Stress, Coping, Health

Stress & Disease
1. Contagious diseases were at one time the largest cause of death. Now chronic diseases, like heart disease, cancer and stroke make up 55% of the reason for death.
  1. Biopsychosocial model –physical illness is caused by a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors.
  2. Health psychology –studies how psychosocial factors relate to the promotion and maintenance of health and with the cause, prevention and treatment of illness.
Stress - occurs when circumstances threaten or are perceived to threaten one’s well-being and tax one’s coping abilities.
1. Primary appraisal is one’s first evaluation of whether an event is 1) irrelevant, 2) relevant but not threatening, or 3) stressful.
2. Secondary appraisal is made when one views the event as stressful and evaluate one’s coping resources and options for dealing with it.
Types of Stress
1. 1. Acute vs. Chronic – Acute stressors are short and have a clear end point (e.g. exam) whereas chronic stressors are relatively long and don’t have an end time limit
2. 2. Frustration – occurs when one’s goals are blocked.
3. 3. Internal Conflict – two or more incompatible motivations or behavioural impulses Kurt Lewin’s types are 1) approach-approach - 2) approach-avoidance - 3) avoidance-avoidance -
4. 4. Change – having to adapt
5. 5. Pressure – time pressure as well as expectations to behave in certain ways
Responding to Stress
1. Emotional Responses Common emotional responses - Annoyance, anger, rage - Apprehension, anxiety, fear - Dejection, sadness, grief
2. Fight-or-flight response (Walter Cannon, 1932) physiological response to threat in which the autonomic nervous system mobilizes one for attacking (fight) or escaping (flight) the attacker.
3. Coping – active efforts to master, reduce or tolerate the demands created by stress
4. Psychosomatic diseases – term was once used when a physical problem (e.g. ulcers) was believed to be caused by stress.
Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome
1. 1. Alarm - Physiological arousal occurs when the organism first recognizes threat.
  1. 2. Resistance – if stress is prolonged chronic arousal can result.
    1. 3. Exhaustion – resources are depleted, arousal decreases and animal collapses or has little resistance to diseases.
Type A Personality, Hostility, and Heart disease
1. Type A Behaviour - 3 elements 1. strong competitiveness 2. impatience and time urgency 3. anger and hostility
2. Type B – relaxed, patient, easygoing, not competitive or easily angered
Stress and immune functioning
1. Immune response – body’s defensive reaction to invasion by bacteria, viruses, etc. Stress is associated with reduced immune activity

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Stress, Coping, Health

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