Unit 9: Emotion, Stress and Health
Stress: any circumstance (real or perceived) that
threatens a person’s well-being.
• Stressor: any physical or psychological challenge
that threatens homeostasis
• Phys: injury, exertion, noise, overcrowding,
excessive heat or cold
• Psych: interpersonal conflict, peer pressure, timepressure tasks, expectations, achievement
Figure 12.22 Stress appraisal
Myers: Psychology, Ninth Edition
Copyright © 2010 by Worth Publishers
The Stress Response System
• Cannon - stress response (fast)
was a fight-or-flight response
–
–
outpouring of epinephrine and
norepinephrine
inner adrenal glands, increasing
heart and respiration rates,
mobilizing sugar and fat, and
dulling pain.
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)
Hans Selye:
a stress response to any kind
of stimulation is similar. The
stressed individual goes
through three phases
Appraisal of Stress: Stage 1: Alarm
Phase 2: Resistance and Stress Response
• Behavioral: actual fight or flight
• Physiological: alteration to physiology to prep to fight or flight
• Negative emotional states: frustration, fear, anxiety, pressure
• Eustress: positive stress
Types of Conflict (stressors)
1. Approach-approach: choose between one of two attractive goals
•
Hanging out with a friend you haven’t seen in forever or going to a baseball
game you really want to see
2. Avoidance-avoidance
• Choose between two unattractive options
• Lesser of two evils
• Cleaning your room or studying for your psych test on Tuesday
3. Approach-avoidance
• Choose a goal that has both attractive and unattractive features
• You want to purchase the new iPhone 87s with super cool features (it does
your taxes and stuff) but you have to work 4 straight days overtime in order to
afford the $800/month charge
4. Double approach-avoidance
• Must choose between two alternatives, both which have positive and
negative features
• You need to choose between two colleges you like, but both have negative
features as well
Phase 3: Exhaustion
Stress and the Heart
• Stress that leads to elevated blood pressure may
result in coronary heart disease,
• a clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle.
Plaque in
coronary artery
Artery
clogged
Personality Types
Type A personalities are more likely to develop
coronary heart disease.
• Type A is a term used for competitive, hard-driving,
impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people.
• Type B refers to easygoing, relaxed people (Friedman
and Rosenman, 1974).
Figure 12.24 Where life satisfaction is high, hypertension rates are low
Myers: Psychology, Ninth Edition
Copyright © 2010 by Worth Publishers
Stress & Susceptibility to Disease
• Psychophysiological illness:
• stress-related physical illness such as hypertension and
some headaches.
• Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI):
• field that studies health effects of psychological, neural,
and endocrine processes on the immune system
Psychoneuroimmunology Studies the following:
• B lymphocytes fight bacterial infections,
• T lymphocytes attack cancer cells and viruses,
• Microphages ingest foreign substances.
• During stress, energy is mobilized away from the
immune system making it vulnerable.
Stress and AIDS
Stress and negative emotions may accelerate the
progression from human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV) to acquired immune deficiency syndrome
(AIDS).
UNAIDS/ G. Pirozzi
Stress and Cancer
• Stress does not create cancer cells.
• Researchers disagree on whether stress influences the
progression of cancer.
• However, they do agree that avoiding stress and
having a hopeful attitude cannot reverse advanced
cancer.
Figure 12.29 Stress can have a variety of health-related consequences
Myers: Psychology, Ninth Edition
Copyright © 2010 by Worth Publishers
Inability to control life causes stress
Practice Question #1
Which of the following is LEAST likely to affect the immune system’s
ability to ward off illness?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Exposure to stress associated with final examination week
Having a serious argument with a close friend
Experiencing the death of a loved one
Being around someone who has a serious case of the flu
Suffering sleep deprivation due to staying up for several nights writing a
research paper
Practice Question #2
Individuals exhibiting a hostile type A personality pattern are at an
increased risk for
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Alzheimer’s disease
Cardiovascular disease
Schizophrenia
Substance abuse
Anorexia nervosa
Practice Question #3
The stress hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine are released
from the
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Parasympathetic nervous system
Hippocampus
Tend and befriend response
Adrenal glands
Hypothalamus
Mediators of Stress
1.
2.
3.
4.
Adequacy of coping skills
Available support system
Intensity and duration of the stressor/history of stress
Individual beliefs
• Locus of control
• Internal: a belief that a person has control over rewards and punishments in life
• External: a belief that luck, chance, and powerful people determine events
Explanatory Style
People with an optimistic (instead of pessimistic)
explanatory style tend to have more control over
stressors, cope better with stressful events, have
better moods, and have a stronger immune system.
Social Support
Supportive family members, marriage partners, and close friends help people cope
with stress. Their immune functioning calms the cardiovascular system and lowers
blood pressure.
Aerobic Exercise
• aerobic exercise can
elevate mood and wellbeing
• raises energy, increases selfconfidence, and lowers
tension, depression, and
anxiety.
Biofeedback, Relaxation, and Meditation
• Biofeedback systems use electronic devices to inform people about their
physiological responses
• What can you then do from what you know about behavior feedback?
• Relaxation and meditation have similar effects in reducing tension and anxiety.
Intervening Factors
Investigators suggest there are three factors that
connect religious involvement and better health.
Table 12.2
Myers: Psychology, Ninth Edition
Copyright © 2010 by Worth Publishers
Behavioral strategies
• Time management
• Behavior modification
• Relaxation training
• Biofeedback
• Meditation
• Avoiding stressors
Realizing and creating well being
• Well-being: life is good
• Awareness: support
• Encouraging others to develop deeper meanings: peace and love, bro
• Self-efficacy: having control in your life