Health/Stress Flashcards
Psychology and health combined
These individuals help with chronic pain, sleep, medication use, etc., in order to help people with their health
- integration of psychological principles to help improve a person’s health
Stress
- Good sometimes (a little stress adds motivation)
- Getting into a new environment
- Stress on the body
Stress is a process that occurs when you first appraise something
Process of stress
1.) Appraisal (something, person, event, etc.)
- think about and categorize something (perception) so COGNITIVE piece to this sways how we respond to the stressor
2.) Response
- typically challenge or a thereat goes into appraisal
Stressor
Something that initiates the process of stress
Positives of stress
- motivation
- immune system fires a little better BUT ONLY with SHORT-TERM stress
Negatives of stress
- health declines overall with prolonged stress
- sometimes causes unhealthy coping mechanisms such as alcoholism to numb the stress
Stressors examples
Bad
- Homesick
- Exams coming up/academics
- Interpersonal stress
- Family
- Death in a family
Good
- End of the year euphoria
- Study abroad
- Planning a wedding
- Preparing for the birth of a child
Allostatic load
Chronic impact of stress is worse if more daily stressful issues than one singular event
- “wear and tear” on body/brain related to increased stressors accumulating over time
Theories of stress
1.) Walter Cannon (1930s)
2.) Selye
Walter Cannon (1930s)
Stress response is a body and brain thing and not just a body thing
- unified body/brain process
- identified fight or flight as a survival mechanism
Selye
General Adaptation System (GAS)
- Agrees with Cannon but also different stages that brain goes through in terms of stress
Stages of GAS
1.) Alarm reaction
- Cannon’s idea about fight or flight
2.) Resistance
3.) Exhaustion
Cortisol
“Stress hormone”
- too much damages brain and body
Health psych
Psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine
- sleep
- chronic pain
- weight management
- medication compliance
- tobacco cessation (helping them quit)
Psychoneuroimmunology
Internal brain immune studies
- combination of endocrine, neural, mental health, etc., systems an how they interact
- ex. How do neural transmitters work/balance when struggling with depression, etc.
Increased mental health problems can cause decrease in overall health
- Vulnerability to common illnesses also increases
- healing from injury and surgery is slower
- HIV/other immune system diseases when mental health symptomology is high, the course is much quicker
Feedback loop between heart and brain
Cardiovascular implication of stress can cause Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)
risk factors:
- hypertension/high blood pressure
- family history
- obesity
- smoking
(stroke and heart attack greater risk)
Other risk factors for stress
Type A personality
- people who are excessive planners
- organized and overly distress if deviation from this
- can be hostile and aggressive
Happier people are shown to live…
LONGER
To relieve your stress
- meditation
- physical activity
- soothing music
- art/journaling
- therapy
Stress and work
- unreasonable deadlines
- interpersonal conflicts
- administration/coworkers/management
- burnout
- autonomy
Autonomy
Ability to make decisions and have independence
- trusting someone to do something on their own
- less autonomy, more stress
Coping
Cognitive reserve theory (brain can be more resistant to cognitive decline if stroke, etc.)
- good for brain and well-being (increased cognitive reserve theory)
Problem-focused coping
- directly influence/deal with stressor at hand
- orient coping strategy where problem is manipulated
Emotional-focused coping
- when can’t directly manipulate/fix the stressor
- work with the emotions in hand with the stressor
- *engage in avoidance and denial, which is not the healthiest means of coping
Self-control
- healthy coping
- work through and control impulses
- delay impulses and short-term gratification
Bad coping mechanisms
self-harm
drinking
High levels of self-control leads to…
- higher overall health
- higher income
- higher academic performance
Social support
Linked to positive outcomes in coping (linked to increase in health and happiness)
- support you are getting should be positive, BUT that is not always the case
Coping mechanisms
To reduce nervous system arousal and reduce cortisol production
1.) Avoidance
2.) Physical activity
3.) Biofeedback
Avoidance
Can lead to a lot more stress due to the avoidance causing more things to pile up (cycle of stress known as an “emotional cascade”)
Physical activity
- Reducing stress and increasing physical well-being
- Higher levels of mental health
Biofeedback
- reducing anxiety and stress
- usually used with EEG (light) so you can see that feedback in brain LIVE when coping mechanisms are employed
(reduction of headaches too)
(reduction of insomnia too)
Anxiety and stress reducing techniques
- meditation
- guided imagery
- Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)
- deep breathing (most people don’t breath properly; breathe from diaphragm and deep lungs, not stomach)
- Yoga
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Going through muscle groups one by one systematically and relieving the tension in your muscles
Positive psychology
- roots in humanism
- *Goal is to discover what makes people happy and increases well-being
- SELIGMAN (FATHER of positive psychology)
“Happiness”
Well-being
Outcome variables of happiness and well-being related to
- decreased mortality (direct relation)
- increase in health overall
- increased immune system
- more motivation and self-control
- better levels of sleep
- increased levels of mental health (direct relation) and decreased levels of symptomology (ex. anxiety)
What is one of the best things for coping?
Therapy
- Especially psychotherapy can have long-term lasting effects
