Stress - 1. The Philosophy of Stress Flashcards
Stress
A mismatch between the demands made upon an individual and their ability to meet those demands
When does stress arise?
When you believe you can’t deal with all the demands placed upon you
What may the demands require of the individual?
They may require physical, mental or emotional adjustment
Stressor
Anything in life that makes you think you cannot cope with the demands placed upon you - anything that causes you stress.
Stressors are different for everyone
What creates stress?
Pressure
Positive and negative forms of pressure
A little bit of pressure can be productive as it may give you motivation and improve your performance
Excessive pressure can be unhealthy for the mind and body, leading to long term illness
Two stress pathways
Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPS) axis
Sympatho-adrenomedullary (SAM) axis
Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPS) axis pathway of stress
Hypothalamus activates the pituitary gland
ACTH is released, which acts on the adrenal cortex
Adrenal cortex releases cortisol
Sympatho-adrenomedullary (SAM) axis pathway of stress
Hypothalamus activates the sympathetic branch of the ANS
Adrenal medulla releases adrenaline and noradrenaline
Cortisol is a…
Hormone
When is cortisol released?
During the fight or flight response
At all times of the day for homeostasis
What is responsible for detecting if your blood has the correct level of cortisol in it?
Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
What disease is associated with a lack of cortisol (little/no cortisol)?
Addison’s disease
What is a result of too much cortisol?
Cushing’s syndrome
How is cortisol good for the fight or flight response?
It restricts blood vessels, making it good as it increases blood pressure and heart rate which means that more blood is sent to the muscles
Negative side effects of increased/high blood pressure
Can lead to cardiovascular disorders. Long term stress is linked to these disorders
3 things that cortisol helps to maintain
Blood pressure
Immune functions
The body’s anti-inflammatory process
What can cortisol be problematic?
When we are under long-term stress cortisol can have negative effects on the individual, such as the 3 functions not being able to be maintained
What did Newcomer et al find about the recall ability of participants who were given cortisol levels as high as when experience major stress?
Newcomer et al found that their ability to recall was poorer than participants who were given the same cortisol levels as when experiencing minor stress
Conclusion of Newcomer et al’s study in to the role of cortisol?
High levels of cortisol can impact cognitive functioning
GAS
General Adaptation Syndrome
Who developed one of the most influential pieces of research into how the body responds to stressful situations?
Selye (1936)
How did Selye create the prediction that the human body goes through the same physiological response to all stressors?
Rats in his research would become ill even when they were given injections
Concluded that rats would become ill from the stressors of the injection, instead of the substance that was injected
How many stages does the response to a stressor (GAS model) consist of?
3
Three stages of the response to a stressor (Selye)
- Alarm reaction: perceived threats set off the fight or flight response
- Resistance: body’s resources become fully mobilised (active) to cope with the stress
- Exhaustion: if the stressors cannot be overcome, your resistance gives way to exhaustion (endocrine system no longer under homeostasis and your parasympathetic NS fails)
There is a correlation between chronic stress and…
Immune functioning
Positive evaluation for Selye’s research (GAS)
Most of what we know about stress originates from Selye’s research
Negative evaluation for Selye’s research: the body responds to all stressors in the same way
This is wrong because different stressors have different responses, meaning there isn’t a single universal response to a stressor.
Different people react to the same stressor in different ways
Negative evaluation for Selye’s research: individual differences
Individual differences (such as gender differences, or ethnic differences) are ignored
Negative evaluation for Selye’s research: research on animals
Humans can minimise the effects of stress (E.g. by attending therapy) but rats cannot. They were helpless to their threat/exposure in this piece of research
