Concept of Stress Flashcards
Define Stress
Stress is physical, mental, emotional, and biological.
What is the MInd Body Problem?
How does the mind interact with the body? Are the mind and the body the same thing?
What are the two approaches to the Mind-Body Problem
Dualism and Monism.
Dualism
Mind and body are different things
Physical stuff is different from mental stuff
Mind is similar to the idea of a spirit
Monism
Mind and body are the same thing
Mind is a by-product of active bodies
What is the problem with the dualistic point of view?
There is difficulty in explaining how minds interact to make bodies active.
What is the problem with a monistic point of view?
It suggests that minds don’t really exist and they are illusions.
Who was Renee Descartes?
He was an influential philosopher and mathematician. “I think therefore I am”
What did Descartes believe?
He believed in the dualistic approach that mind and body were separate. The body was like a machine and the mind was a spirit that controlled the body from within. “The Ghost in the Machine”
What is the “Vital Spirit”
Eyes are like lenses, skeleton and muscles like levers and pulleys. The vital spirit watched through the eyes and controlled the machine.
Where does the “Vital Spirit” stay, according to Descartes?
The pineal gland.
What did descartes influcene?
He influenced the Standard Biomedical Model.
What is the first limitations of the Standard Biomedical Model?
Linear, one-way causation. The pathogen causes the disease in the host and ignores possible interaction or reversed causation.
What is the second limitations of the Standard Biomedical Model?
Physiological only. Diseases are due to physiological insults. Treatment changes physiology. Ignores psychological effects.
What is the third limitation of the Standard Biomedical Model?
The traditional view is dualistic. The body is treated as separate from the mind. Ignores the potential actions of the mind. Emotions, and beliefs are irrelevant.
What is Vitalism?
The belief that living things are fundamentally different than non-living things. Life contains a “vital spirit”(elan vital). This spirit could not be studied.
Who is Claude Bernard?
He believed that living things could be studied like mechanical objects. Just like complex machines could be understood by studying their simpler parts.
What must living things do if they want to stay alive?
Living things must respond to changes in the external environment.
Who is Walter Canon?
He is the first professor of physiology at Harvard. Studied the brain’s ability to regulate the body. Early understanding of the autonomic nervous system.
What term did Walter Canon Coin?
Homeostasis
Define Homeostasis
ability of an organism to maintain internal equilibrium by adjusting its physiological processes.
Define Stress
Demands placed on the body and the bodies response to those demands.
What did Hanns Seyle Study?
Studied stress responses in animals. Exposed animals to various stressors such as heat, cold, and illnesses.
What were the consistent results that Seyle observed regardless of the stress type?
Enlarged adrenal glands
decreased thymus glands and other immune organs
Gastrointestinal ulcers
General Adaptation Syndrome
The generalized response to all forms of stress
What does stress response combine?
Stress responses combine generalized adaption with specific behavioral responses.
What is the first stage of Stress Adaptation?
Alarm Reaction. Register the stressor and begin to mount a response.
What is the second stage of Stress Adaptation?
Resistance Reaction. Able to compensate for the stress, can maintain changes required to respond, until resources needed run out.
What is the third stage of Stress Adaptation?
Exhaustion Stage. No longer able to overcome the stress. May lead to death if stress continues.
What is Allostatis?
It is the attempt to maintain homeostasis under prolonged stress.
What is Allostatic Load?
It is the damage caused by allostatis. The “wear and tear” on the body results from adapting to prolonged or repeated stress.
What are some examples of Placebo effect?
pain reduction comparable to opioids
treatment of depression comparable to anti-depressants
Reduced tremors in Parkinson’s Disease
Can Placebo Affects be condition?
Yes, through classical conditioning.
Can placebo effects work even when people know it is?
Yes
What is Behavioral Medicine?
Studies how neurological, psychological, social, and cultural influences impact individual health.
