The Concept of Stress Flashcards
Define Stress
1) pressure or tension exerted on a physical object
2) a state of mental or emotional tension from very demanding circumstances
3) physiological disturbance caused to an organism by adverse circumstance
* Stress is physical, mental, emotional, and biological
* Demands placed on the body and the bodies response to those demands
2 approaches of where minds come from?
Dualism
* Minds and bodies are made of different things
* Physical stuff is different than mental stuff
* Mind is similar to the idea of a soul or spirit
* But… difficulty explaining how minds interact to make bodies active
Monism
* Minds and bodies are the same thing
* Mind is a by-product of active bodies
* But.. suggests that minds don’t really exist
- Suggests that minds are illusions
Descartes was a proponent of?
dualism
* Mind and body were separate things
* Body was like a machine
* Mind was a spirit that controlled the body from within “The Ghost in the Machine”
Descartes believed the ”vital spirit” lived in the pineal gland
Ghost in the machine?
Descartes was a proponent of dualism.
* Dualism argued that mind was nonphysical
* The body is physical but “vital spirit” that drives it, is not
* Nonphysical things cannot be studied with scientific methods
Vitalism?
- Belief that living things are fundamentally different than
nonliving things. - Life contain a “vital spirit” (elan vital).
- This vital spirit could not be studied.
Homeostasis?
Ability of an organism to maintain internal equilibrium by adjusting it’s physiological processes.
Consistent effects of stress
- Enlarged adrenal glands
- Decreased thymus glands and other immune organs
- Gastrointestinal ulcers
General Adaptation Syndrome
- Generalized response to all forms of stress
- Stress responses combine generalized adaption with specific behavioral responses
Stages of Stress Adaptation
1) Alarm Reaction
* Register the stressor
* Begin to mount response
2) Resistance Stage
* Able to compensate for the stress
* Can maintain changes required to respond
* …unless/until resources needed run out
3) Exhaustion stage
* No longer able to overcome the stress
* May lead to death if stress continues
Long-Term Consequences of Stress
- Allostasis
- Allostatic load
Allostasis?
- Attempts to maintain homeostasis under prolonged stress
- Prolonged or repeated stress may cause damage that remains even after the stress is removed
Allostatic load
- The damage caused by allostasis
- The “wear and tear” on the body resulting from adapting to prolonged or repeated stress
The Placebo Effect
- The ability of a treatment with no medical value to have therapeutic effect
- i.e. A “sugar pill” that can relieve pain similar to a painkiller
- Placebo effects have been widely researched
- Evidence of placebo effects date back to 1799
Examples of Placebo Effects
Placebo effects similar to pharmaceutical effects
* Pain reduction comparable to opioids.
* Treatment of depression comparable to anti-depressants.
* Reduced tremors in Parkinson’s Disease.
* Reduced symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
* Enhancement of immune functioning.
Placebo effects can be conditioned
* Classical conditioning
Placebo effects can even work, when people know it’s a placebo
Conditioned immunosuppression
- New Zealand mice with genotype that causes the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
- Cyclophosphamide is a treatment that prolongs survival with disease.
