Stress and Health Flashcards
stressors
specific events or chronic pressures that place demands on a person or threaten a person’s well-being
stress
the physical and psychological response to internal or external stressors
health psychology
the subfield of psychology concerned with ways psychological factors (like stress) influence the causes and treatment of physical illness and the maintenance of health
chronic stressors
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
environmental psychology
the study of environmental effects on behavior and health.
like living in rural areas with ugly scenery
perceived control
people who have perceived control over a stressor are less affected by it
fight-or-flight response
an emotional and physiological reaction to an emergency that increases readiness for action
hypothalumus stimulates the pituitary gland, which releases catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine)
general adaptation syndrom (GAS)
a three-stage physiological response that appears regardless of the stressor that is encountered
alarm, resistance, exhaustion (ARE)
GAS ARE
alarm phase
first stage of GAS: the body rapidly mobilizes its resources to respond to the threat. equivalent to cannon’s fight or flight response
resistance phase
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
exhaustion phase
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
immune system
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
lymphocytes
white blood cells that produce antibodies that fight infection
pyschoneuroimmunology (probably don’t need to know)
study of how the immune system responds to psychological variables, such as the presence of stressors
type A behavior pattern
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)
primary appraisal
interpretation of a stimulus as stressful or not
secondary appraisal
determining whether the stressor is something you caln handle or not
threat
a stressor you believe you might not be able to overcome
challenge
stressor you feel fairly confident you can conquer (though with some difficult of course)
burnout
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
meditation
the practice of intentional contemplation.
contributes to high secondary appraisal. allows us to manage stress
relaxation therapy
technique for reducing tension by consciously relaxing muscles of the body
relaxation response
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)
biofeedback
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)
