Module 2 - Fight or Flight: or Frenzy? Flashcards
1
Q
What is stress defined as?
A
- A stimulus or change in the environment
2
Q
What causes a stimulus or change in the environment?
A
- Stressors
3
Q
What are the 2 types of stressors?
A
- Acute stressors
- Chronic Stressors
4
Q
Describe Acute Stressors. Give examples.
A
Limited
- Running late, late, accident
5
Q
Describe chronic stressors. examples?
A
Prolonged, repeated
- Job strain, poverty, major life events, daily hassles
6
Q
What is the Major life event scale also known as?
A
- Social Readjustment Rating Scale
7
Q
What is assumed to be stressful?
A
- Change + or -
8
Q
What are assigned life change unit score? what is it based on?
A
Items
- Severity
9
Q
What has been shown based on the major life events scale?
A
Correlations with incidence of:
- Heart Attack
- Broken Bones
- Diabetes
- MS
- TB
- Pregnancy complications
- Decline in academic performance
10
Q
What are some examples of items on the Major life events scale and their unit scores?
A
- Death of a spouse = 100
- Jail Term = 63
- Marriage = 50
- Death of a Friend = 37
- Vacation = 13
11
Q
What causes an increased likelihood of contracting cold virus?
A
- More stressful life events
12
Q
What are daily hassles?
A
- Day-to-day unpleasant or potentially harmful events
13
Q
How are daily hassles ideally measured?
A
- As they unfold, using daily process methods
14
Q
What are hassles and uplifts more strongly associated with than life events?
A
- Health
15
Q
What can stress be defined as?
A
- Stimulus
- Response
16
Q
Describe stress as a response
A
Person’s physiological response
- (fight-or-flight; reactivity)
Person’s psychological response
- Thoughts/emotions (nervousness)
17
Q
Describe what the physiological changes from the fight-or-flight response do (3).
A
- Mobilization
- Increased Energy
- Increased Focus
18
Q
List the physiological changes that occur from the fight-or-flight response (11)
A
Increased
- breathing
- HR
- BP
- Muscle tension
- Blood Glucose
- Sweating
Pupils Dilate
Digestion slows
Mouth Dry
Bladder Relaxes
Hands/Feet Cold
19
Q
What does the adrenal gland release?
A
- Epinephrine (adrenaline)
- Norepinephrine (noradrenaline)
20
Q
What are epinephrine and norepinephrine?
A
Catecholamines
- Hormones / neurotansmitters
21
Q
What do epinephrine and norepinephrine do?
A
Regulate:
- HR
- Metabolism
- Respiration
- Oxygen to the brain and muscles
22
Q
What is the Stress Hormone?
A
- Cortisol
23
Q
What does cortisol complement?
A
- Sympathetic Nervous System
24
Q
What does cortisol do?
A
Increase
- BP
- Blood Glucose
- Brain use of glucose
Suppresses
- Nonessential systems
Reduces
- Inflammation
Assists
- Return to homeostasis
25
What nonessential systems does cortisol suppress?
- Digestive
- Reproductive
- Immune
26
How does cortisol assists the return to homeostasis?
- Cortisol output decreases over time
27
Why does cortisol output decrease over time?
- Negative Feedback Loop
28
What is the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis?
- Hypothalamus
- Pituitary Gland
- Adrenal Gland
29
Why is cortisol hard to study?
- Influenced by exercise, diet, mood....
- Individual differences in diurnal cycle and average output
- Inconsistent results across types of stressors
30
Describe Stress as a transaction
- Process involving continuous interactions and adjustments between a person and the environment, each affecting and affected by the other.
31
Explain transactional model of stress's cognitive appraisal
- How an event or situation is appraised or evaluated by a person that matters
32
Explain the first step in primary appraisal
- Is it a threat or stressful
33
What is the second step of primary appraisal if something is appraised as stressful?
- Harm-loss?
- Threat or challenge?
34
Explain the first part of secondary appraisal
- Do I have the resources to meet the demands?
35
What are some examples of answer to the first part of Secondary Appraisal (do I have the resources to meet the demands?)?
- I can't do it - I know I'll fail
- I'll try, but chances are slim
- I can do it with some help
- If this method fails, I can try a few others
- I can do it if I work hard
- No problem - I can do it
36
Stress is a transaction leading a person to perceive _________ between demands of a situation and the __________ of their biological, psychological, or social systems.
- A discrepancy
- Resources
36
What are the 2 types of control in secondary appraisal?
- Behavioural Control
- Cognitive Control
37
What Factors Affect Appraisal?
- Personal Factor
- Situational Factor
38
What are some examples of personal factors that affect appraisal?
- Personality
- Self-esteem
- Motivation
- Perfectionism
39
What are some examples of situational factors that affect appraisal?
- Degree of demand
- Imminence
- Timing
- Ambiguity
- Desirability
- Controllability
40
Explain how desirability of a situation can affect appraisal
- Some situations are undesirable to most people
41
Explain how controllability of a situation can affect appraisal
- Some situations are outside of behavioural or cognitive influences
42
What two ways can chronic stress contribute to illness?
- Directly
- Indirectly
43
How can chronic stress directly influence illness?
- via physiological effect on various bodily systems
44
How can chronic stress indirectly contribute to illness?
Via Health Behaviours
- Substance use, unhealthy eating, lack of exercise, poor sleep
45
Explain the General Adaptation Syndrome to stress
- Alarm
- Resistance
- Exhaustion
46
Explain the alarm stage of the stress response
Physiological mobilization for action
- Fight or flight response
47
Explain the resistance stage of the stress response
- Body tries to adapt to stimulus
48
Explain the exhaustion stage of the stress response
- Breakdown of organs
- Disease
- Death
- Burnout
49
What happens over-time as the HPA axis becomes dysregulated?
- Cortisol
50
What happens when cortisol stops working over-time due to HPA axis dysregulation?
- Immune system impaired
- Inflammation
- Elevated blood glucose
- Maturation of fat cells
- Increased visceral fat
- Hippocampal atrophy (shrinking)
51
What does persistent surges of epinephrine especially have health risk for?
- Cardiovascular health
- Blood pressure
- Anxiety
52
What health risks does persistent epinephrine release pose?
- Pain
- weight Gain
- Fatigue
- Memory Impairment
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Sleep Problems
- Aging
53
What are the higher risks of persistent epinephrine release?
- Heart Disease
- Stroke
- Diabetes
- Cancer
54
What is associated with impaired immune functioning?
- Stress
55
What ways does the release of catecholamines and corticosteroids alter functioning of the immune system?
- Activate non-specific immunity
- Suppress specific immunity
56
What does chronic stress do to the immune system?
- Suppresses both nonspecific and specific function
57
What percentage of cancer cases are preventable according to WHO?
- 30-50%
58
What can random errors in DNA replication cause?
- Cancer
59
How does stress contribute to cancer growth?
Chronic stress weakens immune system via cortisol
- accelerates cancer or tumour growth
60
How might a response to stress contribute to cancer?
- Health-compromising behaviours
61
What were the findings on the animal studies on cancer growth and chronic stress?
- More tumour nodules in mice in stress group
62
What type of stress is associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease?
- Chronic Stress
- Perceived Stress
63
What is greater cardiovascular reactivity and poorer recovery associated with?
- Heightened blood pressure
- Diagnosed Hypertension
- Atherosclerosis
64
What is atherosclerosis?
- Plaque build up in arteries
65
What does atherosclerosis do?
- Restricts blood flow
66
How does stress lead to atherosclerosis?
Cortisol increases:
- cholesterol
- inflammatory substance circulating in blood
67
Explain psychophysiological disorders
- physical symptoms or illnesses that result form the interplay of psychosocial and physiological processes
68
What was psychophysiological disorders previously referred to as?
- psychosomatic disorders
69
What can psychophysiological disorders be aggravated or caused by?
- Stress
70
What are some examples of psychophysiological disorders?
- Digestive system disease (ulcers)
- Asthma
- Recurrent headaches (migraines)
- Rheumatoid arthritis
71
What is an allostatic load?
- Accumulating effects that result from the body adapting repeatedly to stressors over time
72
What are some examples of accumulating effects of recurrent stress?
- Fluctuations in levels of homrones like epinephrine and cortisol
- Blood Pressure
- Immune function
73
What does allostatic load do to the body?
- Impairs ability to adapt to future stressors
74
Can daily hassles cause serious health problems?
- YES
75
What is emotional trauma?
- emotional response to a distressing event (e.g., accident, assault)
76
Explain acute stress disorder according to the DSM-5-TR
- Severe Anxiety
- Dissociation
- Symptoms within 1 month after exposure to extreme traumatic stressor
77
What are some traumatic stressors that can lead to acute stressor disorder?
- Witnessing a death
- Serious accident
78
Explain PTSD based on the DSM-5-TR
- Severe anxiety disorder resulting from exposure to a traumatic event/experience
- Symptoms lasting more than 1 month
79
Stressor Criteria for PTSD based on DSM-5-TR
- Direct exposure
- Witnessing, in person
- Indirectly, by learning
- Repeated or extreme indirect exposure to aversive details of event
79
Intrusion criteria for PTSD base on DSM-5-TR
- Recurrent, involuntary, intrusive memories
- Traumatic nightmares
- Flashbacks
- Intense distress to traumatic reminders
80
Avoidance criteria of PTSD based on DSM-5-TR
Avoidance of:
- trauma-related thoughts/feelings
- Trauma-related external reminders
- ex. people, places, activities, objects
80
Negative Alterations in Cognition/Mood Criteria of PTSD in DSM-5-TR
- Persistent negative thoughts, emotions (fear, horror, guilt)
- Lack of positive
- Distored blame of self/others
- Diminished interest in activities
- Alienation
81
Alterations in Arousal Criteria of PTSD based on DSM-5-TR
- Irritable or aggressive behaviour
- Reckless behaviour
- hypervigilance
- Exaggerated startle response
- Sleep disturbances, etc.
82
Length criteria of PTSD base on DSM-5-TR
- > 1 month
83
Describe the cortisol output in PTSD seen in research
- blunted cortisol output
84
Explain Posttraumatic Growth (PTG)
- Positive psychological changes following a highly challenging event or experience
85
What are some examples of posttraumatic growth?
- Appreciation for life
- Renewed commitment to goals, new goals
- Greater sense of personal strength
- Greater intimacy in relationships
- Warmer, more loving personality
- Higher life satisfaciton
86
How many people experience PTG after trauma?
- Nearly 50%
87
What may contribute to an individual experiencing PTSD or PTG?
- Family history / prior trauma
- Personality
- Maladaptive coping response
- Social support
- Social determinants of health
88
What happens when fight or flight does not seem enough and the fear is intense?
- Parasympathetic brake on motor system
89
What does research suggest about adverse responses to stress?
- Functional or adaptive response
90
How is depression an adaptive response to adversity?
- Prevent future adversity by shifting attention
91
How is anxiety an adaptive response to adversity?
- Response to threat, increased awareness
92
How is PTSD an adaptive response to adversity?
- Avoid trauma
- Hypervigilance
93
What does PTSD require?
- An event
94
What does not have high heritability?
- PTSD
95
What are some sources of stress in an individual?
- Illness and disease
- Conflicting motivations (approach, avoidance)
- Frustrated goals
96
What are some sources of stress within one's family / social network?
- New addition to family
- Relationship strain, separation, divorce
- Family illness, disability, death
97
What are some sources of stress withing the community or society?
- Occupational stress
- Environmental stress
98
What are some stressors related with the occupation of police officer?
- Routine stressors associated with PTSD symptomology and problem behaviours
99
What are some stressors associated with Nurse/ER Doctor occupation?
- Lower self-reported health and well-being
- High burnout
- Higher PTSD symptomology
100
What are some stressors assosiated with Truck driver occupations?
- Unhealthy lifestyle
- Being away from home
- Long hours lead to greater work strain
101
What 3 factors proposed to predict stress and wellbeing on the job?
- Perceive demand
- Perceived control
- Perceived social support
102
What is stress spillover?
Occurs within the individual
- stress experienced at work can be brought home, or stress experienced at home brought to work
103
What is Stress crossover?
Occurs between people
- Stress experienced at work can be brought home and transmitted to the spouse, children
104
What are the two types of stress contagion?
- Stress Spillover
- Stress Crossover
105
Explain environmental stressors
Aversive/Uncontrollable Environmental stimuli
- often unpredictable, vary
106
What do environmental stressors usually require?
- Low to moderate adjustments
107
What are some common examples of environmental stressors?
- Noise
- Crowding
- Air pollution
108
What is an uncommon environmental stressor?
- Natural disaster
- Human-caused disasters
109
What is eustress?
- Beneficial or constructive stress
110
Explain Flow
- Optimal state of complete absorption in work, play or creativity
- Arises spontaneously
111
What is flow associated with?
- Intense concentration
- Loss of self-awareness
- Loss of time awareness
- Loss of environmental awareness
- Feeling perfectly challenged
112
What is Flow an indicator of?
- Mental Health
- Optimal Functioning
113
Explain Flow as Optimal Arousal
- A match between demands of a situation and the skills or abilities of the individual
114
How does belief effect stress and health?
- Those who believe stress is harmful to their health have more of an effect
115
What does stress function to do?
- Prepare to respond to threat/meet demand
116
How can you rethink or appraise your stress response?
- similar to excitement
117
What are the benefits of acute or moderate stress?
- Stimulate cell growth in brain learning center
- Stimulate immune activity
- Improve accuracy in cognitive tasks
- Reinforce good/bad habits
