Psychobiology of Disease Flashcards
What is the fight or flight response?
This is the physiological response to stress
What are the three stages of Selye’s general adaptation syndrome?
Stage 1: Alarm Reaction– shift to sympathetic dominance –increased arousal
Stage 2: Resistance – endocrine system produces ACTH to maintain the increased arousal
Stage 3: Exhaustion– adrenals lose their ability to function normally
Describe the psycho-psychological and behavioural pathways linking stress and disease.
Events cause stress
Stress leads to physiological changes and behavioural changes
These lead to disease
Describe the findings of the Steptoe experiment on health behaviour and stress.
This observed the interaction between health behaviour and social support
Smoking: at baseline both groups were the same. During exam time: high social support smoked less, low social support smoked more
Drinking: at baseline high social support smoked more than low. During exam time: low social support drank more, high social support drank less
What effect does stress have on the immune system?
Immunosuppression
Describe Cohen’s experiment on stress and colds.
Exposed volunteers to a nasal wash containing cold virus and asked the volunteers to rate their level of stress The more stressed people were, the more they became ill with the cold
What is Type A behaviour?
Time urgency Free-floating hostility Hyper-aggressiveness Focus on accomplishment Competitive and goal-driven
What is the link between Type A behaviour and cardiovascular disease?
- Individuals who tend to live under great pressure and demand much of themselves and others
- High levels of competitiveness, ambition, aggressiveness, and hostility
-Type “A” individuals have DOUBLE the risk for coronary heart disease
-Increased risk is driven by negative emotions, such as anger, cynical hostility, and overreaction to stressful events
NOTE: the Western Collaborative Group Study confirmed this
What is the placebo effect?
An inactive substance can sometimes improve a patient’s condition simply because the patient has the expectation that it will be helpful
Describe the relationship between social support/relationships and health.
Individuals with adequate social relationships have a 50% greater likelihood of survival compared to those with poor or insufficient social relationships
Social support exerts effects beyond the protective psychological role
High social support is associated with decreased mortality
State some examples of components of stress management.
Organisation Time management Recognising stress Appraisal review Relaxation techniques Social support Formal support
Explain the transactional model of stress
Stress is the result of a dynamic, transactional relationship between the person and their environment from which stressors arise.
The environment acts on the person, who feels stress, appraises the situation and responds with a coping activity, which in turn may change the environment and how it acts in consequence again on the person.
This is not just a one-shot process but continues ad infinitum. In other words we are always interacting/transacting with the world around us to cope with the constant stresses of living
- stress: Combination of stimulus and response as a person-situation interaction.
• Pattern of cognitive appraisals, emotional reactions, physiological responses and behavioural tendencies.
• Occurs in response to perceived imbalance between Primary Appraisal (situational demands) and Secondary appraisal (resources needed to cope with them).
What is the nocebo effect?
negative effect that occurs after receiving treatment (therapy, medication), even when the treatment is inert
(I will harm)
What is the relationship between social support and health?
Individuals with Social relationships have 50% greater likelihood of survival.
