Stress, Health, & Human Flourishing Flashcards
What’s a stressor?
An event or condition viewed as threatening, challenging, or overwhelming
What is appraisal?
Deciding whether to view something as a stressor or not
What are the 3 categories stressors are put into?
Catastrophes, major life events/changes, and chronic daily difficulties
What is the body’s response to stress?
“Fight-or-Flgiht”
Sympathetic nervous system responds (reduce pain, increase heartbeat)
Glands produce cortisol
What is the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) and what are the 3 responses it?
Our stress response system: defends then fatigues
Alarm reaction, resistance, exhaustion
How do women tend to respond to stress?
befriend, nurture themselves, more empathetic, oxytocin kicks in
What is oxytocin?
Bonding hormone
How do men tend to respond to stress?
social withdrawal, less empathetic, can become aggressive, more likely to numb themselves with alcohol
What is psychoneuroimmunology?
The study of how interacting psychological, neural, and endocrine processes affect health
What is psychophysiological?
(real) illness caused in part by psychological factors such as the experience of stress
What is problem-focused coping?
Alleviation of stress directly- working out conflict or tackling difficult project
What is emotion-focused coping?
Alleviation of stress by avoiding stressor and attending to emotional needs related to stress reaction
What is learned helplessness?
The hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events
How can you reduce stress?
MEDITATE.
