Stress and Health

Chapter 15

Sources of Stress Health psychology Studies the

relationship between psychological factors and physical health

Stress A state of psychological tension or strain where we respond to stressors that we appraise as threatening or challenging

Stressors Events or circumstances that trigger stress

Adjustment Any attempt to cope with stress

What are your stressors??

Stress reaction is the body’s observable response to a stressor.

Canadian researcher Hans Selye believes there are two types of stress. Distress (nervous

stress) which comes from acute anxiety or pressure. It can also take a serious toll on the mind.

Eustress (positive stress) which come from the striving and challenges that make life exciting.

Stress is a part of life; Especially, if you are working towards a goal or facing any challenges.

Research Hans Selye believes that the only “complete freedom from stress…is death”

Researcher Richard Lazarus believes that the way people perceive and evaluate a situation makes a difference.

The Cognitive Model of Stress is when people analyze and then evaluate a situation before it is labeled “stressful.”

Conflict Situations Conflict situations are when a person must

choose between two or more options that tend to result from opposing motives.

Approach-approach conflict - when there is a conflict between two appealing possibilities. Ex: Which college should I go to? Should I go to the

concert or the football game?

Avoidance-avoidance conflict - when there is a choice between two undesirable possibilities. Ex: Should I stay up all night to study for AP Lit or AP

Euro?

Approach-avoidance conflict - a result of being simultaneously attracted to and repelled by the same goal. Ex: Should I ask the guy/girl to the party? (He /she

will say yes or no :-/, Asking for a raise, but scared if you do you might get fired.

Double approach-avoidance – must choose between multiple options, however each option has desirable and undesirable aspects. Ex: Should I go to Key West or my dad’s new

house in North Carolina? Key West will be AWESOME and expensive; Going to my dad’s will be free, but not as exciting…

Appraising the Situation What we choose to stress out about is

determined by how we look at the situation.

Primary appraisal is the immediate evaluation of a situation.

Secondary appraisal is deciding how to deal with the potentially stressful situation.

Environmental Stressors

Noise can cause unnecessary stress at work, home or in a public place. In fact noise is one of the top American environmental irritants.

Crowding is other major environmental stressor. Crowding can cause feelings of aggression.

Life Changes and Stress

Major life changes Marriage Job School Moving Death Illness

Social Readjustment Rating Scale See handout

Hassles vs. Uplifts Everyday Hassles. The degree to which

these affect us depends on issues of duration, frequency, personality, and coping style Pressure Frustration Discrimination Conflict

Ex: losing your keys, being late for work, car won’t start, etc.

Uplifts are small, positive events. Getting a good grade on a test Winning a sporting event Going out with friends Winning a contest

Fight or Flight Response

Means of survival

Sympathetic arousal: Increased heart rate, respiration, blood from digestion to muscles, masks pain, releases sugar and fat from body’s stores to deal with stress. Pituitary releases adrenaline into the bloodstream

Release of cortisol/corticosterone (stress

hormone) from outer part of adrenal gland (how we measure)

General Adaptation Syndrome General Adaptation Syndrome (Hans Selye)

Alarm reaction (sympathetic arousal-need to fight off physical or psychological threats)

Adaptation/Resistance (effort to maintain high level of resistance-attempts to maintain psychological equilibrium, parasympathetic rebound. Weakening ensues leading to…)

Exhaustion (depletion of reserves)

The body is designed to cope with temporary stress; prolonged stress leads to physical deterioration

Emotional and Cognitive Responses

Anxiety – generalized apprehension of feeling of danger.

Anger – irate reaction likely to result from frustration.

Fear – reaction when a stressor involves real or imagined danger.

Stress and Disease Psycho-physiological illness Stress-related physical

illness -“mind-body” Some forms of hypertension, some headaches, and

gastrointestinal issues brought on by stress Cortisol in cardio-vascular disease

Psycho-neuroimmunological disease Interaction between stress and the immune, endocrine, and nervous systems Chronic stress can suppress immune function. Role of cortisol (lymphocytes) Possible link between stress and cancer

The Brain on Stress

The damaging (and helpful) effects of stress on the brain and cognition (hippocampus & cortisol, emotions and memory, brain-blood barrier, brain degeneration…)

http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/stress.html

Leading Causes of Death – 1900 and 2000

Stress and Health: Type A and B (and D) Personalities

Type A Competitive, achievement oriented, hard-driving people (Friedman and Rosenman). Frequent or chronic stress can cause damage to the heart and blood vessels. Correlated with heart disease. . .Primarily due to 1) negative emotions and 2) associated behaviors

Type B More easygoing, relaxed people

Type D Emotionally distressed people. Often characterized by social withdrawal. Correlates with higher rates of stress, disease and death

Socioeconomic and Gender Difference Lower socioeconomic status can predict more

stressful environments and fewer psychological resources for dealing with stress

Women and men seem to be equally affected by stress physiologically, but deal with it differently (tend and befriend. Women deal more effectively (oxytocin) Men often react to stress with a "fight-or-flight"

response, but women are more likely to manage their stress with a "tend-and-befriend" response.

Life events

Tendency towardHealth Illness

Personal appraisalChallenge Threat

Personality typeEasy goingNon-depressed

Optimistic

HostileDepressedPessimistic

Personality habitsNonsmokingRegular exerciseGood nutrition

SmokingSedentary

Poor nutritionLevel of social support

Close, enduring Lacking

Types of stress response

Social Support

Social Support – information that leads someone to believe that he or she is cared for, loved, respected, and part of a network of communication and mutual obligation.

Types of Social Group Emotional

Support involves concerned listening; offering affection and concern

Appraisal support is interactive; asks questions and gives

feedback to stressed person. Informational

Comes from appraisal support; stressed person responds to what he or she has learned and evaluates how they deal with stressors

Instructional support represents active, positive support in the

form of direct help, such as money, living quarters, etc.

Coping with Stress Direct coping Intentional efforts to change an

uncomfortable situation Confrontation Acknowledging stress directly

and initiating a solution Compromise Choosing a more realistic goal

when an ideal goal cannot be met Withdrawal Avoiding a situation when other

options are not practical

Coping with Stress

Cognitive appraisal is our way of interpreting or evaluating an event that helps determine its stress impact.

Defensive Coping Strategies Denial is when a person decides that

the event or situation is not really a stressor.

Intellectualization is when a person analyzes a situation from an emotionally detached viewpoint.

See Fig. 15.11

Active Coping Strategies Hardiness A characteristic of people who

can tolerate stress well or even thrive on it

Controlling Stressful Situations

Problem Solving

Explanatory Style Optimist Pessimist

Relaxation Progressive Relaxation is lying down comfortably

and tensing and releasing the tension in each major muscle group.

Meditation is focusing on a goal of clearing one’s mind and producing “inner peace.”

Biofeedback A technique for brining specific body processes

(blood pressure or muscle tension) under a person’s conscious control.

Humor Laughter is the best medicine

Exercise Outlet for physical arousal Burns off stress hormones (cortisal)

Support Groups and Professional Help

Training Preparing for a situation (an interview, a

marathon, an exam, etc…)

Improving Interpersonal Skills Increase self-confidence Self-esteem Less chance of loneliness

Stress in Your Life

Autonomy is the ability to take care of oneself and independence.

Growing up means taking responsibility and separating a part of your life from your family…physically and emotionally.

Choosing a College

First major step of separation and becoming your own person.

What are the college changes?? Developmental friendships – friends

that force one another to reexamine their basic assumptions and possibly adopt new ideas and beliefs.

Coping with the change to college life Some focus narrowly on their goals because they

feel they are threatened by internal and external change.

Some avoid confronting doubt by frittering away their time, going through the emotions for college, but not emotionally attaching themselves.

Some keep their options open until they acquire enough information to make a decision.

Resynthesis is the idea of combining old ideas with new ones and reorganizing feelings in order to renew one’s identity.

The Working World What is work? What is your employment future?

Work Satisfaction or Dissatisfaction Resources Financial reward Challenge Relations with Co workers Comfort

Changing Careers A career is a vocation that a person

works at for at least a few years.

Comparable Worth The idea that women and men should

receive equal pay for jobs calling for comparable skill and responsibility