Professional Documents
Culture Documents
WHAT IS STRESS?
Stress is
the process by which we perceive and
respond to certain events, called
stressors, that we appraise as
threatening or challenging
Stressors
are the sources of stress but keep in
mind that there is not one set of
stressors that reliably produces stress
in everybody
STRESS APPRAISAL IS KEY Appraisal Response
Threat
(“Yikes! This is Panic, freeze up
beyond me!”)
Stressful event
(tough math test)
Challenge
(“I’ve got to apply Aroused, focused
all I know”)
FROM WALTER CANNON TO HANS SELYE
• Catastrophes
• Natural disasters, war, etc.
• Significant life changes
• Moving, marriage, divorce, having children, getting a job, losing a job,
losing a loved one
• Everyday hassles
• Mild disagreements, traffic, being late for school, getting a zit, etc.
• BUT the hypothalamus also activates the pituitary gland which in turn
activates the core of the adrenal gland to release the hormone cortisol
HOW STRESS AFFECTS HEALTH Heart
disease
Persistent stressors
Release of stress Immune
and negative
hormones suppression
emotions
Autonomic nervous
Unhealthy behaviors system effects
(smoking, drinking, (headaches,
poor nutrition and sleep) hypertension)
CORTISOL
• In the normal course of escape and avoidance learning, a light dims shortly before the floor is electrified
(a). Since the light does not yet have meaning for the dog, the dog receives a shock (non-injurious, by
the way) and leaps the barrier (b). Dogs soon learn to watch for the dimming of the light (c) and to jump
before receiving a shock (d). Dogs made to feel “helpless” rarely even learn to escape shock, much less
to avoid it.
STRESS AND THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
• Immune system – bodily organs and responses that protect the body from
foreign substances and threats
• Expendable in the fight or flight mode
• Your immune system can either under react or overreact when you are
stressed.
• Lymphocytes - two types of white blood cells that are part of the body’s immune
system but their activity is suppressed when stressed
• 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
WE CANNOT IGNORE OUR HEARTS
• Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman (1970s)
• Those who are highly competitive workaholics are more susceptible to heart
disease than mellow, laid back people
• Type A –
behavior pattern characterized by intense, angry, competitive, or
perfectionistic responses to challenging situations
• Type B –
behavior pattern characterized
by a relaxed, unstressed
approach to life
PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL ILLNESS
“mind-body” illness
any stress-related physical illness
some forms of hypertension
some headaches
distinct from hypochondria— misinterpreting normal
physical sensations as symptoms of a disease
PSYCHOLOGICAL COPING STRATEGIES
• Think of coping as dealing with stress by reducing or eliminating
stressful conditions and their effects
• Emotion-focused coping –
Responding to stress by controlling one’s emotional responses
• Problem-focused coping –
Responding to stress by identifying, reducing, and eliminating the stressor
• Social support –
Resources others provide to help an individual cope with stress
• Psychological debriefing –
brief, immediate strategy of crisis focusing on venting emotions and
discussing reactions to the trauma
PSYCHOLOGICAL COPING STRATEGIES
• Optimistic style of thinking –
pattern of thinking that interprets stressors as external in origin, temporary,
and specific in their effects
• The power of humor
• Evaluating the evidence on attitudes and health
• Meditation
• Tend and befriend – connected to the release of oxytocin (social bonding
hormone and relieves stress)
PHYSICAL COPING STRATEGIES
Personal appraisal
Challenge Threat
Personality type
Easy going, Nondepressed, Hostile, Depressed,
Optimistic Pessimistic
Personal habits
Nonsmoking, Regular Smoking, Sedentary,
exercise, Good nutrition Poor nutrition
Tendency toward
Health Illness
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuyPuH9ojCE
STRESS SLEEP
Subfields of Alternative Medicine
Alternative systems of Health care ranging from self-care according to folk principles,
medical practice to care rendered in an organized health care system based on
alternative traditions or practices
Diet, nutrition, The knowledge of how to prevent illness, maintain health, and
life-style changes 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 interconnected-
ness of mind and body
Pharmacological and Drugs and vaccines not yet accepted by mainstream medicine
biological treatments