Health/Stress

Question 1

Psychology and health combined

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Stress

Answer 2

• 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

Question 3

Process of stress

Answer 3

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

Question 4

Stressor

Answer 4

Something that initiates the process of stress

Question 5

Positives of stress

Answer 5

• motivation
• immune system fires a little better BUT ONLY with SHORT-TERM stress

Question 6

Negatives of stress

Answer 6

• health declines overall with prolonged stress
• sometimes causes unhealthy coping mechanisms such as alcoholism to numb the stress

Question 7

Stressors examples

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Allostatic load

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Theories of stress

Answer 9

1.) Walter Cannon (1930s)
2.) Selye

Question 10

Walter Cannon (1930s)

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Selye

Answer 11

General Adaptation System (GAS)
- Agrees with Cannon but also different stages that brain goes through in terms of stress

Question 12

Stages of GAS

Answer 12

1.) Alarm reaction
- Cannon’s idea about fight or flight
2.) Resistance
3.) Exhaustion

Question 13

Cortisol

Answer 13

“Stress hormone”
- too much damages brain and body

Question 14

Health psych

Answer 14

Psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine
- sleep
- chronic pain
- weight management
- medication compliance
- tobacco cessation (helping them quit)

Question 15

Psychoneuroimmunology

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

Increased mental health problems can cause decrease in overall health

Answer 16

• 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

Question 17

Feedback loop between heart and brain

Answer 17

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)

Question 18

Other risk factors for stress

Answer 18

Type A personality
- people who are excessive planners
- organized and overly distress if deviation from this
- can be hostile and aggressive

Question 19

Happier people are shown to live…

Answer 19

LONGER

Question 20

To relieve your stress

Answer 20

• meditation
• physical activity
• soothing music
• art/journaling
• therapy

Question 21

Stress and work

Answer 21

• unreasonable deadlines
• interpersonal conflicts
• administration/coworkers/management
• burnout
• autonomy

Question 22

Autonomy

Answer 22

Ability to make decisions and have independence
- trusting someone to do something on their own
- less autonomy, more stress

Question 23

Coping

Answer 23

Cognitive reserve theory (brain can be more resistant to cognitive decline if stroke, etc.)
- good for brain and well-being (increased cognitive reserve theory)

Question 24

Problem-focused coping

Answer 24

• directly influence/deal with stressor at hand
• orient coping strategy where problem is manipulated

Question 25

Emotional-focused coping

Answer 25

- 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

Question 26

Self-control

Answer 26

- healthy coping - work through and control impulses - delay impulses and short-term gratification

Question 27

Bad coping mechanisms

Answer 27

self-harm drinking

Question 28

High levels of self-control leads to...

Answer 28

- higher overall health - higher income - higher academic performance

Question 29

Social support

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Coping mechanisms

Answer 30

To reduce nervous system arousal and reduce cortisol production 1.) Avoidance 2.) Physical activity 3.) Biofeedback

Question 31

Avoidance

Answer 31

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")

Question 32

Physical activity

Answer 32

- Reducing stress and increasing physical well-being - Higher levels of mental health

Question 33

Biofeedback

Answer 33

- 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)

Question 34

Anxiety and stress reducing techniques

Answer 34

- meditation - guided imagery - Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) - deep breathing (most people don't breath properly; breathe from diaphragm and deep lungs, not stomach) - Yoga

Question 35

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Answer 35

Going through muscle groups one by one systematically and relieving the tension in your muscles

Question 36

Positive psychology

Answer 36

- roots in humanism - *Goal is to discover what makes people happy and increases well-being - SELIGMAN (FATHER of positive psychology) "Happiness" Well-being

Question 37

Outcome variables of happiness and well-being related to

Answer 37

- 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)

Question 38

What is one of the best things for coping?

Answer 38

Therapy - Especially psychotherapy can have long-term lasting effects