Stress Flashcards
Stressors
Specific events or chronic pressures that place demands on a person or threaten the person’s well being
Stress
Physical and psychological response to internal or external stressors
Sources of stress
- Can include both positive AND negative life events
- Events are most stressful when there is nothing that can be done - i.e., reduced perceived control
Chronic stressors
Sources of stress that occur continuously or repeatedly
Fight or flight response
An emotional and physiological reaction to an emergency that increases readiness for action
What does the fight or flight response activate?
Cascading response of the HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical) axis
HPA axis response
- Threat triggers brain activation in hypothalamus
- Stimulates adrenal glands to release hormones like catecholamines (EP and NEP) and cortisol (increases level of glucose in blood to acquire more energy)
- Activation of sympathetic nervous system and deactivation of parasympathetic nervous system
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)
Non-specific stress response. Has three stages: alarm, resistance and exhaustion
Alarm (GAS)
Body mobilizes resources to respond to the threat; fight–or-flight response; pulls resource from stored fat/muscle
Resistance
Body adapts to high arousal state and tries to cope with the stressor. Continues to draw on body’s resources; stops other processes.
Exhaustion
- Damage occurs; body becomes susceptible to infection, organ damage, premature aging, death, etc.
- Reserves depleted
Cell division’s role in aging
When a cell divides the telomeres (caps at end of each chromosome to prevent them from sticking) become shorter. If they’re too short, cells can’t divide -> tumours and diseases.
Chronic stress effects on cell division
Chronic stress leads to shorter telomere length and lower telomerase (telomere repairing enzyme) activity. Cortison can reduce activity of telomerase.
What can prevent the shortening of telomere length?
Exercise/meditation prevent chronic stress from shortening telomere length
Psychoneuroimmunology
Study of how the immune system responds to psychological variables (i.e. stressors). Stressors cause hormones (glucocorticoids aka cortisol) to flood the brain, exhausting the immune system and suppressing it.
Immune system
Complex response system that protects the body from bacteria, viruses and other foreign substances
White blood cells
Produce antibodies that fight infection
Experiment with cold virus
Healthy volunteers exposed to common cold
- Some got the cold, others did not
- Stress made the difference; chronic stress exposure = cold, brief stressful events = no cold
What’s the relationship between low social status, stress and health?
More difficulty to provide for yourself/family, exposed to more environmental toxins, can’t afford to/don’t have access to doctors, etc.
Stress and cardiovascular health
- Activation of sympathetic NS causes increased BP; prolonged increased BP damages blood vessels
- Damaged blood vessels accumulate plaque
- Plaques detach and block narrow blood vessels, block blood supply = heart attack
Type A behaviour pattern
Tendency towards easily aroused hostility, impatience, time urgency, and competitive achievement strivings; opposite is type B
What’s the correlation between Type A behaviour and cardiovascular health?
Students who respond to stress with anger/hostility are 3x more likely to develop premature heart disease; 6x more likely to have an early heart attack
Primary appraisal
Interpretation of a stimulus as stressful
Secondary appraisal
Determining whether the stressor is something you can handle or not; aka your level of control; determine if stressor is threat or challenge
Burnout
Physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion created by long term involvement in an emotionally demanding situation and accompanied by lower performance and motivation
Which professions are at a greater risk for burnout?
Helping professions
Symptoms of burnout
- Overwhelming exhaustion
- Deep cynicism
- Detachment from the job
- Sense of ineffectiveness
- Lack of accomplishment
What’s the cause of burnout?
Defining yourself only by your career; gauging your self-worth only by success at work - nothing left when work fails
Repressive coping
Avoiding feelings, thoughts, or situations that are reminders of a stressor and maintaining an artificially positive viewpoint
What are the issues with repressive coping?
- Some things are hard to avoid your entire life
- ## Very difficult to avoid feelings and thoughts
Rational coping
Facing the stressor and working to overcome it; approaching rather than avoiding
Three-step process of rational coping
Acceptance: Realize that stressor exists and won’t go away
Exposure: Attending to the stressor; thinking about it, seeking it out
Understanding: Find the meaning of the stressor in life
Reframing
Finding a new or creative way to think about a stressor that reduces its threat
Stress inoculation training (SIT)
Technique that helps people cope with stressful situations by developing positive ways to think about the situation
Stress management from mind perspective
Rational coping, repressive coping and reframing/SIT
Meditation
Intentional contemplation - e.g. clear the mind of thought, focus on a single thought, concentrate on breathing or mantra (om)
- Teach abilities of thought/emotional regulation
Relaxation therapy
Reducing tension by consciously relaxing muscles of the body
Relaxation response
Reduced muscle tension, cortical activity, heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure
Stress management from body perspective
Meditation, relaxation therapy, biofeedback and aerobic exercise
Biofeedback
Use of external monitoring device to obtain information about a bodily function and gain control over that function
Aerobic exercise
Exercise that increases heart rate/oxygen intake for a sustained period of time
- Serotonin and endorphins can have a positive effect on mood
Situation management of stress
Social support, religious experience, humour
Social support
Aid gained through interacting with others; most effective for women (tend and befriend)
Religious experience
Religiosity (affiliation/engagement with a religion) vs. spirituality (affiliation/engagement with a higher power, not necessarily religion)
Humour
Can reduce sensitivity to pain/distress; can reduce time it takes to calm down after stress
Stress and procrastination
- 70% of undergraduates procrastinate
- Higher levels of procrastination are associated with poorer academic performance and higher psychological distress
- Habitual procrastinators show higher levels of self-reported hypertension and cardiovascular disease
