Stress, Coping and Health Flashcards

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1
Q

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

A

Disorder where the immune system gradually weakens and eventually becomes disabled by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)

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2
Q

Acute Stressors

A

Events of stress that have a fairly short duration or an end point

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3
Q

Approach-Approach Conflict

A

Having to make a choice between two attractive options

ie. pizza or pasta?

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4
Q

Approach-Avoidance Conflict

A

Having to make a choice between two options that have positive and negative aspects

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5
Q

Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict

A

Having to make a choice between to unappealing options

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6
Q

Biopsychosocial model

A

Physical illness is influenced by biological, psychosocial and sociocultural factors

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7
Q

Burnout

A

Physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism and lowered sense of self-efficacy caused by chronic stress

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8
Q

Aggression

A

Behaviour intended to hurt someone physically or verbally

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9
Q

Catastrophic Thinking

A
  • Unrealistically negative view of how stress is going to affect an individual
  • Created by Albert Ellis
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10
Q

Catharsis

A

Release of pent-up emotions

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11
Q

Chronic Stressors

A

Stressful events that seem to persist for a long time and have no end point in sight

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12
Q

Conflict

A

Two or more motives compete for gratification

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13
Q

Constructive Coping

A
  • Healthy coping methods
  • Confronting problems in a task-relevant, action-oriented way
  • Realistically appraising the stress
  • Organize and regulate emotional distress that comes with stress
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14
Q

Coping

A

Efforts to reduce or tolerate stress

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15
Q

Defense Mechanisms

A
  • Created by Freud
  • Generally unhealthy coping strategies
  • Work on self-deception
  • Denial, fantasy, isolation, undoing, overcompensation etc.
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16
Q

Fight-or-Flight Response

A
  • Sympathetic subdivision of the Autonomic Nervous System

- Physiological response to a seemingly threatening situation

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17
Q

Frustration

A

Occurs when a goal cannot be met

ie. you were late for work, various failures and losses

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18
Q

General Adaption Syndrome

A
  • Created by Hans Selye
  • The body’s reaction to stress broken up into three stages:
  • Alarm Stage: first notice of the threat. Fight-or-Flight kicks in
  • Resistance Stage: in the face of prolonged stress, the body’s physiological arousals are higher than normal but tend to average out as the organism becomes accustomed to the stress
  • Exhaustion Stage: the body’s resources for fighting stress have been depleted, leading to burnout
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19
Q

Health Psychology

A

Psychosocial factors influence the maintenance of health and prevention and recovery from illness

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20
Q

Immune Response

A

Body’s protective response to fight foreign bacteria

21
Q

Internet Addiction

A
  • Spending an absurd amount of time online followed with an inability to control internet usage
  • Interferes with their work, school, sleep schedules etc.
22
Q

Learned Helplessness

A
  • Behaviour produced by repeated exposure to unfortunate and stressful events
  • Led to believe that life is out of control, they cannot do anything to help their situation
23
Q

Optimism

A
  • Generally positive attitude towards life

- Optimists deal with stress in more productive ways, have better health and a better immune system

24
Q

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

A

Psychological disturbance caused by a traumatic event

ie. rape, witnessing a death, etc.

25
Q

Pressure

A
  • Expectations to act a certain way

- Pressure to perform, pressure to conform

26
Q

Primary Appraisal

A
  • Richard Lazarus
  • Evaluation of an event where it is either:
  • Irrelevant
  • Relevant but not threatening
  • Relevant and threatening = stressful
27
Q

Psychosomatic Diseases

A
  • Diseases that were said to be caused by stress and other psychological factors
    ie. High blood pressure, eczema, peptic ulcers, asthma etc.
28
Q

Rational-Emotive Therapy

A
  • Albert Ellis
  • Alters thinking patterns to reduce and reverse irrational thinking and destructive emotions
  • A-B-C Sequence:
  • A: activating event
  • B: belief system: appraisal of the event
  • C: consequence: emotions that come from the appraisal
29
Q

Resilience

A

Successful adaptation to significant stress or traumatic events

30
Q

Secondary Appraisal

A
  • Richard Lazarus

- Evaluation of options for coping with and handling stress

31
Q

Social Support

A
  • Comfort from one’s social circle
  • Different cultures prefer different types of social support
  • Explicit: overt concern from peers
  • Implicit: comfort from knowing one has people to rely on
32
Q

Stress

A
  • Situations that threaten or seem to threaten one’s well-being
    ie. security, self-esteem, safety etc.
  • First pathway: Hypothalamus activates sympathetic division of the ANS
  • Stimulates adrenal medulla and releases catecholamines which produce the fight-or-flight response
  • Second pathway: Hypothalamus sends signals to the pituitary which secretes ACTH
  • Stimulates adrenal cortex which releases corticosteroids that increase energy and decrease inflammation
33
Q

Type A Personality

A
  • Competitive, impatient and hostile personality
  • Intense reactions to stress lead to more physiological arousal and therefore more illnesses
  • May experience earlier career success, which can lead to more stressors that can contribute to coronary risks
  • Anger and stress may trigger chronic inflammation which increases the risk for coronary diseases
34
Q

Type B Personality

A

Relaxed, patient and easygoing personality

35
Q

Richard Lazarus

A
  • Believes small stressors can add up and cause issues in people’s lives
  • Primary and secondary appraisal
36
Q

Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe

A
  • Theorized stress may make people more susceptible to illness
  • Social Readjustment Rating Scale
  • Life changes (positive or negative) can cause stress because readjustment can be tough
37
Q

Life Changes

A

Any change to one’s daily life

ie. buying a car, getting married, becoming a widow

38
Q

Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)

A
  • Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe
  • Assigns a “stress value” to 43 major events
  • The higher the score, the more vulnerable one is to physical illness and psychological issues
39
Q

Barbara Fredrickson

A
  • Broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions
  • Believed positive emotions can lead to more social support and healthier coping strategies as well as reversal of negative effects left by unpleasant emotions during a time of stress
40
Q

Walter Cannon

A

Developed fight-or-flight response

41
Q

Shelley Taylor

A
  • Theorized fighting or fleeing was maladaptive for females who had young to take care of
  • “Tend and befriend” is more adaptive
  • Believes “positive illusions” are good for us, as mentally healthy people tend to have a higher self-image and depressed people tend to have a more realistic self-image
  • Studied cultural differences in the type of social support one seeks
42
Q

Hans Selye

A
  • Defined stress
  • General Adaptation Syndrome
  • Stress reactions are nonspecific, and can apply to multiple stressors
43
Q

Albert Ellis

A
  • A-B-C Sequence
  • Catastrophic Thinking
  • Rational Emotive Therapy
44
Q

Roy Baumeister

A
  • Theorizes that extremely unrealistic appraisals or distortions are often hurtful, but small bends to the truth can be beneficial
  • Pressure to perform makes people self-conscious and it interrupts their attention. causing them to “choke” or “crack”
45
Q

Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman

A
  • Studied Type A and Type B personalities
  • Theorized that Type A’s tend to be more driven and thus find earlier career success and therefore more stress
  • Their intense reactions to stress make the more vulnerable to certain illnesses
46
Q

Janice Kiecolt-Glaser

A
  • Linked stress to suppressed immune activity
  • Studied university students blood samples; one base sample and one “high stress” sample
  • The “high stress” sample contained a lowered level of immune activity
47
Q

M. Robin DiMatteo

A
  • Explained why people delay medical visits
  • Misinterpret or underestimate the significance of their symptoms
  • Worry about seeming silly if their problems turn out to be nothing
  • Worry about “bothering” their physician
  • Don’t want to disrupt their life or plans
  • Waste time on small things
48
Q

Robert R. McCrae

A

Found that 40% of his test subjects use humour as a coping mechanism for stress

49
Q

Neal Miller

A
  • Investigated three types of conflict
  • Approach-approach, avoidance-avoidance and approach-avoidance
  • Found that both humans and rats will struggle and vacillate (go back and forth) between options regarding approach-avoidance conflict