Module 5a – Stress, Health, and Coping
Health psychology – examines how people’s behavior can
improve well-being and prevent illness, and how human
behavior influences the course of recovery from illness.
Selye’s Concept of Stress
Hans Selye – a physician who defined stress as the
“nonspecific response of the body to any demand made upon
it.”
 Emphasized the role of change in creating stress.
 Did not consider effects of chronic problems such as
poverty or discrimination.
 Propose 3 distinct stages of stress:
o Alarm – a brief period of high arousal of the
SNS, readying the body for vigorous activity.
o Resistance – if a stressor lasts more than a
few minutes; a phase of prolonged,
moderate arousal.
o Exhaustion – long-lasting stress depletes
proteins in the immune system. Fatigue,
weakness, and vulnerability to illness are
increased.
Measuring Stress
 Life is stressful.
Measuring how much stress is detrimental to one’s health –
psychologists need to measure both stress and health.
o These conditions are difficult to measure.
o Checklists devised for this purpose have low
reliability and validity.
Event – have different meanings to people depending on the
circumstances.
 A lost after-school job is only a minor setback to
a 16-year old who still lives at home. But a major
crisis for a 45-year-old supporting a family.
 Arnold Lazarus – devised a different perspective
on measuring stress due to this.
Lazarus – states that a stressful situation occurs when a
person regards an event as threatening or exceeding their
resources.
Divorce – a major life stressor for an abandoned spouse with
children, and easier (not stress-free) transition for a childless
couple in their 20’s who agrees about ending the marriage.
 This view implies that we can learn to think
differently and deal actively instead of feeling
threatened by events.
Degree of stressfulness of any event – in Lazarus’ view
depends on:
 Our interpretation of the event.
 Our reaction to it.
 The nature of the other events in our lives.
Most accurate way to measure stress – involves careful and
detailed interviews assessing all stressors and positive aspects
in an individual’s life.
 Difficult to do well but researchers can identify
conditions that might endanger health.
How Stress Affects Health
 Stress has indirect effects and direct effects on health:
Indirect effects – include changes in behavior.
 Loss of sleep.
 Use of substances
 Anxiety generated by negative suggestion that can
damage health in the long-term.
Direct effects – stem from prolonged activation of the SNS
and prolonged exposure to cortisol, which damage memory
and inhibit immune system functioning.
 Emotions or stress do not lead directly to illness.
Negative emotion and stress – influence an individual to
engage in risky behavior or self-neglect.
Curses and hexes – also work in this way, by influencing a
person’s beliefs and emotional state, leading to deterioration
of health.
Heart Disease
 In the 1970s, a link was hypothesized between
impatient, driven personality and heart disease.
o Type A personality – highly competitive,
impatient, and hurried often with an angry
and hostile temperament.
o Type B personality – easygoing, less
hurried, and less hostile.
 There may be a link between a hostile disposition
and heart disease.
 Genetics, diet, exercise, and other factors have a
stronger influence than personality factors or
emotional tendencies.
 Culture dictates pace of life, diet, and other lifestyle
factors related to heart disease.
Module 5a – Stress, Health, and Coping
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – a prolonged period of Compassionate Friends (for parents of
anxiety and depression following the experience of an children who have been murdered) provide
extremely stressful event; causes are not fully understood. these services.
 Relaxation – most useful when the stressor cannot
 Well-documented in war veterans and those who
be avoided.
have survived violent crimes and serious accidents.
o These manage the reaction to the stressor
o Survivors of these events frequently do not
rather than act in response to it.
suffer PTSD.
o Techniques range from finding time to relax
 PTSD sufferers report nightmares, emotional
to structured mediation practices.
outbursts, guilt, and flashbacks that may cause
o Relaxation, exercise, and distraction are
debilitating panic.
common emotion-focused strategies.
Coping with Stress  Exercise – arouses the SNS in the short-term, but in
the long-term has an inoculating effect on those who
 There are 2 major categories of coping strategy: do so regularly.
Problem-focused – attending carefully to the stressful event  Distraction – similar to hypnoses; it reduces
and trying to take effective action. concentration on the unpleasant stimulus, replacing
it with a different focus of attention.
 Predictability and control.
 When engaging voluntarily in an activity, we know Coping by Reappraisal
what to expect and how to change course of action  Simple cognitive re-framing has protective effects.
or quit if necessary.
o Ability to predict how things will unfold Rationalization – like “looking at the bright side” and focusing
makes the activity less stressful. on strengths while disregarding weaknesses can be useful in
 Nursing home residents are reducing stress.
advised of what to expect and
 In one study, students were asked to restrain their
asked to state their preferences to
emotions while looking at pictures of injured people
feel better while under care.
or crying children.
 Rehearsing or visualizing a process – can be an
o The most successful participants
effective preparation for demanding or stressful
reinterpreted the pictures as being of
event.
people who were receiving good medical
 Inoculation – another word for receiving a vaccine.
care.
o Small amount of weakened or dead germs
are put into the body.
o The amount of disease bearing material
 Choosing the most effective strategy depends on the
does not cause sickness but produces an
nature of the stressor.
immune reaction.
o Stress over an upcoming psychology test.
 To inoculate yourself against stress – expose yourself
 A problem-focused strategy to take
to small amounts or less serious versions of the
effective action is best. Form study
event prior encountering the real/full things.
group or read books.
Emotion-focused – the strategy involving distraction from a o Caught in a major traffic jam.
stressful situation.  An emotion-focused strategy is
best, as there is really nothing you
 Social Support
can do about it. Turn on the radio
o Talking with someone you trust is a great and chill out.
relief.
o Talking with any sympathetic and
supportive person can be useful.
o It is helpful to talk to those who have had
similar problems.
o Giving support can be even more stress-
reducing than receiving it.
o Well-known social organizations and self-
help groups, like Alcoholics Anonymous and