Unit 8 B Stress and Health

Stress  and  Causes  of  Death Prolonged  stress  combined  with  unhealthy  behaviors  may  increase  our  risk  for  one  of  

today'ʹs  four  leading  diseases.

Stress and Health (Obj.11)

  Do you have control over your own health?   50% of deaths in US attributed to behaviors   smoking, lack of exercise, nutrition, unprotected sex,

drugs, alcoholism

  Behavioral Medicine - integrates and applies behavior and medical knowledge   Health Psychology - psychology’s contribution to

behavioral medicine (Wellness)   Personality (Type A / Type B)   Behaviors (prevent illness / put us at risk of illness)   Perceptions / Appraisal

Health  Psychology Health  psychology  is  a  field  of  psychology  that  contributes  to  behavioral  medicine.  The  field  

studies  stress-­‐‑related  aspects  of  disease  and  asks  the  following  questions:

1.  How  do  emotions  and  personality  factors  influence  the  risk  of  disease?

2.  What  aJitudes  and  behaviors  prevent  illness  and  promote  health  and  well-­‐‑being?

3.  How  do  our  perceptions  determine  stress? 4.  How  can  we  reduce  or  control  stress?

What is Stress? (Obj.11)   Stress - process by which we

perceive and respond to certain events (stressors)

  Stressors – what we appraise as threatening or challenging   personality affects appraisal

  Eustress / Distress   shopping?, traffic?, exams?

Stressors Catastrophes Life changes Hassles

Intervening factors Appraisal Perceived control Personality Social support Coping behaviors

Stress reactions Physiological Emotional Behavioral

Stress Response System Two-track (Obj.11)

1.  Cannon’s (Fight or Flight) Sympathetic Nervous System (Arousal)   adrenal glands release

epinephrine (adrenaline)   Increases heart rate,

respiration, and blood to muscles, mobilizing sugar and fat, and dulling pain.

Stress Response System Two-track (Obj.11)

2. Cerebral cortex

(hypothalamus & pituitary)   Stress triggers the

hypothalamus and pituitary slowly to tell the adrenal glands to release stress hormones glucocorticoid (cortisol)

Stress and Illness? (Obj.12)   General Adaptation

Syndrome (GAS) – body’s adaptive response to stress   Hans Selye 1.  Alarm – heart rate

zooms, blood to muscles 2.  Resistance – blood

pressure, respiration high, outpouring of hormones

3.  Exhaustion – deplete your body’s reserves   Vulnerable to Illness/Death

Stress resistance

Phase 1 Alarm

reaction (mobilize

Resources)

Phase 2 Resistance (cope with stressor)

Phase 3 Exhaustion (reserves depleted)

The body’s resistance to stress can only Last so long before exhaustion sets in

Stressor occurs

Stressful Life Events

  Catastrophic Events   earthquakes, combat stress, floods

  Life Changes   death of a loved one, divorce, loss of job,

promotion

Stressful Life Events   Daily Hassles

  rush hour traffic, long lines, job stress, burnout   Pressure

  Occurs when we feel forced to speed up or shift focus of our behavior

  Frustration   Occurs when a person is prevented from reaching a goal

•  Delays •  Lack of Resources •  Losses •  Failure •  Discrimination

Sources of Stress

  Conflict   Simultaneous existence of incompatible demands,

opportunities, goals, or needs   Approach/approach conflict occurs when there is a

conflict between two appealing possibilities •  Regret

  Avoidance/avoidance conflict occurs when there is a choice between two undesirable possibilities

•  Escape

  Approach/avoidance conflict is the result of being simultaneously attracted to and repelled by the same goal

•  Paralysis

Stress and Individual Differences

  Hardiness   A characteristic of people who can tolerate stress well or even

thrive on it   Open to change   Welcome a challenge

  Resilience   Ability of a person to “bounce back” after a stressful event

  Social connections   Varied interests

  Self-imposed stress   Must be loved or approved by everyone for everything I do   I must be successful at everything I do

Stress and Heart Disease (Obj. 14)

  Psychophysiological Illness   “mind-body” illness   any stress-related physical illness   some forms of hypertension (high blood

pressure)   some headaches

  Not Psychosomatic or psychologically caused physical symptoms

Stress and Heart Disease (Obj.14)   Coronary Heart Disease - clogging of the vessels

that nourish the heart muscle   leading cause of death in the United States

  Personality drives appraisal   Type A - are competitive, hard-driving, impatient aggressive, anger-prone

•  aggression & anger = physiologically more reactive = more stress hormones = constriction of arteries = plaque on arteries = increase blood pressure = stroke & heart attacks = death

  Type B - are easygoing, relaxed people

  Pessimist are twice as likely as optimists to develop heart disease

Correlation?

  FINDINGS: Of the original sample of 3200, 257 participants had developed coronary heart disease during the 8½ years

  70% of them had been classified as Type A.   Type As were found to have higher levels of cholesterol, adrenaline,

and noradrenaline than Type Bs.   A significant but moderate correlation was found between

personality type and coronary heart disease.   CONCLUSIONS: The research shows that Type A behaviour pattern

is fairly strongly linked to CHD. Friedman and Rosenman concluded that the Type A behaviour pattern increases the individual’s experience of stress, which increases physiological reactivity, and that in turn increases vulnerability to CHD.

  The high levels of the stress hormones suggest that they do experience more stress than Type Bs. The stress response inhibits digestion, which leads to the higher level of cholesterol in the blood, and this places Type As at risk of CHD. Implications include the need to reduce the “harmful” Type A characteristics.

Scoring online tests  Type A/B Personality Test  Type B 35-120  Mildly Type B 120-205  Mildly Type A 205-295  Type A 295-380

Stress and Immune System Psycho-neuro-immun-ology (PNI)

(Obj.15)

  Secretion of stress hormones, suppress the disease-fighting lymphocytes (immune system)   Lymphocytes - two types of white blood cells,

body’s immune system   B lymphocytes - Bone marrow, fight Bacterial infections   T lymphocytes - Tissue , attack cancer cells, foreign

substances, Tumors

Stress and Immune System Psycho-neuro-immun-ology (PNI)

(Obj.15)

  Stress diverts energy from our immune systems   Stress and Aids – Increase progression of HIV to

AIDS   Stress and Cancer - Increase cancer’s progression

  Stress and Colds   People  with  the  highest  life  stress  scores  were  also  the  most  vulnerable  

when  exposed  to  an  experimental  cold  virus.

Stress / Immune System

  Conditioning the Immune System

Promoting Health   Coping – Alleviating stress using emotional (feelings),

cognitive (thinking) or behavioral (acting) methods   Perceived lack of control (External locus)

  Increase (Internal locus) of control   Take control of your time

  Optimists feel more control over stressors than pessimists   There is a bright side, it’s not all bad & it will improve

  Social support = lower blood pressure   Tend and befriend

  Aerobic exercise = lower blood pressure   Exercise 3 days a week, start today!

  Biofeedback and mediation = lower blood pressure   Focus your thoughts in a positive direction

  Religious people = social support, hope and optimism   Bad things are not personal there is a greater plan

Life events

Tendency toward Health Illness

Personal appraisal Challenge Threat

Personality type Easy going

Nondepressed Optimistic

Hostile Depressed Pessimistic

Personality habits Nonsmoking

Regular exercise Good nutrition

Smoking Sedentary

Poor nutrition

Level of social support Close, enduring Lacking

Health-promoting programs

  Smoking   Who? = teens   Why? = social rewards “have friends that

smoke”   Addiction to nicotine

  Release of epinephrine and norepinephrine •  Suppress appetite & boost alertness

  Calms anxiety and reduce pain   Stimulates dopamine = reward