Lecture 10: Stress, Coping and Health Flashcards
stress
feeling of emotional strain/pressure
zoe’s procrastination skills
how stress works
stimulus - “there’s all kinds of stress in my life”
response - “i’m feeling stressed out”
organism-environment interaction
cat warfare meme
stress indicators
- intensity/severity
- duration
- predictability
- controllability
- Chronicity
i triple dawg dare u to poke that bear with a stick bear is pissed off
cognitive appraisal
- demands (primary)
- resources (secondary)
- consequences
- meaning of consequences
NOOO CONSEQUENCES NOOOOOOOOO
effects of cognitive appraisal
- worry
- racing thoughts
- low self confidence
- expecting the worst
- feeling hopeless
types of physiological responses
- Sympathetic arousal
- stress hormones
effects physiological responses
- muscle tension
- elevated heart rate
- shortness of breathe
- increased susceptibility to illness
maddie procrastination skill + keeley’s need for alcohol
coping and task behaviours
- task-irrelevant responses
- behavioural rigidity/disorganization
- self-destructive behaviours (substance abuse, alcohol etc…)
stressor
events that place a strong demand on us that endanger our well-being
(physical or psychological)
microstressors
daily hassles and everyday annoyances we encounter
catastrophic events
war, natural disaster, etc
major negative events
crime, abuse, death, career failure, major illness, etc
history of among us
measuring stressful life events
- history of the person
- self report measures
what is stress?
- start by appraising situation and implications for us
- make mistakes and distort our appraisal at any point in progress
actually do the triple dawg dare
appraising situation and implications
- appraisal of the demands (primary appraisal)
- appraisal of the resources available to deal with it (secondary appraisal)
- judgment of consequences of situation
- appraisal of personal meaning – what outcome might imply about us
biological aspects of stress
- HPA-Axis
- CRH (stress response)
- CRH stimulates pituit
- ACTH travels to kidney’s where it stimulates adrenal glands to release cortisol
- high lvls of cortisol trigger hypothalamus and hippocampus to stop stress hormone
HPA-Axis
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis
(huge penis attraction)
CRH
external stressors trigger hypothalamus to release corticotropin-releasing hormone
(car really hot)
ACTH
adrenocorticotropic hormone
(ants cuck the horse)
what is stress?: Physiological
activation of sympathetic nervous system and release of stress hormones
how does stress work physiologically?
- increase heart rate & respiration to get oxygen-rich blood to muscles
- slow down digestion allow blood to be diverted from muscles
- pupils dilate to increase amount of light coming into eye and enhance vision
- immune system is suppressed to reduce inflammation/swelling of tissue
what is stress?: response system
- fight-flight-freeze
- parasympathetic nervous system activates to reduce arousal
fight-flight-freeze
- if stressor continues, stress-response will continue and body remains vigilant
- resistance and bodies continued mobilization of resources so that we can function despite presence of stressors
- bodies resources become depleted, exhaustion takes place
stress: exhaustion untreated
- lead to greater increase in disease, collapse and death
- system breakdown is usually the weakest
system breakdown stress
- cardiovascular (heart disease, heart attacks, stroke)
- psychological (mood disorders, psychotic episodes)
- immune system (possibility of developing disease/infection)
positive association btwn negative life events
- reported symptoms of psychological distress
- third variable causation (never trust correlations for causation)
triangle of stress
1) negative life event scores
2) Psychological distress
3) third possible factor (ex. neuroticism)
stressful events correlate with immediate health effects: examples
- LA earthquake # of heart attacks increase
- death of spouse people show higher mortality rates then married people
high stress association diseases examples
- arthritis
- bronchitis
- stomach/intestinal uclers
- heart disease
- asthma
- migraines
immune system functioning
- increase risk of illness
- couples who experience conflict had immune system decrease
- eating comfort foods that are usually less healthy
- engaging in activities to “unwind” that are less healthy
brain functioning and cortisol
prolonged exposure to hippocampus (important to memory and learning) leads to deterioration and memory impairment
vulnerability factors
increase people’s susceptibility to stressful events
protective factors
environmental or personal resources that help people cope for effectively with stress
what are coping skills and protective factors
- social support
- coping skills
- personality factors
- mental framework
social support
knowing we can rely on others for help and support in a time of crisis
facts of social systems
- social symptoms increase sense of identity and meaning
- increased positive feelings with friends
- sharing of resources – money, food, knowledge/advice
- social pressure to prevent maladaptive coping
social isolation
lack of social support
facts of social isolation
- controlling for medical factors, people with weak social ties have increased mortality rates then people with strong ties
- effect was stronger for men then women
types of vulnerability/protective factor
- individual
- family
- extrafamilial context
individual
- good intellectual function
- appealing, socialable, easygoing disposition
- talents
- faith
family
- close relationship to caring parent figure
- authoritative parenting; warmth, structure, high expectations
- socioeconomic advantages
- connections to extended supportive family
extrafamilial context
- bonds to prosocial adults outside the family
- connections to prosocial organization
- attending effective schools
hardiness
stress-protective factors and personality traits that characterize the ability to cope effectively with stress
commitment to…
- work
- families
- believe what they’re doing is important
control
- internal locus of control
- belief they have control over outcomes as opposed to being powerless to influence events
challenge
- look at demands of situation as opportunity rather threat, stimulating higher levels of performance
