Stress and Health

Question 1

stressors

Answer 1

specific events or chronic pressures that place demands on a person or threaten a person’s well-being

Question 2

stress

Answer 2

the physical and psychological response to internal or external stressors

Question 3

health psychology

Answer 3

the subfield of psychology concerned with ways psychological factors (like stress) influence the causes and treatment of physical illness and the maintenance of health

Question 4

chronic stressors

Answer 4

sources of stress that occur continuously or repeatedly

e.g strained relationships, discrimination, overwork, money problems, and other small stressors that may be easy to ignore at first, but become overwhelming and suffocating over time

Question 5

environmental psychology

Answer 5

the study of environmental effects on behavior and health.

like living in rural areas with ugly scenery

Question 6

perceived control

Answer 6

people who have perceived control over a stressor are less affected by it

Question 7

fight-or-flight response

Answer 7

an emotional and physiological reaction to an emergency that increases readiness for action

hypothalumus stimulates the pituitary gland, which releases catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine)

Question 8

general adaptation syndrom (GAS)

Answer 8

a three-stage physiological response that appears regardless of the stressor that is encountered

alarm, resistance, exhaustion (ARE)

GAS ARE

Question 9

alarm phase

Answer 9

first stage of GAS: the body rapidly mobilizes its resources to respond to the threat. equivalent to cannon’s fight or flight response

Question 10

resistance phase

Answer 10

second stage of GAS: body adapts to its high state of arousal as it tries to cope with the stressor. Shuts down unnecessary processes like digestion and sex drive

Question 11

exhaustion phase

Answer 11

third stage of GAS if the stressor is STILL not eliminated: failure of bodily systems.

many of the resistance-phase defenses cause gradual damage as they operate, leading to susceptibility to infection, tumor growth, aging, organ damage, and ultimately death

Question 12

immune system

Answer 12

complex response system that protects the body from bacteria, viruses, and other foreign substances.

very responsive to psychological influences like stress

e.g wounds heal slower when person is stressed

Question 13

lymphocytes

Answer 13

white blood cells that produce antibodies that fight infection

Question 14

pyschoneuroimmunology (probably don’t need to know)

Answer 14

study of how the immune system responds to psychological variables, such as the presence of stressors

Question 15

type A behavior pattern

Answer 15

a reaction to stress: easily aroused hostility, impatience, a sense of time urgency, and competitive achievement strivings

found to have twice the rate of heart attacks as Type B (everyone else with nonhostile reactions to stress)

Question 16

primary appraisal

Answer 16

interpretation of a stimulus as stressful or not

Question 17

secondary appraisal

Answer 17

determining whether the stressor is something you caln handle or not

Question 18

threat

Answer 18

a stressor you believe you might not be able to overcome

Question 19

challenge

Answer 19

stressor you feel fairly confident you can conquer (though with some difficult of course)

Question 20

burnout

Answer 20

a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion resulting from long-term involvement in an emotionally demanding situation and accomapnied by lowered performance and motivation

Question 21

meditation

Answer 21

the practice of intentional contemplation.

contributes to high secondary appraisal. allows us to manage stress

Question 22

relaxation therapy

Answer 22

technique for reducing tension by consciously relaxing muscles of the body

Question 23

relaxation response

Answer 23

response to relaxation therapy: a condition of reduced muscle tension, cortical activity, heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure

as soon as you get in a comfortable position, quiet down, and focus on something repetitive or soothing that holds your attention, you relax (like focusing on relaxing individual muscles of the body)

Question 24

biofeedback

Answer 24

the use of an external monitoring device to obtain information about a bodily function and possibly gain control over that function

machines that produce biofeedback have potential to help us manually relax; indicate the state of our body–the awareness that results would allow us better control over manipulating our body state (like our brain waves can manually change from alert alpha to relaxed beta waves)

Question 25

aerobic exercise

Answer 25

exercise that increases heart rate and oxygen intake for a sustained period boosts psychological health and reduces stress

Question 26

social support

Answer 26

aid gained through interacting with others

like failing to get married is bad for your health. what’s good vicki lu

e.g intimate partner helps you remember to make healthy decisions, talking about problems offers many benefits of professional psychotherapy, and sharing tasks and helping others reduces the amount of work and worry overall

Question 27

tend-and-befriend

Answer 27

female response to stress by taking care of people and bringing them together.

fight or flight response to stress is largely a male reaction

male response amplifies the unhealthy effects of stress, while female response makes use of social support benefits.

may be one reason women live longer than men

Question 28

religiosity

Answer 28

practice of religion

Question 29

spirituality

Answer 29

belief in some higher power, not necessarily linked to particular religion (like fate/destiny/karma)

both spirituality and religiosity help relieve stress and are linked to lower heart disease

Question 30

humor

Answer 30

helps us cope with stress. reduces sensitivity to pain and distress, and reduces time needed to calm down after a stressful event

you can’t stay mad and laugh at the same time

Question 31

scheduling

Answer 31

decreases stress.

procrastination has no benefits! higher overall stress, more health problems, and lower quality of learning/work (lower grades)

Question 32

eustress

Answer 32

positive events that induce stress

Question 33

distress

Answer 33

negative events that induce stress

Question 34

major life stressors

Answer 34

changes or disruptions in central areas of people’s lives

Question 35

chronic stressors

Answer 35

continuous sources of stress

Question 36

daily hassles

Answer 36

day to day annoyances/stressors

Question 37

cognitive appraisal theory

Answer 37

people’s stress levels depend on how they evaluate the system.

involves primary appraisals and secondary appraisals

defines threats vs challenge

stress management
teaches people how to examine their autonomic appraisal of the stressor and REAPPRAISE the situation in a more optimistic way

Question 38

Negative consequences of stress

Answer 38

pervasiveness leads to chronic health problems or burnout

shatters assumptions of 1) personal invulnerability: shattered belief makes people paranoid

2) Just world hypothesis: things happen for a reason. so bad things mean i deserve it
3) Bad things don’t happen to good people: so bad things means I deserve it

Think how rape victims need to be assured it wasn’t their fault

Question 39

rational coping (with stress)

Answer 39

face stressor.

Accept, expose, understand, and conquer

Question 40

repressive coping (with stress)

Answer 40

avoid stressor: avoid feelings, thoughts, reminders. maintain artificially positive outlook.

e.g watching netflix before finals

Question 41

The four As (to manage stress)

Answer 41

avoid, alter, accept, adapt