured, as biological processes within the body fall below normal functioning.
Alarm reaction - Countershock
Sympathetic nervous system responses occur that mobilise the body to respond to the stressor, heart rate increases and stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, are released into the bloodstream. This energises the body to confront and respond to the stressor.
levels of bodily arousal, and therefore their ability to deal with the stressor, increase to above normal.
Resistance
maintaining high levels of bodily arousal in response to a persistent stressor.
Increased cortisol levels contribute to the maintenance of this heightened physiological state.
Resistance to the initial stressor increases, resistance to subsequent stressors that may arise decreases.
Prolonged presence of stress hormones in the bloodstream, particularly cortisol, begins to suppress immune system functioning, which increases susceptibility to illness.
Exhaustion
body becomes unable to maintain these heightened levels of physiological arousal due to depletion of energy levels and bodily resources, resulting in an inability to cope with the stressor.
can no longer cope with the demands of the stressor and is also unequipped to confront any other stressors that may arise.
vulnerable to both physiological and psychological illnesses due to immune-suppression.
Explanatory Power of GAS
Strengths:
- recognises the relationship between chronic stress and illness.
- The GAS provides objective, empirical information about the biological processes involved in the stress response.
weaknesses:
- based on research that was conducted on rats, reducing the generalisability to the human population.
- focuses on the biological aspects of stress. It ignores the importance of psychological factors
- The GAS prescribes a uniform model
that is the same for every individual in response to all stressors. Therefore, it fails to recognise the subjective nature of the stress response, meaning that different people respond to different stressors in unique ways.
Primary appraisal
initial process of evaluating the nature of the incoming stressor, specifically the kind of stress it might cause.
Benign Positive
An initial appraisal of a stimulus as neutral or good that does not cause stress for the individual.
Irrelevant
An initial appraisal of a stimulus as a non-issue for the individual.
stressful
An initial appraisal of a stimulus as a source of worry or emotional significance for the individual.
harm/loss
A further appraisal of a stressor as having caused some damage to the individual. Already experienced direct distress as a result of the stressor.
threat
A further appraisal of a stressor as potentially causing damage to the individual
in the future. This appraisal causes the individual to experience distress, even if the stressor has not directly caused distress yet.
challenge
A further appraisal of a stressor as potentially providing a positive opportunity for growth or change for the individual.
emotion-focused coping
eg
the use of coping strategies that target the emotional components of a stressor, dealing with it indirectly rather than confronting its source.
wishful thinking
denial
reframing
venting
optimism
problem-focused coping
eg
the use of coping strategies that directly target the source of the stressor, aiming to reduce it in a practical way.
time management
taking action
seeking help or advice
Lazarus explanatory power
strengths
* Allows one to track the subjective stress response of an individual.
* Human subjects were used as a source of data during the creation of the model.
weaknesses
* primary and secondary appraisal may occur simultaneously and ordering chronologically may not be reflective of the true stress response.
* Does not include biological processes of stress.
gut microbiota gut microbiome
The gut microbiota refers to all of the microorganisms that live in the gut, whilst the gut microbiome refers to all of the genes of the microorganisms that live in the gut.
Health of gut due to microbiome
When the gut microbiota is imbalanced, meaning there is not enough ‘good’ bacteria and too much ‘bad’ bacteria, it is called gut microbiota dysbiosis./ gut microbiota symbiosis.
- there is emerging research on the connection between mental health and its influence on the brain
- research has only been conducted on animals
gut brain axis
The gut-brain axis (GBA) is a bi-directional link between the enteric and central nervous systems, connected via the vagus nerve.
- majority of neural messages being sent from the gut to the brain (~90%) which previous studies have shown to influence a person’s perception and experience of stress.
- during the experience of stress, the prolonged release of cortisol – the primary stress hormone – can cause damage and disruption to the digestive system (seen in microbiota) which in turn may impact the experience of stress in the brain
Studies have shown that gut microbiota are directly linked to the production of important neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, such as dopamine, GABA and serotonin. This means that the diversity of gut microbiota can positively impact the GBA and subsequent brain chemistry and perception of stress.
enteric nervous system
refers to the network of nerves in the gut and is a subdivision of the autonomic nervous system.
-dedicated to the gastrointenstinal tract and is a sustem of nevres located in the gut, also regulating digestion
CNS and ENS
Nerves within the enteric nervous system communicate with nerves in the central nervous system.
can influence the neural messages
Vagus nerve
vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve that connects the gut and the brain, enabling them to communicate. The vagus nerve is responsible for bidirectionally conveying information between the gut and the brain.
Context-specific effectiveness
Context-specific effectiveness refers to when the coping strategy or mechanism used is appropriate for the unique demands of the stressor.
Coping flexiblity
refers to the ability to adjust or change one’s coping strategies depending on the unique and changing demands of a stressor.
Approach Strategies
coping strategies that directly confront the source of the stress and thus reduce or eliminate it.
eg making a list of pros and cons
seeking professional advice/counselling
making a plan and executing it
avoidance strategies
are coping strategies that involve evading or distancing oneself from the source of stress.
eg
* Wishful thinking
* Substance abuse
* Venting emotions
