AP Psychology

Stress and Health

I. Stress
A. What is It? What Does It Do?
 The process by which we appraise and
respond to environmental threats
 Classified on the basis of intensity
o Hassles—daily problems—waiting
in lines, arguing with friend, getting
low grades on quiz; can add up,
raising blood pressure, causing
headaches, lowering immunity
o Significant life changes—marriage,
death, promotion, moving, etc.
*Social Readjustment Scale
o Catastrophes—unpredictable, large-
scale disasters—health problems
often result from prolonged stress

B. Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome

 According to Selye, we react similarly to
physical and psychological stressors
(anything we perceive as endangering our
well-being)
 General Adaptation Sydrome—Hans
Selye’s three-stage theory that describes
our body’s reaction to stress
o Alarm—our body increases
sympathetic nervous system activity;
body prepared for “fight or flight”
 o Resistance—temp, heart rate, bp,
respiration remain high, while levels
of stress hormones continue to rise
o Exhaustion—if crisis not resolved in
second stage, continued stress results
in depletion of our physical resources
and decreased immunity to disease
occurs; may result in ulcers,
depression, or even death

C. Stress and Health

 High levels of stress associated with
decreased immunity, high blood pressure,
heart disease, and quicker progression of
cancer
 Friedman and Rosenman—people who
have different patterns of reacting to
stress have different probabilities of
suffering heart attacks
o Type A Personalities—high
achievers, competitive, impatient,
multitaskers who walk, talk, eat
quickly
o Type B Personalities—more relaxed
and calm in their approach to life
o Type A—more likely to suffer heart
attack in their 30’s and 40’s than
Type B
D. Social Conflict Situations
  Conflict—being torn in different
directions by opposing motives that block
us from attaining a goal, leaving us feeling
frustrated and stressed
 Types of Conflict: Miller
o Approach-approach conflicts—
situations involving two positive
options, only one of which we can
have (attend Harvard or Yale)
o Avoidance-avoidance conflicts—
situations involving two negative
options, one of which you must
choose (‘no-win’ situations)
o Approach-avoidance conflicts—
situations involving whether or not to
choose an option that has both
positive AND negative consequences
(go out tonight vs. study for test)
o Multiple Approach-Avoidance
conflicts—several alternatives, each
having both positive AND negative
aspects

D. Coping Strategies
 Adaptive or maladaptive
o Maladaptive—fail to remove
stressors or wind up substituting one
stressor for another
 Aggression, indulging ourselves
by eating, drinking, smoking,
 using drugs, spending money,
sleeping too much, or using
defense mechanisms
o Adaptive—remove stressors or
enable us to better tolerate them
o Problem-solving, physical exercise,
seeking social support, prayer,
accepting problem
o Health psychologist suggest using
relaxation, visualization, meditation,
biofeedback to help lessen effects of
stress in our lives, boost our immune
system