Psychology Chapter 12 Stress and Health

What is the role of cortisol?

- Is a stress hormone produced by the body during stress to ensure that the body gets enough fuel. Released from the ADRENAL CORTEX, Raises the blood sugar level, and inhibits the release of histamine. opposite of testosterone -tissue breakdown -released during stress to maintain energy through breakdown of carbs, fats, protein has many important functions. It plays a role in the breakdown of complex molecules into simpler ones to release energy and, so, plays an important role in ensuring that more glucose is available for fuel in the bloodstream (Rose, Vegiopoulos, & Herzig, 2010). Also regulates the immune system, by reducing the number of immune cells in the bloodstream. In so doing, chronically elevated cortisol may impact the immune system's ability to protect the body against infection (Lovell & Wetherell, 2011). Is released by adrenal glands to breakdown complex molecules in order to release energy during prolonged stress

Which of the following best describes catecholamines?

1. They function as both neurotransmitters and hormones 2. They are released by adrenal glands 3. They control ANS activation

metabolic syndrome

A group of factors related to body composition, weight, and diet, that increase risk of stroke, diabetes, and heart disease.

Hypothalmic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis

A major neuroendocrine pathway relevant to the stress response involving the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal cortex. the hypothalamus releases substances, called releasing factors, that tell the pituitary when to release various hormones. During emotional arousal and stress, the hypothalamus releases a substance called corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF

primary appraisal

A quick assessment of the meaning of a given environmental event for the individual

Stress

A response elicited when a situation overwhelms a persons perceived ability to meet the demands of the situation. Her definition: The process of appraising and coping with stressors.

Social network influences health

A social network is simply a cluster of related people, such as family members, spouses, friends, coworkers, or neighbors

The physiological reactivity approach

An explanation for the causal role of stress related bodily changes in illness.

Minor irritation such as too much homework, relationship troubles, and traffic best exemplify what

Daily hassles

Coping includes all of the following, except

Deliberately creating stress in ones life.

During the alarm stage of the general adaptation syndrome,_________.

During this stage the HPA axis is active as well, and the sustained release of cortisol from the adrenal glands may move from being helpful (by making more fuel available) to being harmful in the long run (by suppressing certain aspects of immune function). In the alarm stage, the body's resources are mobilized in response to a stressor. Resistance occurs when the body can no longer sustain the emergency response and the organism must find other ways to ward off the threat. If the threat persists, eventually the body's resources become depleted, physical exhaustion occurs, and illness becomes much more likely.

The ___ axis is a major neuroendocrine pathway relevant to the stress response, and consists of the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and the adrenal cortex.

HPA

Glucocorticoids (cortisol)

Hormones responsible for maintaining the activation of physiological systems during emergencies.

Social Support

Is a coping strategy that combines problem and emotion-focused coping. Is a coping strategy provided by a network of friends and family that care about us and help us to cope with stressful events. Our friends and loved ones provide advice, give hugs, or simply listen when we are under stress. Social support not only is one of the most frequently used ways of coping but also can benefit physical health

Resistance stage

Is the general adaption syndrome, extended effort by the body to deal with a threat. _____ implies that the organism tries to manage the threat. This extended effort, however, takes its toll physically and psychologically by diverting resources from the maintenance of normal bodily functions. With repeated exposure to a stressor, animals enter the exhaustion stage

The SSRS scale is a measurement instrument designed to measure

Major life event stress

Which of the following is NOT a major neuroendocrine pathway stimulated by the Hypothalamus during an emotional event?

Mesolimbic dopamine pathway

The CRF stimulates the ____________ to release ACTH.

Pituitary

During a stress response the ____ releases ACTH, which stimulates the cortex of the adrenal gland to release cortisol

Pituitary gland

The sympathetic response evolved because rapid mobilization of the body's resources in emergency situations had clear survival and reproductive benefits. In cases of stress, however, this activation is ______ Moreover, if we live with prolonged stress-inducing situations, our bodies remain in "emergency mode" for long periods of time. Thus, a response that is adaptive in the short term can take a toll on the body in the long term, leading, for example, to sustained increases in blood pressure and heart rate. Think about how you feel when something startles you: Your heart races; you start breathing heavily; you're in a state of high alert. Now imagine what it would be like to remain in that condition for several days.

Prolonged

buffering hypothesis

Social support may serve to protect us from the effects of stress under certain conditions the idea that other people can provide direct emotional support in helping individuals cope with stressful events

The ______ view of stress focuses on the stressors, the situations that cause stress.

Stimulus

Which of the following branches of the nervous system is responsible for mobilizing the bodys resources during times of threat and emergency?

Sympathetic

During the stress response, what is the function of the sympathetic neurons?

Tell the adrenal gland to release norepinephrine.

Coping

The act of dealing with stress or emotions. Efforts to deal with stress or emotion When we walk away from someone who is making us angry or complain about our boss to a friend, we are coping with stresses in our lives. In this section we explore various ways people cope with stress.

gut-brain axis

The bi directional pathway between the intestines and the central nervous system, by which changes in the intestinal environment affect the brain and vice versa.

reappraisal

The emotion regulation strategy of The reevaluation of a situation in light of new information or additional thought

Microbiome

The environment of trillions of various of microorganisms living with our bodies, which perform important metabolic and physiological functions.

The Hassles and Uplifts Scale measures

The frequency and intensity of minor irritations (hassles) and the positive events of daily life that may counteract their damaging effects. Ex: Minor irritations such as us. The accumulation of minor irritations—traffic, too much homework, relationship troubles—might wear us down, both mentally and physically. Created by Anita DeLongis and colleagues.

The cardiovascular system

The heart, blood, and all the blood vessels.

The response view of stress focuses on what?

The physiological changes that occur when someone encounters an excessively challenging situation.

The Psychoneuroimmunology ( PNI)

The science of how psychological factors relate to changes in the immune system.

Health Pscyhology

The study of the role psychological factors play in regard to health and illness.

Adrenal medullary system

a major neuroendocrine pathway stimulated during stress, in which the hypothalamus activates the sympathetic nervous system Is a major neuroendocrine pathway that activates sympathetic neurons which then tell the adrenal gland to release norepinephrine.

problem-focused coping

a way of dealing with stress that aims to change the situation that is creating stress. The coping strategy of squarely facing one's troubles and trying to solve them.

Accepting responsibility

acknowledging one's role in the stress-eliciting situation.

As part of the HPA axis, the ______ gland is triggered by hormones from the pituitary gland to release the stress hormone cortisol.

adrenal

During emotional arousal and stress, the hypothalamus releases a substance called corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), which stimulates the pituitary to release _________ ACTH then stimulates the cortex of the adrenal gland to release cortisol, the major glucocorticoid produced in humans, which is commonly known as the "stress hormone." When the level of cortisol in the blood adequately meets the body's metabolic needs, the hypothalamus stops releasing CRF, thereby reducing the release of cortisol. This kind of negative feedback occurs throughout the neuroendocrine system.

adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH).

Telomerase

an enzyme that adds DNA sequences to telomeres, decreases with age.

Health Behavior approach

an explanation for illness or health that focuses on the role of behaviors such as diet, exercise, or substance abuse

Antigen

any foreign substance that triggers an immune response

General Adaption syndrome ( GAS)

as defined by Hans Selye, a generalized, nonspecific set of changes in the body that occur during extreme stress. _____ consists of three stages alarm, resistant and exhaustion. Selye proposed that all stress causes a generalized, nonspecific set of changes in the body—no matter what the type of elicitor. He measured hormones, metabolism, organ function, and other variables and observed a consistent pattern of responses regardless of the stressor. Selye (1946) coined the term general adaptation syndrome ___ to describe this general pattern of responses to prolonged exposure to stress.

Distancing

attempting to separate oneself from an emotional experience.

The relational view of stress

defines stress as a particular relationship between people and the situations in which they find themselves. That is, how stressful a situation is for you depends on what the situation means to you.

Pessimists

emphasize the negative; for them, the glass is always half empty and the future uncertain.

Stressors

events that trigger a stress response. (We call these events that push us to the limit or exceed our ability to manage the situation) Catastrophic events, life changes, daily hassles, frustration, conflict, and pressure.

Acquired immunity

immunity provided by antibodies produced in the body in response to specific antigens

Resilience

is a personality trait that means being more flexible and able to bounce back from difficult situations. ______ people experience quicker recovery from stress-induced cardiovascular arousal, in part because they are more likely to find some positive meaning in a difficult situation. Tugade and Fredrickson

Grit

is related to resilience, but is not identical with it. The two major components of grit are having a resilient response to adverse situations and a stick-to-it-ness or persevering in one's passions and interests over long periods of time. ____ is not only whether one can bounce back from failure but also how much one sticks to tasks over long periods of time.

Animals however cannot

persist in the alarm stage for long. With continued exposure to the stressor, they will either die or find other ways of coping with the enduring threat. When they develop other ways to cope, they enter the second stage of adaptation, called the resistance stage. The alarm phase of the GAS occurs when an organism initially encounters a stressor.

secondary appraisal

self-assessment of the resources available to cope with stress

The direct effects hypothesis

states that social support is beneficial to mental and physical health whether or not the person is under stress.

Your response to a situation that overwhelms your perceived ability to meet the demands of the situation is called __________ While the situations that lead to this response are called _________

stress, stressors

Seeking social support

talking with friends for purposes of emotional support

Optimists

tend to emphasize the positive, see the glass as "half full" rather than as "half empty," and believe that things will turn out well. ________ are less likely to feel helpless or depressed, adjust better to negative life events, and show better general mental health than do pessimists. ______ may also benefit physical health. By seeing the world positively, _____ may appraise events in such a way that negative emotions are less likely and positive emotions more likely. They may be more likely to see potentially stressful situations as challenges rather than threats. Research shows that the more optimistic a person is, the less likely it is that he or she will die from cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, changes in optimism are related to changes in positive emotion that predict immune function. Surprisingly, believing that you have some control over situations in life, especially traumatic situations, can improve your psychological health. Health psychologist Shelley Taylor has studied various groups of people suffering from chronic, debilitating, and often fatal diseases such as breast cancer, heart disease, and HIV/AIDS. She has found that people who believe they have some control over their illness—in spite of medical evidence to the contrary—are actually happier and less stressed than less optimistic people with the same diseases. In people recovering from coronary disease, both optimism and gratitude improved how well they maintained healthful behaviors, such as diet and exercise regimens.

Natural immunity

the form of immunity that is the first response to antigens

neuroendocrine system

the hormonal systems involved in emotions and stress

Cardiovascular Reactivity Model (CVR)

the hypothesis that hostility can increase the likelihood of heart disease through at least two casual routes

psychosomatic theory

the idea that emotional factors can lead to the occurrence or worsening of illness.

Homeostasis

the idea that, unless we are being provoked by something, we are existing in a baseline state. the idea that, unless we are being provoked by something, we are humming along at an even-keeled baseline state, and we return to the same state after the stress. Moreover, homeostasis implies that just one system in the body struggles to return to baseline at a time (homeo- means "same").

cellular immunity

the immune response that occurs when T lymphocytes (T cells) fight antigens

Exhaustion stage

the phase of the general adaptation syndrome when all resources for fighting the threat have been depleted and illness is more likely. At this stage, their resources for fighting off threats have been depleted, and illness becomes much more likely. Have you ever come down with a cold or other illness a week or so after final exams? You get the idea.

The response view of stress focuses on

the physiological changes that occur when someone encounters an excessively challenging situation

Allostasis

the process by which the body achieves stability through physiological change.

Self control

trying to regulate one's feelings or actions regarding the problem;

emotional disclosure

way of coping with stress through writing or talking about the situation James Pannebaker developed a technique, known as _______, that enables people to unburden themselves. In a typical emotional disclosure task, people are instructed to write for about 15 minutes about a recent emotional experience—in particular, one that they have found troubling, that still bothers them from time to time, and that they haven't discussed much with other people. Janelle primary of coping involves unburdening through writing or talking about her problems with her friends this is an example of ________

Emotion- focused coping

way of dealing with stress that aims to regulate the experience of distress. involve managing emotional responses to stressors rather than dealing with the stressors themselves.

Social Readjustment Rating Scale ( SRRS)

which is an instrument to quantify stress in terms of major life changes or events. Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe

Escape avoidance

wishful thinking or doing something to get one's mind off the situation ( such as going to the movies)