Biological Psychology - Stress

Annotations:

• Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal system

1. stressor
   1. Hypothalamus
      1. stimulates Pituitary Gland
         1. secretes ACTH
            1. stimulates Adrenal Cortex
               1. secretes hormone corticosteroids
   2. Activates Hypothalamic Pituitary Axis
2. For prolonged stress
3. corticosteroids do a variety of things
   1. liver release stored glucose
      1. maintain stable blood glucose levels

Annotations:

• Sympathomedullary pathway

1. stressor
   1. Activates ANS
   2. Hypothalamus
      1. stimulates Adrenal medulla
         1. secretes adrenaline and noradrenaline
            1. produces a fight or flight response
2. For short term responses
3. produces Fight or Flight response

1. stress can make people more vulnerable to physical illness
   1. long term stressors can impair the functioning of the immune system
      1. this may be by affecting the activity of lymphocytes, natural killer cells and endorphins
2. Keicolt-Glaser et al A: the effect of stress on the functionality of the immune system P: they took blood samples from medical students a month before and on the day of their final medical exam F: they found that the activity of natural killer cells had decreased by the second blood sample, showing that stress is related to a reduced response of the immune system. also the immune systems of the students who had been experiencing loneliness or life events were especially weak.

1. Freidman and Rosenman argued that there are two important personality types that affect your vulnerability to stress, influencing phyical illness, in particular heart disease
2. TYPE A: competitive, hostile, ambitious, pressured and impatient
3. TYPE B: laidback, relaxed, not over competitve
4. Matthew et al found that the component of Type A personality that correlated the highest w/ CHD was HOSTILITY

1. Suzanne Kobasa believed that some people cope w/ stressors better that others bc they obtain the personality traits to do so = a 'hardy' person.
2. 3C's
   1. COMMITMENT: they find meaning in their work , therefore have a direction in life and see the purpose of what they are doing
   2. CHALLENGE: they view potential stressful situations as an opportunity rather than a threat
   3. CONTROL: they have a stronger sense of personal control than other people
3. P: 100 male business executives experiencing many stressful events. she assessed their hardiness against the three compontents, and later compared against the illness scores at the time and 1 year later
4. F: Hardy personalities influence the relationship between stress and physical illness bc hardy people experience less stress because stressors are interpreted differently. this affects

1. Internal Locus of control means that you believe that you have grater control over yourself and stressors, so you experinece less stress

1. Kanner et al did research to see whether daily stressors are better predictors of physical or psychological illness. they got the participants to fill out both scales once every month over 10 months alongside tests to check their physical and psychiatric well-being, and at the end completed a correlational analysis. they found that daily hassles is a better predictor of stress related illnesses

1. Workload
   1. OVERLOAD= frustration when can't complete work because there is too much
   2. UNDERLOAD= bored when there isn't enough to do
2. Control
   1. no control over deadlines
3. work environment
   1. overcrowding
   2. temperature/ pollution
   3. noise
   4. predictability/controlability
   5. lack of social contact (isolated)
4. Work pressures
   1. role conflict
   2. job uncertainty
   3. shift work

1. SRRS
   1. Holmes and Rahe created the SSRS to act as a measurement of the amount of readjustment a major life event would require. this is bc they realised that the life events that affected the onset of illness, involved a change from a steady state.
   2. in order to show the relationship between stress and physical illness in research they made the SRRS by examining 5000 patient records and making a list of 43 life events that preceded illness. then they got nearly 400 ppts to rate the amount of stress produced from each life event. then to give LCU's, the stress value was divided by 10
2. Rahe et al conducted research on 2500 male US naval personnel over a period of 6 months, using the SRRS scale changed into LCUs

1. 1. Conceptualization
2. 2. Skills training and relaxation techniques
3. 3. Application and Follow Through

1. Beta Blockers