PowerPoint Lecture Notes Presentation

Chapter 13: Stress and Health Psychology

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Emotion

A state of arousal involving facial and bodily changes, brain activation, cognitive appraisals, subjective feelings, and tendencies toward action, all shaped by cultural rules

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The body

Primary emotionsEmotions considered to be universal and biologically based, usually thought to include fear, anger, sadness, joy, surprise, disgust, and contempt

Secondary emotionEmotions that develop with cognitive maturity and vary across individuals and cultures

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The brain and emotion

The amygdalaResponsible for assessing threat

Damage to the amygdala results in abnormality in processing fear.

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Understanding Stress

What is Stress?

– A nonspecific response of the body to any demand made on it;

– the arousal, both physical and mental, to situations or events that we perceive as threatening or challenging.

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Understanding Stress: Sources of Stress

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Understanding Stress: Sources of Stress (Continued)

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Understanding Stress: Sources of Stress (Continued) Three Types of Conflict

• Approach-Approach: forced choice between two or more desirable alternatives

• Avoidance-Avoidance: forced choice between two or more undesirable alternatives

• Approach-Avoidance: forced choice between two or more alternatives both having desirable and undesirable results

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Understanding Stress: Sources of Stress (Continued) If this man is

interested in one of the three women on the couch, is he experiencing an approach-approach, approach-avoidance, or avoidance-avoidance conflict?

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Stress and Illness

Walter Cannon observed that, in response to stress, the sympathetic nervous system activates the secretion of stress hormones, triggers increased heart rate and respiration, diverts blood to skeletal muscles, and releases sugar and fat from the body’s stores, all to prepare the body for either “fight or flight.”

Figure 14.2 Stress appraisalMyers: Psychology, Eighth EditionCopyright © 2007 by Worth Publishers

The autonomic nervous system

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Stress and Illness In addition to this first (and faster)

track (fight or flight), the cerebral cortex operates on a slower track by stimulating the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland to trigger the release of glucocorticoid stress hormones, such as cortisol, from the outer part of the adrenals.

Understanding Stress: Effects of Stress

Sympathetic Nervous

System HPA Axis

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Understanding Stress: Effects of Stress (Continued)

Stress and the HPA Axis:

Prolonged elevation of cortisol is related to: increased depression, memory problems, etc. impaired immune system, which leaves the

body vulnerable to disease.

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Understanding Stress: Effects of Stress (Continued)Stress and the

Immune SystemPsychoneuroimmunology:

interdisciplinary field that studies the effect of psychological factors on the immune system

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Understanding Stress: Effects of Stress (Continued) Selye’s

General Adaptation Syndrome

1. Alarm

2. Resistance

3. Exhaustion

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Stress and Illness In addition to this first (and faster)

track (fight or flight), the cerebral cortex operates on a slower track by stimulating the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland to trigger the release of glucocorticoid stress hormones, such as cortisol, from the outer part of the adrenals.

StressIn Hans Selye’s general

adaptation syndrome (GAS), the body’s adaptive response to stress is composed of three stages.

In Phase 1, we experience an alarm reaction due to the sudden activation of our sympathetic nervous system. Heart rate increases and blood is diverted to the skeletal muscles.

Figure 14.4 Selye’s general adaptation syndromeMyers: Psychology, Eighth EditionCopyright © 2007 by Worth Publishers

StressWith our resources mobilized, we then

fight the challenge during Phase 2, resistance.

Temperature, blood pressure, and respiration remain high, and there is a sudden outpouring of stress hormones. If the stress is persistent, it may eventually deplete our body’s reserves during Phase 3, exhaustion.

With exhaustion, we are more vulnerable to illness or even, in extreme cases, collapse and death.

Extreme StressCatastrophic floods, hurricanes,

and fires are followed by increased rates of psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety.

Those who experience significant life changes, such as the death of a spouse, divorce, or loss of a job, are vulnerable to disease. Experiencing a cluster of such crises puts one even more at risk.

Extreme Stress

Daily hassles, such as rush-hour traffic, long lines at the bank or store, and aggravating housemates, may be the most significant source of stress.

Over time, these little stressors take a toll on our health and well-being.

Extreme StressStress can increase the risk of coronary

heart disease, the leading cause of death in many developed countries.

It has been linked with the competitive, hard-driving, and impatient Type A personality.

The toxic core of Type A is negative emotions, especially the anger associated with an aggressively reactive temperament.

Extreme StressUnder stress, the body of the Type A

person secretes more of the hormones that accelerate the buildup of plaques on the heart’s artery walls (epinephrin, norepinephrin, cortisol)

The noncompetitive, relaxed, easy-going Type B personality is less physiologically reactive when harassed or given a difficult challenge and less susceptible to coronary heart disease.

Pessimism and depression also can have a toxic effect on a person’s health.

Psychophysiological Illness and Hypochondriasis Psychophysiological illness refers

to any stress-related physical illnesses such as hypertension and some headaches.

These real illnesses differ from hypochondriasis, in which people may misinterpret normal physical sensations as symptoms of a disease

Stress & the Immune System The secretion of stress hormones

suppresses the immune system’s white blood cells, called lymphocytes.

B lymphocytes are important in fighting bacterial infections, and T lymphocytes fight cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances.

Another agent of the immune system is the macrophage.

Stress & the Immune System When animals are physically

restrained, given unavoidable electric shocks, or subjected to noise, crowding, cold water, social defeat, or maternal separation, they become more susceptible to disease.

Studies suggest that stress similarly depresses the human immune system, making us more vulnerable to illness.

Figure 14.10 Stress can have a variety of health-related consequencesMyers: Psychology, Eighth EditionCopyright © 2007 by Worth Publishers

Stress and IllnessCancer: related to hereditary disposition and environmental factors

Cardiovascular Disorders: contributing factors include stress hormones, certain personality types, and certain behaviors

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): anxiety disorder following exposure to extraordinary stress

Gastric Ulcers: caused by bacteria or stress?

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Stress and Illness (Continued)

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Health Psychology in Action

Health Psychology: studies how biological, psychological, and social factors affect health and illness

Major Health Risks:1. Tobacco2. Alcohol and Binge Drinking3. Chronic Pain (lasting over 6 months)

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Health Psychology in Action (Continued)

Does this graph surprise you? Smokers often overestimate their risk of dying from homicide and traffic accidents, and greatly underestimate the risk from smoking.

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Health and Stress Management Two major approaches to coping

with stress:

1. emotion-focused (changing one's perception of stressful situations)

2. problem-focused (using problem-solving strategies to decrease or eliminate the source of stress)

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Health and Stress Management (Continued)

Our emotional reaction to stress largely depends on how we interpret it.

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The sense of control

Locus of controlA general expectation about whether the results of your actions are under your own control (internal locus) or beyond your control (external locus)

Feelings of control can reduce or even eliminate the relationship between stressors and health.

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Your turn

Suppose you have several difficult exams coming up soon. If your thought is “There’s no way I can study enough to get an A in psychology,” then what is your locus of control?

1. Internal

2. External

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Your turn

Suppose you have several difficult exams coming up soon. If your thought is “There’s no way I can study enough to get an A in psychology,” then what is your locus of control?

1. Internal

2. External

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Benefits of control

When exposed to cold viruses, those who are out of control are more likely to develop colds.

Low-income individuals with high levels of control report similar quality of life to high-income individuals.

Managers and executives have fewer illnesses.

African-Americans reporting more control have fewer problems with hypertension.

Nursing home residents with greater control are more alert, happier, and live longer.

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Limits of control

Primary control: an effort to modify reality by changing other people, the situation, or eventsA “fighting back” philosophyWestern cultures

Secondary control: an effort to accept reality by changing your own attitudes, goals, or emotionsA “learn to live with it” philosophyEastern cultures

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Style, Stress, & Health

In comparison to pessimists, optimists report less fatigue, have fewer aches and pains, and respond to stress with smaller increases in blood pressure.

Optimists also tend to outlive pessimists. Laughter (but not hostile sarcasm) may reduce stress and strengthen the immune system.

Social Support & Stress

Feeling liked, affirmed, and encouraged by intimate friends and family promotes both happiness and health.

People with supportive friends and marriage partners eat better, exercise more, sleep better, and smoke less; thus they cope with stress more effectively.

Social Support & Stress

Social support strengthens immune functioning, calms the cardiovascular system, and lowers blood pressure.

Even companionable pets help people cope with stressful events.

Aerobic Exercise & Stress

Aerobic exercise, sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness, can reduce stress, depression, and anxiety.

It strengthens the heart, increases blood flow, keeps blood vessels open, and lowers both blood pressure and the blood pressure reaction to stress.

Aerobic Exercise & Stress

Research has linked aerobic exercise to higher levels of neurotransmitters that boost moods, to enhanced cognitive abilities, and to the growth of new brain cells in mice.

One estimate suggests that moderate exercise adds two years to one’s expected life.

Figure 14.13 Aerobic exercise and depressionMyers: Psychology, Eighth EditionCopyright © 2007 by Worth Publishers

Biofeedback and Relaxation Training Alternative medicine may seem especially

effective with cyclical diseases as people seek therapy during the downturn and presume its effectiveness during the ensuing upturn.

The placebo effect as well as the spontaneous remission of many diseases may also contribute to a treatment’s perceived effectiveness.

The actual effectiveness of alternative medicine needs to be established.

Religiosity and Longevity

Research indicates that those who attend religious services regularly live as many as 8 years longer than nonattenders.

Investigators who attempt to explain the relationship have isolated three intervening variables.

(1) Religiously active people have healthier life-styles, for example, they smoke and drink less.

Religiosity and Longevity

(2) Faith communities provide social support networks and often encourage marriage which, when happy, is linked with better health and a longer life span.

(3) Religious attendance is often accompanied by a coherent worldview, sense of hope for the future, feelings of acceptance, and a relaxed meditative state.

These may enhance feelings of positive emotions and decrease feelings of stress and anxiety.

Figure 14.18 Possible explanations for the correlation between religious involvement and health/longevityMyers: Psychology, Eighth EditionCopyright © 2007 by Worth Publishers

Biofeedback and Relaxation Training Biofeedback, a system of recording,

amplifying, and feeding back information about subtle physiological responses, enables people to control specific physiological responses.

Research suggests that biofeedback works best on tension headaches.

Simpler methods of relaxation produce many of the technique’s same benefits.

Health and Stress Management (Continued) Resources for Healthy Living

1. Health and Exercise

2. Positive Beliefs

3. Social Skills

4. Social Support

5. Material Resources

6. Control (Internal locus of control)

7. Relaxation

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