Unit 7 - Stress and Health

Question 1

Give an example of how different cultures may leverage their social support networks in different ways

Answer 1

European Americans may prefer to write a letter asking advice from a friend

Asian Americans may prefer to reflect on important social groups in their life

Question 2

Give 2 examples of how social support can intervene in the stress-illness pathway

Answer 2

1) May tell you not to stress about something (prevents you from deciding something is stressful)

2) May guide you towards healthier coping mechanisms (prevents you from responding in a way that brings illness)

Question 3

What is the stress to illness pathway?

Answer 3

A potential stressor is encountered
You (concious or not) start to question if this thing is stressful
You decide yes
There are emotional, behavioural and physiological responses
These lead to illness if the stressor is maintained a long time

Question 4

True or false: You need to talk to your friends about your struggles to mitigate the physiological responses of stress

Answer 4

False: Just the presence of supportive ppl can do this!

Question 5

How does social support help people?

Answer 5

-INC well-being
-Gives + emotions
-Gives sense of stability
-May intervene in stress-induced illness pathway

Question 6

Of these 4, which is the most influential when it comes to INC life expectancy?
-managing alcohol use
-quitting smoking
-social support
-exercise

Answer 6

social support!

Question 7

What is social support?

Answer 7

The degree to which you feel like you can turn on others for
-Help
-Info
-Comfort
-Advice

Question 8

What is the general adaptation syndrome?

Answer 8

-3 stages of a stress response

1) Alarm
2) Resistance
3) Exhaustion

Question 9

What is Alarm

Answer 9

Fight or flight
-How you brain responds to a threat

Question 10

Does you brain know the difference in a bear threat vs an exam season threat?

Answer 10

No! Same response!

Question 11

What is Resistance?

Answer 11

Fending off further attack
-Immune system is protecting us more
-More O2 given to muscles

Question 12

What is Exhaustion?

Answer 12

We run out of our ability to adapt to the stressor bc it has gone on too long
-Immune system weakens
-may result in chronic illness

Question 13

What are the 3 main categories of stressful events?

Answer 13

Catastrophic (Leads to long-standing effects and exceeds many ppl’s ability to adapt) ex: Natural Disaster

Major Life Event (ex: divorce, buying a new house, illness)

Daily annoyances (If enough add up over time it can lead to health issues) ex: traffic, spilling coffee, anger with boss

Question 14

Do major life event stressors need to be negative?

Answer 14

No!

Question 15

Are stressors always mental?

Answer 15

No! they can also be physical ex: A racecar driver undergoes physical stress

Question 16

Why do people pick stressful jobs?

Answer 16

Stress is subjective and what’s stressful to one person may be exciting to another (both feelings also have similar physiological responses)
-Some ppl don’t wanna be bored

Question 17

What is Stress?

Answer 17

A multifaceted physiological response to an environmental event that (at least one):
-You subjectively determine to be taxing
-Exceeds your ability to adapt

Question 18

When are we most likely to experience stress?

Answer 18

When we sense
-a lack of control
-that we will be treated/evaluated unfairly/negatively
-uncertainty