Stress and Health
 Behavioral Medicine
 interdisciplinary field that integrates behavioral and medical knowledge and applies that knowledge to health and disease
 Health Psychology
 subfield of psychology that provides psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine

Stress and Illness
 Leading causes of death in the US in 1900 and 2000

Stress and Illness
 Stress
 the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors :
 Threatening
 Challenging

Stress Appraisal
Appraisal
Threat
(“Yikes! This is beyond me!”)
Response
Panic, freeze up
Stressful event
(tough math test)
Challenge
(“I’ve got to apply all I know”)
Aroused, focused

Thalamus
Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
Sympathetic nervous system releases the stress hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine from nerve endings in the inner part of the adrenal glands
Cerebral cortex
(perceives stressor )
Pituitary hormone in the bloodstream stimulates the outer part of the adrenal gland to release the stress hormone cortisol
Adrenal glands

Stress and Illness
Stress resistance
The body’s resistance to stress can last only so long before exhaustion sets in
Stressor occurs
Phase 1
Alarm reaction
(mobilize resources)
Phase 2
Resistance
(cope with stressor)
Phase 3
Exhaustion
(reserves depleted)
 General
Adaptation
Syndrome
 concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three stages

Three Stages of the General Adaptation
Syndrome
1) Alarm Reaction -general arousal caused by: arousal subsidies because of:
*increase of adrenal glands
* decrease in adrenal output
*reaction of
2) Resistance -sympathetic
*counter reaction of nervous system parasympathetic nervous system
If stressor is not removed, organism
If stressor is not moves to: removed, organism moves to:
3) Exhaustion -general arousal of
Stage 1 reappears:
Powerful parasympathetic response opposes arousal.
If stressor is not removed in time, death occurs.

 Catastrophic Events
 earthquakes, combat stress, floods, 911
 Life Changes
 death of a loved one, divorce, loss of job, promotion, moving, college, marriage, birth of a child
 Daily Hassles
 rush hour traffic, long lines, job stress, burnout, school, OGT’s, ACT’s, Maruna’s Class…hahaha

 Chronic Stress by Age

 Type A
 term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient people
 Type B
 term for cooperative, calm, easygoing people
 Quiz: Are you Type A or Type B?

 Gender differences
 Women more likely to have lasting reactions to traumatic events
 Marriage and committed relationships have health benefits
 Social buffer against stress
 Live healthier, longer lives on average
 Loss of spouse affects men more
 Maybe marriage is choice of healthier people

 Gender differences
 Fight-or-flight important to both sexes
 Men more likely to use fight-or-flight response
 Women more likely to tend-and-befriend
 Creates alliances for future if reoccurrence
 Average response to workplace stress

 Ethnic differences
 Minority groups experience more stress
 Few advantages and opportunities
 Stressful interactions with majority culture due to stereotypes, discrimination, prejudice
 Rapid acculturation of immigrant children clash with family pressures to maintain old culture
(ie: language, customs)

Stress and Disease

 Psychosomatic
 “mind-body” illness
 any stress-related physical illness
 some forms of hypertension
 some headaches
 distinct from hypochondriasis-misinterpreting normal physical sensations as symptoms of a disease


 two types of white blood cells that are part of the body’s immune system
 B lymphocytes form in the bone marrow and release antibodies that fight bacterial infections
 T lymphocytes form in the thymus and, among other duties, attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances

 Stress does not directly cause disease
 When energy is diverted from immune system activities and directed toward stressresponse system  vulnerability to infection and disease increases

Stress and Disease
 Negative emotions and health-related consequences
 Mind and body interact; everything psychological is simultaneously physiological
Heart disease
Persistent stressors and negative emotions
Unhealthy behaviors
(smoking, drinking, poor nutrition and sleep)
Release of stress hormones
Immune suppression
Autonomic nervous system effects
(headaches, hypertension)

 Coping with stress
 Problem-focused coping: when we feel a sense of control and think we can change the situation
 Change the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor
 Emotion-focused coping: when we feel we have no or little control over the situation
 Avoid or ignore a stressor
 Meet emotional needs

Perceived Control

 Higher than normal susceptibility to infections, cardiovascular disease, and possibly, a shorter life span
 Diminished immune system responses

 Optimists, more than pessimists, feel they have more control over stressor
 Cope better with stressors
 Better moods
 Stronger immune systems
 Live longer
 Laugh more, less sarcastic

 Supportive family members, friends, companionable pets help people cope with stress
 Fosters stronger immune systems
 Lowers blood pressure
 Nursing homes
 Therapy pets
 People feel loss of control, die sooner

Promoting Health
 Social support across the life span
Percentage with high support
100%
90
80
70
60
50
12-14 18-19 25-34 45-54 65-74
15-17 20-24 35-44 55-64 75+
Age in years

Promoting Health
Depression score
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
No-treatment group
5
4
7
6
Aerobic exercise group
3
Before treatment evaluation
Relaxation treatment group
After treatment evaluation



Promoting Health
 Biofeedback
 system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state
 blood pressure
 muscle tension

Life events
Personal appraisal
Challenge Threat
Easy going
Non depressed
Optimistic
Personality type
Hostile
Depressed
Pessimistic
Nonsmoking
Regular exercise
Good nutrition
Personality habits
Smoking
Sedentary
Poor nutrition
Level of social support
Close, enduring Lacking
Tendency toward
Health Illness

Promoting Health
 Religious Attendance

Promoting Health
 The religion factor is multidimensional
Religious involvement
Healthy behaviors
(less smoking, drinking)
Social support
(faith communities, marriage)
Positive emotions
(less stress, anxiety)
Better health
(less immune system suppression, stress hormones, and suicide)

Promoting Health

 unproven health care treatments not taught widely in medical schools, not used in hospitals, and not usually reimbursed by insurance companies

Alternative systems of medical practice
Health care ranging from self-care according to folk principles, to care rendered in an organized health care system based on alternative traditions or practices
Bioelectromagnetic applications
Diet, nutrition, life-style changes
Herbal medicine
Manual healing
Mind-body control
The study of how living organisms interact with electromagnetic
(EM) fields
The knowledge of how to prevent illness, maintain health, and reverse the effects of chronic disease through dietary or nutritional intervention
Employing plan and plant products from folk medicine traditions for pharmacological use
Using touch and manipulation with the hands as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool
Exploring the mind’s capacity to affect the body, based on traditional medical systems that make use of the interconnectedness of mind and body
Drugs and vaccines not yet accepted by mainstream medicine Pharmacological and biological treatments