Week 12 Flashcards
Psychoneuroimmunology
Studies the relationship amongst psychological factors, the immune system, and the brain
* Disease was initially seen as purely biological
* Stress impacts immunity!
* Positive emotions boosts health
* Sleep & immunity are closely linked
Stress
- People’s response to events that
threaten or challenge them - Stress is personal – depends on
perception
Something is stressful when.. - You perceive it as threatening
- You lack the resources to deal
effectively with it
Lazarus & Folkman’s Transactional Stress Model
Stress is subjective
* Individual difference in terms of what we notice and how we appraise an event
Primary appraisal: is this event relevant to me? Is this event significant, threatening, potentially harmful to me?
Secondary appraisal: can I deal with this event? Do I have the resources to cope?
Categorizing stressors
Cataclysmic events:strong stressors that occur suddenly, affect many people simultaneously (e.g., tornadoes, pandemics, plane crashes)
Personal stressors: major life events that produce immediate major reactions that usually soon taper off (e.g., moving, death, loss of a job,
marriage)
Background stressors: everyday annoyances that cause minor irritations may have long-term ill effects when continuous or compounded (e.g., being stuck in traffic, long lines, etc)
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Victims of major catastrophes or strong
personal stressors feel long-lasting effects
that may include re-experience of the event in vivid flashbacks or dreams
- Episodes can be triggered by otherwise
innocent stimuli - Symptoms: re-experiencing in flashbacks or
dreams, emotional numbing, sleep difficulties,
interpersonal issues, substance use, suicide - Incidents that produce feelings of helplessness can lead to PTSD
Personal stressors
Death of a loved one, loss of a job, major personal failure, getting married, etc.
Categories of personal stressors:
* Changes in our life (e.g., social readjustment scale)
* Internal conflicts: experience 2 or more incompatible motivations,
forced to choose
- Frustration: when a valued goal is blocked/thwarted
- Pressure: mismatch b/w what we have to do/want to do & resource
Holmes-Rahe Life
Stress Inventory (Social
Readjustment Scale)
- Numerical values assigned to 43 major life events/life changes
- Asked participants to indicate how often they
experiences each event in last 12 months - Higher scores positively correlated with physical & mental health issues
Stress & technology
Twenge et al., 2018
* 500,000 American teens
* More time on new tech, more likely to report mental health issues
* More time spent on non-screen activities, less likely to report such issues
Uplifts
- Minor positive events that make one feel good – flipside of hassles
- Protective of psychological health!
- The more uplifts, the fewer negative psychological symptoms
Cost of stress
biological and psychological consequences
Biological & psychological consequences!
* Stress triggers hormone secretion by the adrenal glands.
* Increases heart rate, blood pressure (hypertension)
* Short-term responses adaptive (fight or flight)
Chronic exposure
* Lowers overall biological functioning due to continuous hormone release.
* Can lead to tissue deterioration in blood vessels and the heart
* Increased susceptibility to diseases, as the immune system weakens over time
How stress affects your brain & body
Chronic activation of fight-or-flight
associated with…
* High blood pressure, plaque build-up in
arteries, heart attack
* Changes gut bacteria – GERD
* Cortisol increases appetite, weight gain –
dampen immune response
* Acne, hair loss, sexual dysfunction,
headaches…
Stress & our immune system
Immune system
* System that defends against infection & cancer
* Does not perform well under long-term chronic sources of stress
* Greater frequency & severity of viral illnesses
Lymphocytes:
* White blood cells that are products of immune system
* Stress hormones directly suppress activity of lymphocytes
Psychophysiological disorders
Class of physical problems known as often result from or are worsened by stress (aka psychosomatic disorders)
* High blood pressure, headaches, backaches, skin rashes, indigestion, fatigue, digestive issues
Stress even increases the likelihood that you will a cold after exposure to a cold virus!
General Adaptation Syndrome Model
Stressor
1. Alarm and mobilization: meeting and resisting stressor
2. resistance: coping with stress and esistance to the stressor
3. Exhaustion: Negative consequences of stress occur when coping is inadequate
Challenges with GAS
- Is the biological reaction always the same, regardless of the stressor?
- How does a person’s appraisal of a stressor affect biological response? What if a stressor is
seen as unpleasant but not unusual? Is the response always the same?
3 main consequenes of stress
Stress has 3 main consequences:
1. Direct physiological results
2. Leads people to engage in harmful behaviors
3. Produces indirect consequences that result in
declines in health
ABD’s of Coronary
Heart Disease
Type A: hostility, competitiveness, time urgency, feeling driven
* Type B: cooperative, patient, non-competitive,
nonaggressive
* Type D (distressed): insecurity, anxiety, negative outlook
ABD’s of Coronary Heart Disease
Type A
Type A’s (1) excessive competitiveness & achievement orientation (2) time urgency & impatience (3) easily aroused anger & hostility
- Type A men – develop heart disease twice as often – more fatal heart attacks than Type B
- Type A predicts developing heart disease (so does age, blood pressure, smoking, cholesterol)
Hostility is key! – excessive physiological arousal which leads to increase in epinephrine & norepinephrine, increase in BP and HR
Transactional model of hostility
The transactional model of hostility is a psychological theory that examines how hostile interactions develop and escalate between individuals. It suggests that hostility is not just an internal trait, but rather a dynamic process that unfolds through interactions with others. Here are the key elements of the model:
- Perception of Hostility: An individual perceives a threat or a hostile intent from another person.
- Hostile Response: In response to the perceived threat, the individual reacts with hostility, which can include anger, aggression, or defensive behaviors.
- Reciprocal Hostility: The other person responds to this hostility with their own hostile behaviors, creating a cycle of escalating hostility.
- Feedback Loop: This cycle can continue and intensify, leading to more severe conflicts and long-term hostility between the individuals involved.
The model emphasizes the importance of communication and perception in the development of hostile interactions. It also highlights the role of external factors, such as the social environment and past experiences, in shaping how individuals perceive and respond to potential threats.
Psychological aspects of cancer
- 2nd leading cause of death
- Emotional responses may affect course
- Adopting “fighting spirit” leads to better coping & less emotional anguish BUT long-term survival rate is no better
- Psychoneuroimmunologists found that a person’s emotional state affects immune system in the same way as stress!
- Certain types of therapy have the potential to extend lives of cancer patients
Coping with stress: the good ways!
Emotion-focused coping: people try to manage their emotions in the face of stress, seeking to change the way they feel about or perceive a problem (e.g., positive thinking, relaxing activities)
Problem-focused coping: attempts to modify stressful problem or source
of stress (e.g., starting a study group to improve performance in class, taking a day off)
* Usually more effective BUT only with controllable stressors
Coping with stress: the maladaptive ways :(
Avoidant coping: people use wishful thinking to reduce stress OR direct escape routes (overeating, alcohol or drug use)
Defense mechanisms: unconscious strategies people use to reduce anxiety by concealing the source from themselves and others
* E.g., emotional insulation: person stops experiencing any emotions at all
* Don’t deal with the problem, only hides it!
Control & stress
perceivd control
Perceived control: beliefs about our personal capacity to exert influence over and shape outcomes
Associated with favorable outcomes like…
* Better physical & mental health
* Greater psychological well-being
* Lower emotional and physical reactivity to daily stressors
* E.g., widows had reduced stress/anxiety levels on days with better-perceived control
Learned helplessness
An acquired belief that one is powerless to do anything about a situation
**Seligman & Maier, 1967
*** Dogs placed in chamber where
received electric shocks – could not escape
* Later given opportunity to scape
shocks, most gave up and didn’t try, learned helplessness
Learned helplessness & interrogations
“Enhanced interrogation techniques”
introduced by CIA designed to induce learned
helplessness post 9/11
- Mitchell & Jesson theorized that detainees
subjected to uncontrollable afflications would
become passive & compliant - Later hired by CIA to design, implement and
oversee the agency’s post 9-11 torture
program - Subjected to nudity, starvation, beating, water
dousing, extreme sensory deprivation
Hardy personality
Hardiness: a personality characteristic associated with a lower rate of stress-related illness, consists of three components:
1. Commitment
2. Challenge
3. Control
It’s the end of the semester, and your class has multiple deadlines coming up – final exams, group projects, and presentations. You feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work and worry about how you’ll manage everything while
still trying to maintain good grades and social connections
Resilience
The ability to withstand, overcome, and actually thrive after profound adversity
* Easygoing, good social skills, independent, have a sense of control over destiny
* Associated with trait optimism
* Protection against negative psychological and physical effects of stress
* High trait optimism among women associated with lower mortality rates!
Stress reduction techniques
a) Exercise – reduces stress and increases resistance to adverse effects of stress
b) Meditation & relaxation –
* Relaxation response techniques – reduces sympathetic arousal, reduces BP
c) Biofeedback – uses electronic equipment to measure a person’s
involuntary activity & provide feedback – help to gain a elvel of control over processes
Meditation & stress
Meditation is associated with…
* Reduction in stress hormones
* Reduction in inflammatory responses (i.e., autoimmune diseases, allergy, diseases associated with low-grade inflammation)
* Improvement in sleep quality
* Less mind wandering
* Increased memory & attention span
