Transcript Myers’ PSYCHOLOGY (6th Ed)

Myers’ PSYCHOLOGY
(7th Ed)
Chapter 14
Stress and Health
James A. McCubbin, PhD
Clemson University
Worth Publishers
Stress and Health
 Behavioral Medicine
 interdisciplinary field that integrates
behavioral and medical knowledge and
applies that knowledge to health and disease
 Health Psychology
 subfield of psychology that provides
psychology’s contribution to behavioral
medicine
What is Frustration?
Frustration occurs when we are blocked or
hindered from reaching our goal.
Most frustrations are minor. They are the
frustrations of daily life: busy signals, or being
stuck in traffic. These frustrations are not good
for us because they gradually wear us down.
Each time we experience a frustration, there is a
physiological response” clenched teeth or
tightened muscles.
What Is Conflict?
Conflict is a situation in which we have to
make a choice between alternatives.
For example: you want to buy 2 CD’s,
but only have enough money to buy one,
so you must make a choice.
Four Types of Conflict
APPROACH-APPROACH CONFLICT (++)
This is a conflict between two attractive
alternatives.
What examples can you think of?
APPROACH-AVOIDANCE CONFLICT (+-)
-This is a conflict involving a situation with
both good & bad features. This type of
conflict can be very distressing.
What examples can you think of?
Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict (--)
-This is a conflict involving a choice between
two unattractive alternatives. You can’t
win, no matter which side you choose.
What examples can you think of?
Double Approach-Avoidance Conflict
(+-+-)
This is a conflict involving a choice between
alternatives, both of which have good &
bad parts to them. This is the type of
conflict that we experience most often.
All of these conflicts are quite normal.
However a steady diet of conflicts,
especially if you are all alone and have no
support system or are feeling hopeless,
can cause you to make an incorrect or a
poor or no decision, which could then lead
to physical & psychological illness.
WHAT IS ANXIETY?
Anxiety is the feeling that something is wrong &
disaster is imminent.
Anxiety results when frustration builds too high
or when we are unable to resolve a conflict.
Severe attacks of anxiety can cause: rapid
heartbeat, fatigue, chest pain, breathlessness,
dizziness, fainting, headaches and feelings of
doom.
Stress and Illness
 Stress
 the process by
which we
perceive and
respond to
certain events,
called stressors,
that we appraise
as threatening or
challenging
Stress is the physical pressure and strain
that result from demands or changes in
the environment.
The term stress can refer to certain life
events (stressors) or how we react to
these changes in the environment
(stress reactions).
Any type of change can lead to stress,
even positive changes.
Conflict, frustration and anxiety can
all lead to stress.
Types of Stress
 EUSTRESS
-Good stress
-Any type of stress that
motivates us to do
something that is
desirable.
 DISTRESS
-Bad stress
-Stress that is so
overwhelming, that it
causes us problems.
Stress and Illness
 Leading causes of death in the US in 1900
and 2000
Stress Appraisal
Appraisal
Response
Threat
(“Yikes! This is
beyond me!”)
Panic, freeze up
Challenge
(“I’ve got to apply
all I know”)
Aroused, focused
Stressful event
(tough math test)
PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF STRESS
FIGHT OR FLIGHT REACTION :
is your body’s reaction to a crisis.
-The body can NOT tell the difference
between a psychological threat or a
physiological threat and will respond the
same way to danger.
 The major parts of a human that
respond to emotional stress are:
1) The higher brain (the thinking part)
2) The lower brain(controls body functions)
3) The adrenal glands (release hormones)
Three Examples of Stress
1.
2.
3.
All
Anticipation of an operation.
Going out on a first date.
Accepting the death of a loved one.
3 examples involve a psychological change because all
deal with mental issues and distress. In each case,
the higher brain assumes that threat & danger exist
and it signals the lower brain about the emergency.
The lower brain secretes the stress hormone, which
signals the adrenal glands to send adrenaline to the
body. This causes the muscles to tense, a faster
heartbeat, and liver to send out more sugar to use in
case of fight or flight.
If we were to solve the problem quickly,
the body would return to normal quickly.
However most of our problems are
abstract, rather than physical and hard to
solve them, so our bodies remain in the
flight or fight response condition. This
eventually causes physical problems
because we are running at full alert.
Cerebral cortex
(perceives stressor)
Thalamus
Hypothalamus
Pituitary hormone in the
bloodstream stimulates
the outer part of the adrenal
gland to release the stress
hormone cortisol
Pituitary gland
Sympathetic nervous
system releases the
stress hormones
epinephrine and
norepinephrine
from nerve endings
in the inner part of
the adrenal glands
Adrenal glands
Stressful Life Events
 Catastrophic Events
 Unpredictable, large scale events, such as:
 earthquakes, combat stress, floods
 Significant Life Changes
 death of a loved one, marriage or divorce, loss of
job, promotion
 Daily Hassles
 The everyday annoyances, such as:
 rush hour traffic, long lines, job stress, burnout
Burn-out refers to being worn down
from the never ending stress on the job.
Certain professions are known to cause
burnout.
What examples can you think of?
Stress becomes worse when viewed as a
negative & uncontrolled. This will lead to
ill health.
Stressful Life Events
 Chronic Stress by Age
Stressors are unavoidable. You can’t
eliminate stress, but you can manage your
reaction to stress by
a) confront the stress
b) handle the problem
c) prevent its reoccurrence
Techniques To Reduce Stress
Exercise - serves to increase levels of energy &
seratonin
Relaxation
Develop a support system
Biofeedback – is a system for electronically
recording & feeding back information on your
physiological state so can learn to control
reactions & increase your alpha waves & lower
blood pressure.
Promoting Health
 Biofeedback
 system for
electronically
recording,
amplifying, and
feeding back
information
regarding a subtle
physiological state
 blood pressure
 muscle tension
Four Leading Causes of
Illness & Death
1.
2.
3.
4.
Cancer
Stroke
Lung Disease
Heart Disease
Which one is the #1 cause of death in the
United States?
Stress and the Heart
 Coronary Heart Disease is #1
 clogging of the vessels that nourish the
heart muscle
 leading cause of death in many developed
countries
 Physical Factors: smoking, obesity, high
cholesterol and high fat diet
 Psychological Factors: Stress, Type A
Personality, anger, depression & negative
emotions
Stress and the Heart
Stress and Disease
 Psychophysiological Illness
 “mind-body” illness
 any stress-related physical illness
 some forms of hypertension
 some headaches
 distinct from hypochondriasis-misinterpreting normal physical
sensations as symptoms of a disease
Stress and the Heart
Hopelessness
scores
3.5
3
Men who feel extreme hopelessness
are at greater risk for heart attacks
and early death
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Heart attack
Low risk
Death
Moderate risk
High risk
MEASURING STRESS
Psychologists Thomas Holmes & Richard Rahe
designed one of the first instruments to
measure stress.
(SRRS) or Social Readjustment Rating Scale
measured stress using (LCU) or Life Change
Units.
 A person taking the SRRS reported changes in his/her life.
Different changes were assigned LCUs. Any major life change
would increase the score. A person with a high score on the SRRS
is more likely to have a stress related illness.
Stress and Illness
The body’s resistance to stress can
last only so long before exhaustion sets in
Stress
resistance
Stressor
occurs
Phase 1
Alarm
reaction
(mobilize
resources)
Phase 2
Resistance
(cope with
stressor)
Phase 3
Exhaustion
(reserves
depleted)
 General Adaptation
Syndrome (GAS
theory)
 Hans Selye’s
(1956) concept
of the body’s
adaptive
response to
stress in three
stages.
ALARM REACTION:
The body sends out emergency signals that
stir it up in preparation for an attackwhether it be physical or physiological.
The heart rate increases, blood is diverted
away from other bodily functions and sent
to the muscles needed to react. The
organism readies itself to meet the
challenge through the activation of the
sympathetic nervous system.
RESISTANCE
The organism tries to fight back against the
attack. The body remains physiologically ready.
Hormones are released to maintain this state of
readiness. This stage can last for weeks. If the
resistance stage lasts for too long, the body can
delete its resources. The parasympathetic
nervous system returns our physiological state
to normal. Thus if the threat is removed, the
body and psyche restore themselves back to a
normal chemical & emotional balance.
EXHAUSTION
If the stress does not let up, continuous
“fight or flight” becomes impossible. We
become more vulnerable to disease,
especially if our resources were depleted
by an extended time in the resistance
stage.
Excessive stress can contribute to both
physical diseases and psychological
problems.
Our bodies can remain ready for a
challenge so long before our resources are
depleted and we are vulnerable to disease
due to exhaustion.
Stress and the Heart
Friedman and Rosenman did research on
focusing the connection between
developing stress related illnesses and
personality types.
Stress and the Heart
 Type A Personality
 Term used for competitive, hard-driving,
impatient, verbally aggressive, & angerprone people. Competitive & Distracted,
thinking of what will say next, not listening.
 Have high blood pressure and heart problems.
 Type B Personality
 easygoing, relaxed people, open to
change, are flexible, enjoy life. Low stress
levels. Non-competitive.
Managing Everyday Stress
We cope with our stress in one of two ways:
REGRESSIVE COPING-sleep too much, avoid
or deny a problem, take it out on family &
friends, adopt bad habits: drinking, smoking or
doing drugs
TRANSFORMATIONAL COPING-creating
something good out of something bad. Admit
our anger, address the problem, adjust our
priorities and explore solutions.
Promoting Health
 Modifying Type A life-style can reduce
recurrence of heart attacks
Percentage 6
of patients
with recurrent 5
heart attacks
(cumulative 4
average)
3
Control patients
Modifying life-style
reduced recurrent
heart attacks
2
Life-style modification patients
1
0
1978
1979
1980
Year
1981
1982
Promoting Health
Depression 14
score 13
No-treatment
group
12
11
10
Relaxation
treatment
group
9
8
7
6
Aerobic
exercise
group
5
4
3
Before treatment
evaluation
After treatment
evaluation
 Aerobic Exercise
 sustained
exercise that
increases heart
and lung fitness
Stress and Disease
 Negative emotions and health-related
consequences
Heart
disease
Persistent stressors
and negative
emotions
Unhealthy behaviors
(smoking, drinking,
poor nutrition and sleep)
Release of stress
hormones
Immune
suppression
Autonomic nervous
system effects
(headaches,
hypertension)
Stress and Disease
 Lymphocytes
 two types of white blood cells that are
part of the body’s immune system
 B lymphocytes form in the bone marrow
and release antibodies that fight bacterial
infections
 T lymphocytes form in the thymus and,
among other duties, attack cancer cells,
viruses, and foreign substances
Life events
Personal appraisal
Challenge
Threat
Personality type
Hostile
Depressed
Pessimistic
Easy going
Nondepressed
Optimistic
Personality habits
Smoking
Sedentary
Poor nutrition
Nonsmoking
Regular exercise
Good nutrition
Level of social support
Close, enduring
Lacking
Tendency toward
Health
Illness
Promoting Health
 Complementary and Alternative
Medicine
 unproven health care treatments not
taught widely in medical schools, not
used in hospitals, and not usually
reimbursed by insurance companies
Subfields of Alternative Medicine
Alternative systems of
medical practice
Health care ranging from self-care according to folk principles,
to care rendered in an organized health care system based on
alternative traditions or practices
Bioelectromagnetic
applications
The study of how living organisms interact with electromagnetic
(EM) fields
Diet, nutrition,
life-style changes
The knowledge of how to prevent illness, maintain health, and
reverse the effects of chronic disease through dietary or
nutritional intervention
Herbal medicine
Employing plan and plant products from folk medicine traditions
for pharmacological use
Manual healing
Using touch and manipulation with the hands as a diagnostic
and therapeutic tool
Mind-body control
Exploring the mind’s capacity to affect the body, based on
traditional medical systems that make use of the interconnectedness of mind and body
Pharmacological and
biological treatments
Drugs and vaccines not yet accepted by mainstream medicine
The
Physiological
Effects of
Nicotine