Exam 3: Stress Flashcards
Exam 3: Chapter 5 Stress Chapter 6 Anxiety Disorders Chapter 10 Eating & Sleeping Disorders
Define: Stress
A demand made on an organism to adapt or adjust.
Stressor: A source of stress
Define: Adjustment Disorder
A maladaptive reaction to an identified stressor, characterized by impaired functioning or emotional distress that exceeds what would normally be expected.
Define: Endocrine System
The system of ductless glands that secrete hormones directly into the bloodstream.
Define: Hormones
Substances secreted by endocrine glands that regulate body functions and promote growth and development.
Define: General Adaptation Syndrome
(GAS) The body’s three-stage response to states of prolonged or intense stress
Define: Alarm Reaction
The first stage of the GAS, characterized by heightened sympathetic nervous system activity
Define: Flight-or-Fight Reaction
The inborn tendency to respond to a threat by either fighting or fleeing.
Define: Resistance Stage
The second stage of the GAS, involving the body’s attempt to withstand prolonged stress and preserve resources.
Define: Exhaustion Stage
The third stage of the GAS, characterized by lowered resistance, increased parasympathetic nervous system activity, and eventual physical deterioration.
Define: Acculturative Stress
Pressure to adjust to a host or mainstream culture.
Define: Emotion-Focused Coping
A coping style that involves reducing the impact of a stressor by ignoring or escaping it rather than dealing with it directly.
Define: Problem-Focused Coping
A coping style that involves confronting a stressor directly.
Define: Self-Efficacy Expectancies
Beliefs in one’s ability to cope with challenges and to accomplish particular tasks.
Define: Psychological Hardiness
A cluster of stress-buffering traits characterized by commitment, challenge, and control.
Define: Positive Psychology
A growing contemporary movement within psychology that focuses on the positive attributes of human behavior.
Define: Psychosomatic
Pertaining to a physical disorder in which psychological factors play a causal or contributing role.
Define: Biofeedback Training
(BFT) A method of giving an individual information (feedback) about bodily functions so that the person can gain some degree of control over them.
Define: Type A Behavior Pattern
(TABP) A behavior pattern characterized by a sense of time urgency, competitiveness, and hostility.
Walter Cannon
consider stress as a response
Developed “homeostasis” getting back to a state of balance—our response in stressful situations is meant to restore balance
Hans Selye
consider stress as a response
“Nonspecific Response” EX: Rats who died during a study due to the stress induced by the shot given to the subjects each day
WE ALL RESPOND TO STRESS DIFFERENTLY
biologically, we are built to endure short-term stress
General Adaptation Syndrome
consider stress as a response
“A model to explain the effects of long-term stress”
+Stressor occurs and we enter ALARM PHASE {Fight or Flight} (high use of resources), however you can’t maintain that level forever so you enter the…
+RESISTANCE PHASE—when you’ve identified the stressor and are trying to cope with the ongoing pressure, which is an issue because you are still expending resources (if this goes on too long you enter…)
+EXHAUSTION—when things start to go wrong (immune system issues)
Holmes & Rahe
Social Readjustment Rating Scale
consider stress as a stimulus
(even good events can be stressful) points were assigned to events indicating the severity
Holmes & Rahe
Diathesis-Stress Model
consider stress as a stimulus
Model (Diathesis- an inherited vulnerability or weakness)
H&R claim that the place stress hits you first (a vulnerability) is inherited. Chronic stress shows up in the weakest system. D-S Model argues that if your stress typically “hits” you in your weakest system you will crash first—as opposed to someone who’s stress hits them in one of their stronger systems.
This model is frequently used in medical reviews.
Yerkes-Dodson Curve
consider stress as a stimulus
Performance VS Levels of Arousal
If arousal is increased, performance improves as well. Implies that there is an optimal level of arousal that will yield in the best performance. However, this curve is dependent upon the type of task (and the difficulty of the task) that is presented. The more difficult the task, the less arousal/stimulation is desired because the task itself can keep you engaged.
Factors that Predispose to Stress
- Nature (short-lived or ongoing/one or multiple)
- Predictability (a double-edged sword)
- Resources (do your resources prevent or worsen stress)
- Control (Martin Seligman “Dog Torturer”—learned helplessness)
- Perception (Pain Control video “pain is a construct of the mind” “pain is an emotion”)
Coronary Prone Behavior Pattern:
The original name/term for “Type A” used because it correlates with heart disease and hypertension.
5 Behaviors:
1) sense of time/urgency
2) sense of unrelenting external demands 3) competitive
4) abrupt in gestures and speech
5) exhibit chronic cynicism and hostility
Psychosomatic/Psychogenic/Psycho-physiological Disorders:
Body conditions believed to be affected by mental disorders: headaches, asthma, heart disease, cancer, strokes
The heading in the DSM has been renamed Psychological Factors Affecting Medical Condition.
There aren’t any conditions listed because of a change in thinking; any psychological factor can affect a medical condition.
“This is the great error of our day—that the physicians separate the body from the soul.”
Adjustment Disorder:
Probably one of the most stigmatizing of the disorders, the “least sticky of the labels.” Must exhibit maladaptive (more extreme than most people) response to an identifiable disorder. {time sensitive}