Module 7 - Lesson 4

Question 1

Behavioral Medicine

Answer 1

Integrates behavioral changes and medicine and applies it to health

Question 2

Health Psychology

Answer 2

Psychology’s contribution to medicine

Question 3

Explain stressors, stress reactions, and stress

Answer 3

Stressors are what cause feelings of “stress,” and stress reactions are the actual emotional reaction to the stressor. Stress itself is like the process of these two, and is our reaction to certain events that challenge or threaten us.

Question 4

General Adaptation System (GAS)

Answer 4

Selye’s three-part response to stress that includes 1) alarm, 2) resistance, and 3) exhaustion.

Question 5

Coronary Heart Disease

Answer 5

The closing of blood vessels that supply the heart muscles

Question 6

Type A

Answer 6

Friedman and Rosenman’s terms for people who are competitive, verbally aggressive, anger-prone, hard-driving, and impatient.

Question 7

Type B

Answer 7

Friedman and Rosenman’s term for people who are easygoing and relaxed

Question 8

Psychophysiological Illness

Answer 8

“Mind-body” illness, including any stress-relating physical illness (e.g. hypertension and headaches)

Question 9

Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)

Answer 9

Studies how the combination of psychological, neural, and endocrine systems affect the immune system and resulting health

Question 10

Lymphocytes

Answer 10

White blood cells. There are two types: B lymphocytes released from the bone marrow that release antibodies to fight bacterial infections, and T lymphocytes, which form in the thymus and other lymphatic tissue and attack cancer cells, foreign substances, and viruses. Two other types of cells include macrophages, which identify, pursue, and ingest invaders and dead/dying cells, and natural killer cells, which pursue diseased cells.

Question 11

Coping

Answer 11

Alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods

Question 12

Problem-Focused Coping

Answer 12

Attempting to change the stressor directly in order to alleviate stress

Question 13

Emotion-Focused Coping

Answer 13

Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring the stressor making us feel this way and attending to our emotional needs related to the stress reaction

Question 14

Aerobic Excercise

Answer 14

Sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness (may also alleviate depression and anxiety)

Question 15

Biofeedback

Answer 15

System of recording, amplifying, and feeding back information about subtle physiological responses (e.g., blood pressure or muscle tension)

Question 16

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)

Answer 16

Health care treatments that have not been proven to be effective that are available as a supplement or as a replacement for traditional medicine. Usually not taught in medical schools and such

Question 17

Does stress depend on the event or our appraisal of the event more (what it was or what we think)?

Answer 17

Our appraisal (sort of like our perception). If someone were to get a job, they could look at it either as a chance for promotion (no stress) or a risk of failure (stressor).

Question 18

Can stress be good?

Answer 18

Yes. Stress can help us overcome challenges and become stronger after we have passed those challenges.

Question 19

What did Walter Cannon (1929) discover about stress reactions?

Answer 19

Stress responses are part of a mind-body system that physical stressors cause a release of epinephrine and norepinephrine in a preparation for “fight or flight”

Question 20

What are some alternatives to “fight or flight?” Who engages in these more often?

Answer 20

Social withdrawal, more common in men, conserves energy but can be “paralyzed by fear.” Seek and give support, more common in women, can also occur is stressful situations, in which the person will look for someone to aid. Women’s typical response of banding together has been attributing to oxytocin.

Question 21

Hans Selye

Answer 21

Extended Cannon’s findings by researching on animals exposed to different stressors and found that stress responses were very general

Question 22

Give an example of Selye’s general adaptation syndrome.

Answer 22

You hear a burglar break into your house. You start to sweat, you breathing picks up, and your blood rushes (alarm reaction). Your temperature, blood pressure, and respiration remain high, and many hormones are released (resistance) as you climb out of your window and go to your neighbor’s house. By this point, your reserves have been depleted and you are very tired (exhaustion) and collapse on your neighbor’s couch.

Question 23

How does stress affect our lifespan? Why? How?

Answer 23

Stress can cause the pieces of DNA on the end of our chromosomes, called telomeres, to appear shorter after extended periods of high stress. When telomeres get too short, the cells can no longer multiple, and essentially die. This explains why severe stress seems to age people.

Question 24

How does stress affect those who have been through catastrophes, significant life changes, and daily hassles?

Answer 24

Suicide rates, problems sleeping, and rates of psychological disorders all increased after catastrophes. Higher stress levels were reported amongst younger adults, who often experience more life changes at once, and extreme life changes can increase the risk of death (e.g., after the death of a loved one). Daily hassles, such as meetings, aggravating people, and traffic, can pile up and run some people “up the wall.” Stressors can pile up over time and take a toll on our health.

Question 25

What causes coronary heart disease?

Answer 25

Elevated blood pressure, family history, smoking, physical inactivity, obesity, elevated cholesterol level, stress, and personality: stress can be a predictor for heart attack risk.

Question 26

Were Type A or Type B men more prone to coronary issues in Friedman and Rosenman’s study?

Answer 26

257 men suffered heart attacks, and 69% of those were Type A. The “purest” (most mellow, laid back) Type Bs did not suffer one heart attack. The “core” of Type A men were negative emotions, especially anger and aggressively reactive temperaments (think about how our sympathetic NS moves blood away from our internal organs when we are aroused, therefore leaving more cholesterol and fat in the bloodstream, and compare it to Type A results).

Question 27

What mental states can decrease health?

Answer 27

Pessimism, depression, anger, prolonged stress, hostility

Question 28

What did recent researchers suggest in terms of inflammation and heart disease and depression?

Answer 28

It was suggested that chronic stress could trigger inflammation, which then caused both depressive symptoms and cardiac disease. This is different from previous proposals, which suggested that depressive symptoms led to cardiac disease and other heart problems.

Question 29

Why do we use the term “psychophysiological” instead of “psychosomatic?”

Answer 29

The term psychosomatic was used to imply that symptoms caused by stress and other mental scenarios were unreal and unimportant. Today, we use the term psychophysiological illnesses to refer to physical symptoms occurring due to mental states (e.g., a headache or hypertension)

Question 30

What can T lymphocytes attack?

Answer 30

They can attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign bodies, even good ones, such as transplanted organs

Question 31

Who has the stronger immune system? What does this mean for both men and women?

Answer 31

Women typically have stronger immunology. This means that they are more prone to autoimmune diseases, and men are more susceptible to infections.

Question 32

What affect do stress hormones have on the immune system?

Answer 32

When stress hormones are released, the body’s lymphocytes numbers are decreased, making the host more susceptible to disease.

Question 33

How do stress levels affect healing rates? Give an example.

Answer 33

Having higher stress levels slows surgical healing rates. For example, in students who received small puncture wounds (punch wounds), they healed about 40% slower in the days before an exam when compared to receiving a punch wound in the summer.

Question 34

How does stress affect the rate of progression in HIV/AIDS and cancer?

Answer 34

The rate of development is increased, as the subjects’ immune systems are depleted by stress and have less power to fight with. The chance of getting cancer is also increased and the rate at which patients digress after getting AIDS is faster. However, stress does not CAUSE these, it just makes it easier for them to progress.

Question 35

Do we use problem-focused coping or emotion-focused coping when we feel we have control over a situation?

Answer 35

We used problem-focused coping. We tend to use emotion-focused coping when we feel that we cannot change the stressor, and so we do things like turn to friends for emotional support. These emotion-based coping mechanisms are often counterproductive and nonadaptive (e.g., you go to a party to avoid the stress of your college class)

Question 36

If we are to perceive a lack of _______, we are more vulnerable to health issues.

Answer 36

Control. For example, if nursing home residents are made to feel that they have no say in what they do, they are likely to mentally decline at a faster rate.

Question 37

Wealth does not predict happiness, but can it predict health?

Answer 37

Yes. Those who were seen as having a higher social standing often lived longer and were less susceptible to heart issues and illnesses, as well as birth complications and those children smoking in the future. Poverty and diminished perceived control increase stress levels.

Question 38

Losing control provokes an outpouring of ______ ________. Provide some examples

Answer 38

Stress hormones. This has been proven in both human and animals studies. Examples include captive animals, prison inmates, and those living in high-density neighborhoods.

Question 39

Explain the affects of optimism and pessimism on the human lifespan.

Answer 39

Optimistic people who look forward to the future and have more positive thoughts also tend to live several years longer, as shown in multiple studied. Pessimistic people seem to die sooner than their optimistic counterparts.

Question 40

How does humor affect human lifespans?

Answer 40

Those that find for cheerful humor in everyday life have longer lifespans, and shockingly, those who find such humor in life who have cancer also have a higher chance of survival in the years after their diagnosis. Humor is also shown to reduce stress and strengthen immune activity.

Question 41

How do marriages and friendships predict health and life length?

Answer 41

Studies have found that those who are happily married experience less stress, live longer, and are generally healthier compared to their unmarried counterparts. Those with supportive friends and/or marriage partners smoke less, exercise more, eat better, and sleep better, therefore, coping with stress more effectively. Pet friends have also been shown to decrease the severity of blood pressure rises and can bring joy to owners.

Question 42

Does suppressing emotions actually affect health?

Answer 42

Yes. In a study that looked at women who had traumatic childhood experiences, those who suppressed their feelings and did not tell anybody about the traumatic event experienced more ailments in adulthood. Those who journal or tell somebody about the event are more likely to experience less ailments and be able to work through their pain. Long-term, sharing emotions and working through them calms limbic system activity.

Question 43

What affect did exercise have on depression in McCann’ and Holmes’ study?

Answer 43

There was a group of women who were mildly depressed. Those assigned to an aerobic exercise program experienced the greatest decrease in depression. Exercise can raise energy levels and relieve tension due to a release of positive hormones, including serotonin, norepinephrine, and endorphins.

Question 44

What did Neal Miller find in his research? What is this called?

Answer 44

He found that rats could modify their heartbeat if they were given pleasurable brain stimulation after an increase or decrease in heart rate. This is called biofeedback.

Question 45

What happens to Type A heart attack victims when they are taught about exercise, medications, and diet, and what happens when they are taught lifestyle changes in addition to this?

Answer 45

Those who were not taught about modifying their lifestyles (e.g., smiling more, relaxing by walking, talking, admitting mistakes, etc.) had a higher level of recurring heart attack when compared to those who were taught to modify their lifestyles. The lifestyle change group experienced half as many heart attacks as the other group.

Question 46

What is the relaxation response discovered by Herbert Benson?

Answer 46

It is a state of calm marked by relaxed muscles, slowed breathing and heart rate, and decreased blood pressure that can have stress-reducing benefits.

Question 47

What are some examples of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)?

Answer 47

Relaxation, acupuncture, massage therapy, herbal remedies, homeopathy, spiritual healing, chiropractic, and aromatherapy.