Exercise Stress and Anxiety Flashcards
Define Stress
A state of physical/psychological challenge/imbalance
Define a stressor
An external or internal stimulus causing challenge (acute, chronic or distant)
Define the stress response
A psycho-physiological reaction that helps body/mind adapt and restores balance
What are the major life stressors for adults? Give a reference
-Breakups
-Deaths
-Moving
-Poverty
-Prejudice
-Poor Health
-Injury
(Surgeon General’s Report on Stress and Mental Health, 2000)
What are the major stressors for students? Give a reference
-Change in sleeping/eating habits
-Holiday work
-New responsibilities
-Workload
-Finance
-Computers
-Poor grades
(Ross et al 1999)
According to Cannon 1915, what is the fight or flight/stress response?
- Adaptive evolutionary response
- Raised heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, sweating, flushing, dry mouth, pupil dilation
- Hyper vigilance, narrowing focus, impulsivity
- Hyperactivity, habitual activity, aggression, sleep loss, withdrawal
Explain the neural pathway that a stressor takes to result in the fight or flight response
Stressor activates the hypothalamus, which sympathetically stimulates the adrenal medulla, and the adrenal cortex to release stress hormones
What are physical stress related illnesses?
- Immunodeficiency
- Diabetes/heart disease
- Cancer
- Infertility
- Osteoporosis
What are psycho-behavioural stress related illnesses
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Eating Disorders
- Substance abuse/dependency
- Suicide
What did Aldana et al 1996 find about the relationship between stress and physical activity?
Active adults report less moderate (78%) and high (62%) stress than inactive adults
What did Roth and Holmes 1985 find about the relationship between aerobic fitness and stress?
Aerobic fitness mitigated the effects of stress upon stress related illness in college freshmen
What did Crews and Landers 1987 find about the impact of fitness on the stress response?
Aerobic fitness reduces stress response to acute stressors
what did Spalding et al 2004 find about training and the stress response?
Trained participants showed reduced stress during post exercise stress test and recovery. Moreso for aerobic fitness than weight training
What is the cross-stressor adaptation hypothesis?
Training induces physical adaptations that generalise across domains. Augmented response to novel stressor results in quicker adaptation. Minimization of the stress response during common or chronic stress preserves cortisol
Who proposed the cross-stressor response?
Selye 1950
According to Gal and Lazarus, 1975, what psychological factors does training help to bolster in order to buffer stress?
- Greater autonomy and mastery
- Improved self perceptions
- Social Support
- Distraction
What is the definition of Anxiety?
Emotional state of anticipation or apprehension about the future
What is the symptomology of General Anxiety Disorder?
- Excessive worry for over 6 months
- Impaired social and vocational functioning
- Inability to control or cope with anxiety
- Presence of restlessness, fatigue, concentration, irritability, muscle tension, sleep problems
- No pre-existing medical conditions
Apart from general anxiety disorder, what other types of anxiety disorders exist?
- Panic disorder
- Phobias
- Social anxiety disorder
- Obsessive compulsive disorder
- PTSD
What are the traditional treatments for anxiety?
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
- Medications
- Alternative Treatments like lifestyle change
What are the cons of cognitive behavioural therapy?
Expensive, long term, social stigma
What are the cons of medications for treating anxiety?
-Expensive, long term, addiction, side-effects like sleep problems dizziness, nausea and depression
What did Stephens 1988 find about the relationship between trait anxiety and lifestyle activity?
Active lifestyles had lower trait anxiety
What did Petruzzello et al 1991 find about the effects of acute exercise on anxiety?
Acute exercise reduces state anxiety, effect greatest in moderate intensity aerobic exercise, (60-70%HRmax). Nonaerobic exercise increased anxiety slightly
What did Bartholomew and Linder 1998 find about the impact of load intensity on anxiety? (hi/med/low)
High loads increase anxiety for 30 min, low loads decreased anxiety for 30 minutes. Back to pre-levels after 30 minutes. Same effect in both males and females
Give three references substantiating the claim that exercise is an effective treatment for anxiety
Jayakody et al 2013
Stonerock et al 2015
Wegner et al 2014
What did Broocks et al 1998 find about the effect of exercise on treating panic disorders compared to drugs?
Exercise effective for decreasing symptoms. Less effective than drugs.
What did Martinsen 2007 find about the impact of walking, jogging, stretching and resistance training on anxiety disorders?
Fitness gains were associated with long term reduction in symptoms. Non aerobic exericse also effective. Low intensity exercise is better. Distraction and skill mastery as main mechanisms
How has it been proposed that exercise alleviates clinical anxiety?
- Desensitization, reframing of symptoms
- Muscular relaxation, temperature change
- Enhanced competence, autonomy, mastery
- Social support
- Elevated levels of serotonin and GABA
