health, stress and coping

Question 1

health care psychology

Answer 1

a field focused on understanding how psychological factors affect health and illness and which interventions help maintain health and combat illness

Question 2

stress

Answer 2

the process of adjusting to cicumstances that disrupt or threaten to disrupt a person’s daily functioning

Question 3

stressors

Answer 3

events or situations to which people must adjust

Question 4

stress reactions

Answer 4

physical and psychological responses to stressors

Question 5

fight-flight reaction

Answer 5

physical reactions triggered by the sympathetic nervous system that prepare the body to fight or to run from a threatening situation

Question 6

general adaptation syndrome

Answer 6

a three-stage pattern of responses triggered by the effort to adapt to stressors

Question 7

diseases of adaptation

Answer 7

illnesses caused or worsened by stressors

Question 8

burnout

Answer 8

a pattern of physical and psychological dysfunctions in response to continuous stressors

Question 9

posttraumatic stress disorder

Answer 9

a pattern of adverse reactions following a traumatic event, commonly involving reexperiencing the event through nightmares or vivid memories

Question 10

social support

Answer 10

the friends and social contacts on whom one can depend for help and support

Question 11

psychoneuroimmunology

Answer 11

the field that examines the interaction of psychological and physiological processes affecting the body’s ability to defend itself against disease

Question 12

immune system

Answer 12

the body’s first line of biological defense against invading substances and microorganisms

Question 13

inflammation

Answer 13

an immune system response that combats infectious agents and helps to heal injuries

Question 14

health promotion

Answer 14

the process of altering or elimination behaviors that pose risks to health and, at the same time, fostering healthier behavior patterns