Stress!!

Question 1

What are benzodiazepines and how do they reduce stress?

Answer 1

These lessen stress related anxiety by reducing physiological arousal of the central nervous system. BZs combine with post synaptic GABA receptors ( a GABA is a neurotransmitter which inhibits the activity of neurone and locks into postsynaptic receptors to block them from receiving other neurotransmitters). This means that there is an increased inhibition of neurone so there is less neural activity occurring which leads to less anxiety

Question 2

What research support is there for BZs?

Answer 2

Randomised control trials are research support for effectiveness as they are significantly better than placebo.

Question 3

What are some side effect of BZs?

Answer 3

They are highly addictive and have side effects like drowsiness, with gain and paradoxical reactions like criminal behaviour

Question 4

What are some other strength of BZs?

Answer 4

They allow engagement in other therapies as well as providing rapid short term relief

Question 5

What are beta blockers and how do they work?

Answer 5

These act on the sympathetic nervous system to reduce sympathetic arousla associated with the fight or flight response. They block beta adrenergic receptors in heart and blood vessels so that they cannot be stimulated by adrenaline or noradrenaline, therefore the fight or flight response cannot be activated

Question 6

What research support is there for beta blockers?

Answer 6

Kelly (1980) found that beta blockers reduced exam anxiety and are most effected when combined with BZs

Question 7

What are the side effects of beta blockers?

Answer 7

They have side effects like reducing heart rate and blood pressure too much therefore cannot be used on all people like diabetics or people with severe depression

Question 8

Cause and effect?

Answer 8

They do not deal with the actual cause of the individuals stress or anxiety and only mask the symptoms.

Question 9

What is a randomised control trial?

Answer 9

Has a control group who receive a placebo and 50% are an experimental group who receive the drug. People are allocated to the group by random allocation .

Question 10

What is stress inoculation therapy?

Answer 10

A psychological method of stress management which helps individuals by conceptualising the problem and identifying coping skills then developing the skills before exposing them to moderate amounts of anxiety

Question 11

what are the 3 phases of stress inoculation therapy ?

Answer 11

1. conceptualisation - educates the client about the nature of stress and its effect on the indicudaul. they break down large stresses into manageable ones.
2. skill acquisition - oping skill are taught, tailored to clients needs. e.g. coping self statements, relaxation
3. application - the therapist creates opportunities for the client to try out their skills in a safe environments

Question 12

duration of stress inoculation therapy?

Answer 12

9 - 12 sessions

Question 13

what research support is there for stress inoculation therapy?

Answer 13

A meta analysis of 37 studeis of sit effectiveness concluded them to be effective in reducing anxiety in performance situations as well as for extreme anxiety

Question 14

Demanding therapy?

Answer 14

requires commitment of time and effort meaning the individual needs to be highly motivated and the 3rfd phase is difficult so may cause dropouts

Question 15

What is a cardiovascular disorder?

Answer 15

Any disorder of the heart or blood vessels including events that affect the brain for example a stroke

Question 16

Actute stress research dampen et al

Answer 16

Lampen et al (2008) looked at incidences of heart attacks in german football supporters during matches played during the 1990 world cup on days when germany played. They found an increase of cardiac emergencies by 2.66%. This is acute stress showing sudden emotional arousal may cause cardiovascular disorders.

Question 17

Chronic stress research used et al (2004)

Answer 17

An internet study involving 52 countries to identify major risk factors of cardiovascular disorders across different cultures. They compared 15000 people who had a heart attach to those who did not an they found several chronic stressors like workplace stress and life events. The contribution of stress was a greater risk factor than obesity.

Question 18

Research support for stress causing CVD

Answer 18

Song et al indentified more than 13000 people with stress related disorders who were the experimental group and the control were their siblings and 1 million with no disorder.. They found that those with stress related disorders has a 64% risk of CVD in the first year after diagnosis.

Question 19

What is immunosuppression?

Answer 19

Stress can cause illness by preventing the immune system from working efficiently and carrying out its usual task of identifying and destroying pathogens, eg. cortidosl release inhibits the production of lymphocytes

Question 20

Kiecolt - gazer study 1

Answer 20

75 medical students who gave blood samples 2 times a month before an exam and on the day of the exam. also completed a questionnaire measuring stress and symptoms of stress. They found that activity of NK and Killed T cells decreased between the 1st and second sample

Question 21

Kiecolt - glazer study 2

Answer 21

Longitudinal study ocomparing the health of caregivers looking after a relative with alzheimers and a matched group of non caregivers. Followed them over a period of 13 months the caregivers showed a weaker cell based immune response and had higher levels of depression 32% .

Question 22

Can stress be protective?

Answer 22

Dharbar found that stress can have immune enhancing effects. Rats were subjected to mild acute stresses and found that immune cells flooded into the bloodstream therefore acute stress may not have the same effect as chronic stress

Question 23

What are the gender related coping mechanisms?

Answer 23

Some suggest that men tend to use problem focused methods of coping with stress and women use emotion focused methods.
Peterson et al (2006) assessed coping strategies of men and women who had been diagnosed with infertility. assessed coping mechanisms using the ways of coping questionnaire and found that women were more likely to accept blame and use avoidance tactics but men were more problem solving like making plans

Question 24

Is there a distinction between the strategies?

Answer 24

There is no clear distinction between coping strategies as research found there were more gender similarities than differenced and coping mechanisms could not be easily categorised as seeking support from others could be classified into both.

Question 25

What is tend and befriend and the research?

Answer 25

Taylor (2000) said that men and women have different physiological responses to stressors, usually its ifhgt or flight but this research was only conducted n males. Taylor said that fight or flight was disadvantageous to women as that would make it harder for them to protecti offspring so tend and befriend instead. This involved seeking social support from other women and looking after children.

Question 26

Luckow research support for tend and befriend?

Answer 26

Luckow et al (1998) reviewed 26 studies of gender differences in seeking and using social support and found women were more likely to use this in 25 of these studies

Question 27

Could fight or flight be useful for women?

Answer 27

This response may be more adaptive for females than tend and befriend. Sometimes females may be aggressive to protect offspring and men may sometimes tend and befriend too

Question 28

What is oxytocin research?

Answer 28

the tend and befriend response is driven by oxytocin which promotes a feeling of good will and affiliation with others. It helps the body to recover from the physiological effects of a stressor. Taylor et ak found higher levels of oxytocin were linked with low cortisol levels in females only. The females sex hormone oestrogen increases them effects of oxytocin but male hormones reduces them.

Question 29

What is instrumental support?

Answer 29

Practical and tangible support which could be in the form of physically doing something to help

Question 30

What is emotional support?

Answer 30

expressing warmth, concern affection abd sympathy which will lift someones mood

Question 31

what is esteem support?

Answer 31

when you try to reinforce someones faith in themselves and increase oconfidence so that they can tackle a stressful situation.

Question 32

What was cohen et als research>

Answer 32

They wondered if his could offer a protection against stress related infections. They phoned 404 healthy participants every evening for 14 days to measure the number of hugs they receiverd a day. the participants also completed a questionnaire to assess perceived levels of social supports. Stress was measured in terms of daily interpersonal conflicts then they were exposed to a common cols and monitored fro signs of illness

Question 33

What were the finding os cohen et all research?

Answer 33

Participants who experienced the most interpersonal conflicts like stress were more likely to become ill. Those who perceived they had a greater level of social support has a reduced risk of illness, hugs accounted fir 1/3 of protective effect.