Week 3 Flashcards
BMI
Body Mass Index
A screening that determines what a person’s healthy body weight is using info like their height and age.
Set Point
A mechanism that proposes to maintain the body weight of an individual.
Think: it’s easy to lose a few pounds but plateau’s at a certain point.
Social Contagion
Behaviour that spreads unintentionally because of a social interaction.
Example: Cackle, snorting, burp puffing
Stress
Physiological and psychological reaction.
Occurs when PERCEIVED DEMAND is greater than the abilities and resources you have to meet those demands.
Stressor
Causes of the stress reaction.
Can be either
ACUTE EVENTS or CHRONIC EVENTS
GAS
General Adaptation Syndrome
A theory used to explain the stages of stress.
1) Alarm
2) Adaptation/Resistance
3) Exhaustion
Cortisol
Hormone (Glucocorticoid)
- Excreted from the adrenal cortex
- Prepares the body to respond to stressful circumstances
- suppresses the immune system (reduces inflammation)
- increases the availability of blood sugar
- researchers believe that cortisol leads us to believe that calorie-rich foods are more rewarding in times of stress “comfort food”
HPA axis
A circuit involving the Hypothalamus, Adrenal Pituitary Gland and the Adrenal Cortex.
When a stressful situation is perceived, the hypothalamus releases a hormone CORTICOTROPHIN RELEASING FACTOR
which stimulates the Pituitary glad to release
ADRENOCORTICOTROPHIN RELEASING FACTOR
which stimulates the Adrenal Cortex to release cortisol.
Oxytocin
Hormone
- Released when stress is perceived
- Typically associated with maternal bonding or social relationships
More so relied upon by women as a form of stress coping
Vasopressin
Hormone
- associated with social bonding
- also interacts with the immune system (reduced inflammation)
Type A
Personality type
Impatient, competitive, easily angered, highly motivated.
Type B
Personality type
Easy going, laid back, patient and relaxed disposition.
Psychoneuroimmunology
The study of how the nervous system is related to the immune system.
GETTING SICK WHEN YOU ARE STRESSED
Adrenal Glands
Adrenal Cortex and the Adrenal Medulla found near the stomach.
Fight or Flight Response
When a stressor is perceived, the Hypothalamus stimulates the sympathetic nervous system
which triggers the adrenal medulla to release Epinephrine and Nonepinephrine
which trigger bodily changes (fight or flight)
Coronary Heart Disease
Injury in an artery or vein
White blood cells congregate until there is a build up.
The plaque build up in blood vessels restrict blood flow to the heart.
Coping
Process of managing demands, stress and conflict.
Problem-solving coping
A coping technique
Defining the problem and working towards a solution.
Emotional based coping
A coping technique
Identifying the emotions behind the stressor and dealing with how it makes you feel.
Positive Psychology
The study of human potential and the strengths we have.
Optimism
A tendency to have a favourable, constructive view on situations and expect positive outcomes.
Opposite: Pessimism
Resilience
The ability to effectively recover from adversity or ilnesss.
Post-Traumatic Growth
The capacity to grow as a person and produce long term positive effects in response to negative experiences/events.
Biofeedback
A technique that is used for therapeutic reasons in which equipment records bodily processes, provides feedback and increases awareness of these bodily processes.
Negative Affectivity
Responding to problems in a negative way, with anger, anxiety, guilt, hostility, nervousness.
AAGHN.
Think: papa
Pessimistic Explanatory Style
The tendency to explain or interpret bad things that happen as INTERNALLY based, as a CONSTANT and STABLE quality.
Think: blaming everything on something that’s wrong about yourself.
Learned Helplessness
An acquired behaviour in which an individual suppresses feelings of escapism or avoidance as a response to unpleasant and uncontrollable circumstances
- used a model to show how people with depression outlook life
- Dog Procedure with Martin Silegman 1960
Compensatory Control
When events are out of personal control, turning to ideas of religion, superstition, seeing patterns in random arrays and conspiracy theories to explain the events in a non-random way.
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor
A protein found the nervous system that increases the growth, survival and formation of new synapses.
-stimulated by intense exercise
