Stress, Health, &

Coping
Psychology 1010- Group Project

What is stess?

Causes of Stress
Personal events that affect the comfortable
pattern such as;
Divorce
Job loss
Finals week
Difficulties in relationships
Loss of a close friend/family member

Chronic Stressors
Sources of stress that occur continuously or repeatedly.
Discrimination
Bullying
Overworking
Money Struggles

College & Stress

Stress and Health

Flight or Fight
Walter Cannon (1929)
Fight or Flight Response: an emotional and physiological reaction to an emergency that
increases readiness for action.
Physiological (HPA)
Hypothalamus
Pituitary Gland releases adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)
Adrenal Gland
The HPA response makes oxygen and cortisol available to the muscles to aid in attack or
escape

General Adaptation Syndrome

1930s Hans Selyes study of prolonged stressors on rats
Enlarged adrenal cortex, shrinking lymph glands, ulceration of the stomach
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS): a three-stage physiological stress response that
appears regardless of the stressor that is encountered.

Three Stages of GAS

Alarm Phase
Rapid mobilization of the bodys resources to respond to threat.
Equivalent to flight-or-flight response
Resistance Phase
Body copes with the stressor by shutting down unnecessary processes
Exhaustion Phase
Bodys resistance collapses
Increased susceptibility to infection, tumor growth, aging, organ damage or death.

Effects on Health and Aging

Stress accelerates the aging process
Telomeres: Caps at the ends of each chromosome that
protects the ends of the chromosomes and prevents them
from sticking to each other.
Telomerase: an enzyme that rebuilds telomeres at the tips
of chromosomes

Effects on Immune Response

Immune System: a response system that
protects the body from bacteria and other
foreign substances
Lymphocytes: white blood cells that produce
antibodies that fight infection
Psychoneuroimmunology: the study of how the
immune system responds to psychological
variables.
Glucocorticoids

Cardiovascular Health
Chronic stress leads to a greater
likelihood of coronary heart disease,
stroke, aneurysm.
Type A behavior pattern: (Friedman
and Rosenman) a tendency to easily
aroused hostility, impatience, a sense of
time urgency, and competitive
achievement strivings.

Psychological Reactions
Stress Interpretation
Primary Appraisal: Is this stimulus
stressful?
Secondary Appraisal: Can I conquer
this stressor?
Threat Vs.Challenge - The body reacts
differently depending on if you view
something as a threat or a challenge.

Psychological Reactions

Burnout: a state of physical, emotional

and mental exhaustion created by longterm involvement in an emotionally
demanding situation and accompanied
by lowered performance and motivation

Stress Management
Stress Management is ways to relieve stress by managing your mind, body and ways to
sidestep by managing your situation.

Mind Management
Body Management
Situation Management

Mind Management
Mind Management is a way to control our mind.
Repressive Coping
Avoiding situations or thoughts that are reminders of a
stressor and maintaining an artificially positive viewpoint.

Rational Coping
Facing a stressor and working to overcome it.
The opposite of repressive coping

Reframing
Finding a new or creative way to think about a stressor that reduces its threat.

Body Management
Stress can express itself through bodily symptoms such as tension in your neck muscles,
back pain, a knot in your stomach or sweaty hands.
Meditation
The practice of intentional contemplation

Relaxation
Relaxation Therapy - A technique for reducing
by consciously relaxing muscles of the body.

tension

Relaxation Response - A condition of reduced

tension, cortical activity, heart rate, breathing
and blood pressure.

muscle
rate

Body Management
Biofeedback
The use of an external monitoring device to obtain information about a bodily function and
possibly gain control over that function.

Aerobic Exercise
Exercise that increases heart rate and oxygen intake for sustained period.

Situation Management
Situation Management involves changing your life situation as a way of reducing the
impact of stress on your mind and body.
Social Support
The aid gained through interacting with others.

Religious Experiences
Engagement in the practices of a particular religion and spirituality.

Humor
Humor can help us cope with stress

Health-impairing behavior

smoking
24% of adult men and 18% adult women in the U.S smoke regularly, and have a
much greater risk of premature death.
Estimate 13-14 life expectancy shorter than of nonsmokers
Likelihood of developing a large range of diseases, lung cancer and heart disease
kill the largest number of smokers

Poor nutritional habits

Heavy consumptions of foods that elevate serum cholesterol level (egg, cheeses,
butter, shellfish, sausage etc.)
Low-fiber diets may increase the likelihood of coronary disease and high intake of
red and processed meats, sweet, potatoes and refined grains.
High salt intake is a factor developed into of high blood pressure
High caffeine consumption elevate the risk of hypertension

Lack of excercise
Fitness can reduce one's risk for a variety of obesity-related health problem, such as
diabetes and respiratory problems.
Exercise can diminish chronic inflammation, which contribute to a variety of
diseases.
Exercise can be used as a buffer to reduce physical effects of stress

Behavior and HIV/AIDS

The most problematic links between behavior and health may be those related to AIDS.
AIDS stand for acquired immune deficiency syndrome, a disorder in which the immune
system is gradually weakened and eventually disabled by the human immunodeficiency
(HIV).
The symptoms of AIDS vary widely depending on the specific constellation of disease that
one develops.

Mantra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H50llsHm3k

Test Question
T/F Lymphocytes are white blood cells that produce antibodies to fight infection