psych ch. 14

psychopsychological disorders

Physical disorders or diseases whose symptoms are brought about or worsened by stress and emotional factors

Lazarus and Folkman (1984) distinguished two fundamental kinds of coping:

- problem focused coping - emotion focused coping

primary appraisal

A primary appraisal involves judgment about the degree of potential harm or threat to well-being that a stressor might entail For example an employee who is promoted would perceive the promotion as a greater threat if she believed the promotion would lead to excessive work

Types of Psychophysiological Disorders

Cardiovascular (hypertension, heart disease), Gastrointestinal (irritable bowel syndrome), Respiratory (asthma, allergy), Musculoskeletal (low back pain, tension headache), and Skin (eczema, acne)

Emotion focused coping

Consist of efforts to change or reduce the negative emotions associated with stress. These efforts may include avoiding, minimizing, or distancing oneself from the problem or positive comparisons with others or seeking something positive in a negative event Sometimes emotion focused coping strategies involves reappraisal where the stressor is construed differently without changing its objective level of threat more likely to predominate when faced with stressors that we believe we are powerless to change

stressors two broad categories

chronic and acute

eustress

EU which comes from Greek meaning good is a good kind of stress associated with positive feelings optimal health and performance When stress reaches an optimal level which is the highest point performance reaches its peak, there is minimal effort and maximum efficiency but when stress exceeds optimal level it becomes excessive and people burned out known as distress

cortisol

High levels of cortisol have been shown to produce a number of harmful effects. For example, increases in cortisol can significantly weaken our immune system and high levels are frequently observed among depressed individuals

2. Stage of Resistance

If exposure to a stressor is prolonged, the organism will enter the stage of resistance the initial shock of alarm reaction has worn off and the body has adapted to the stressor the body also remains on alert and is prepared to respond as it did during the alarm reaction, although with less intensity For example, suppose a child who went missing is still missing 72 hours later. Although the parents would obviously remain extremely disturbed, the magnitude of physiological reactions would likely have diminished over the 72 intervening hours due to some adaptation to this event.

Secondary appraisal

Judgment of the options available to cope with a stressor as well as perceptions of how affective such options will be For example two different ladies having a lump would react differently based on their experiences and lifestyle

two kinds of appraisals (of a stressor)

Primary and secondary appraisal

canon and fight or flight response

Prompted by a deluge of epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline) from your adrenal glands, your pupils begin to dilate. Your heart starts to pound and speeds up, you begin to breathe heavily and perspire, you get butterflies in your stomach, and your muscles become tense, preparing you to take some kind of direct action this is a built in mechanism

14.4

Regulation of stress

Hans Selye

Selye was engaged in research involving sex hormones in rats. Although he was unable to find an answer for what he was initially researching, he incidentally discovered that when exposed to prolonged negative stimulation (stressors) the reactions of the rats were nonspecific, the same reactions occurred regardless of different stressors, selye discovered the general adaptation syndrome

Type A behavior pattern

These individuals tend to be intensively driven workaholics who are preoccupied with deadlines and always seem to be in a rush. an aggressive and chronic struggle to achieve more and more in less and less time Specific characteristics of the Type A pattern include an excessive competitive drive, chronic sense of time urgency, impatience, and hostility toward others (particularly those who get in the person's way)

Problem focused coping

They involve identifying the problem considering possible solutions weighing the cost and benefits of these solutions and selecting an alternative In the end you actively try to do things that will address the problem more likely to occur when encountering stressors we perceive as controllable

Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)

Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe wanted to examine the link between life stressors and physical illness they developed SRRS consisting of 43 life events that require varying degrees of personal readjustment Extensive research has demonstrated that accumulating a high number of life change units within a brief period of time (one or two years) is related to a wide range of physical illnesses (even accidents and athletic injuries) and mental health problems

sympathetic nervous system

When a person first perceives something as stressful (Selye's alarm reaction), the sympathetic nervous system triggers arousal via the release of adrenaline from the adrenal glands. Release of these hormones activates the fight-or-flight responses to stress, such as accelerated heart rate and respiration. At the same time, the HPA axis, which is primarily endocrine in nature, becomes especially active, although it works much more slowly than the sympathetic nervous system.

healthy psychology

a subfield of psychology devoted to understanding the importance of psychological influences on health, illness, and how people respond when they become ill health psychologists investigate issues such as why people make certain lifestyle choices, also design and investigate the effectiveness of interventions aimed at changing unhealthy behaviors

job strain

a work situation that combines excessive job demands and workload with little discretion in decision making or job control it has been shown to be associated with increased risk of hypertension, heart attacks, recurrence of heart disease after a first heart attack, significant weight loss or gain, and major depressive disorder

immunosuppression

addition, the immune system may sometimes break down and be unable to do its job When people experience immunosuppression, they become susceptible to any number of infections, illness, and diseases. For example, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a serious and lethal disease that is caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

social support

can be thought of as the soothing impact of friends, family, and acquaintances Social support can take many forms, including advice, guidance, encouragement, acceptance, emotional comfort, and tangible assistance

1) Alarm reaction

describes the body's immediate reaction upon facing a threatening situation or emergency, and it is roughly analogous to the fight-or-flight response A person who wakes up in the middle of the night to discover her house is on fire, for example, is experiencing an alarm reaction.

response based definition stress

emphasize the physiological responses that occur when faced with demanding or threatening situations "response of the body to any demand, whether it is caused by, or results in, pleasant or unpleasant conditions"

hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the immune system

hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation can adversely impact immune function. One way they do this is by inhibiting the production of lymphocytes, white blood cells that circulate in the body's fluids that are important in the immune response

Chronic stressors

include events that persist over an extended period of time, such as caring for a parent with dementia, long-term unemployment, or imprisonment

acute stressors

involve brief focal events that sometimes continue to be experienced as overwhelming well after the event has ended, such as falling on an icy sidewalk and breaking your leg

psychological mechanisms

involve the work of two systems—the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.

perceived control

is our beliefs about our personal capacity to exert influence over and shape outcomes, and it has major implications for our health and happiness is also associated with lower reactivity to stressors in daily life People who report higher levels of perceived control view their health as controllable, thereby making it more likely that they will better manage their health and engage in behaviors conducive to good health

stressors

judge—demanding or threatening events (often

stressors include...

major traumatic events, life changes, daily hassles and threats

14.3

stress and illness

stimulus-based stress

stress as a stimulus that causes certain reactions they fail to recognize that people differ in how they view and react to challenging life events and situations.

14.1

stressors

relaxation response technique

technique combines relaxation with transcendental meditation, and consists of four components (Stein, 2001): sitting upright on a comfortable chair with feet on the ground and body in a relaxed position, a quiet environment with eyes closed, repeating a word or a phrase—a mantra—to oneself, such as "alert mind, calm body," passively allowing the mind to focus on pleasant thoughts, such as nature or the warmth of your blood nourishing your body.

Biofeedback (gary schwartz)

technique that uses electronic equipment to accurately measure a person's neuromuscular and autonomic activity—feedback is provided in the form of visual or auditory signals. biofeedback will enable the individual to develop strategies that help gain some level of voluntary control over what are normally involuntary bodily processes

General Adaptation Syndrome

the body's nonspecific physiological response to stress three stages: 1) alarm reaction, 2) stage of resistance, 3) stage of exhaustion Selye's general adaptation syndrome suggests that stressors tax the body via a three-phase process—an initial jolt, subsequent readjustment, and a later depletion of all physical resources—that ultimately lays the groundwork for serious health problems and even death (this model is RESPONSE based stress)

HPA (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal) axis

the hypothalamus (one of the limbic structures in the brain) releases corticotrophin-releasing factor, a hormone that causes the pituitary gland to release adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). The ACTH then activates the adrenal glands to secrete a number of hormones into the bloodstream; an important one is cortisol, which can affect virtually every organ within the body. Cortisol is commonly known as a stress hormone and helps provide that boost of energy when we first encounter a stressor, preparing us to run away or fight. However, sustained elevated levels of cortisol weaken the immune system.

3) Stage of exhaustion

the person is no longer able to adapt to the stressor: the body's ability to resist becomes depleted as physical wear takes its toll on the body's tissues and organs. As a result, illness, disease, and other permanent damage to the body—even death—may occur.

Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)

the study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect the immune system and resulting health this field evolved from the discovery that there is a connection between the central nervous system and the immune system.

Type B behavior pattern

those who are more relaxed and laid-back

stress

to view it as a process whereby an individual perceives and responds to events that he appraises as overwhelming or threatening to his well-being

Walter Cannon

was the first to identify the body's physiological reactions to stress

14.1

what is stress?

job burnout

which is a general sense of emotional exhaustion and cynicism in relation to one's job Job burnout consists of three dimensions. The first dimension is exhaustion—a sense that one's emotional resources are drained or that one is at the end of her rope and has nothing more to give at a psychological level. Second, job burnout is characterized by depersonalization: a sense of emotional detachment between the worker and the recipients of his services, often resulting in callous, cynical, or indifferent attitudes toward these individuals. Third, job burnout is characterized by diminished personal accomplishment, which is the tendency to evaluate one's work negatively