Stress and Health

1. Stress and Health Year 12 Psychology Unit 4 Area of Study 2(chapter12, page 582)

2. Stress & Health • Stress: state of physiological and psychological arousal produced by internal or external stressors. • Perception that the individual cannot cope or that the challenge of the stressor exceeds ability. • Stress is highly subjective (depends on our personal interpretation of the event or situation). • Stressor: Anything that causes stress (e.g. a person, event, item etc.). • Stress Response: ‘reaction’ to a stressor, involving both physiological and psychological changes. • Mild: can be stimulating and exhilarating. • Acute: suddenly produces very high arousal level. • Chronic: produces high arousal level that persist for a long period of time.

3. Physiological Responses to Stress • Fight-Flight Response: involuntary reaction resulting in state of readiness to ‘fight’ or ‘flee’. • Therefore, an organism deals with a physical or psychological threatening situation by confronting (fight) or running away (flight) • First identified by American doctor Walter Cannon in the 1930s: • Response involves sympathetic NS and endocrine (hormone) system. • Response occurs under the Autonomic NS: • Sympathetic branch controls arousal, fight or flight response / fires us up. Release of adrenaline, heart up, breathing up etc. • Parasympathetic branch calms the body back down, keeps it at a stable level.

4. Adaptive response that occurs automatically to maximise our chances for survival in a threatening situation.

5. Physiological Responses to Stress: HPA Axis Activity: 12.1 • Stressor is identified, hypothalamus activates: • Hypothalamus then activates the Pituitary Gland which releases ACTH (adrenocorticotropic); • ACTH travels through bloodstream to Adrenal Glands above the kidneys, triggering release of adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol; • Triggered hormones boost sympathetic NS activity (increase heart rate, blood pressure, etc.); • Cortisol increases metabolism & glucose concentration in bloodstream to make fuel available to body. • Cortisol and noradrenaline in high concentrations for prolonged time can effect immune function, so people are more susceptible to illness/disease.

6. Physiological Responses to Stress: HPA Axis

7. Physiological Responses to Stress: Nervous system functions

8. Eustress vs. Distress Activity: 12.4 • Eustress: • Positive psychological response to a stressor; • E.g. nervous ‘butterflies’ before a first date or the buzz of riding on a rollercoaster. • Distress: • Negative psychological response to a stressor; • E.g. feeling sick after a break-up or the fear associated with watching horror movies. • Eustress/Distress is subjective. • Some stress can be good for us: • Drives us to excel, raises our alertness, fires us up etc.

10. Psychological Responses to Stress Activity: 12.6 • NOT involuntary (unlike physiological) – we usually have control over them, depending on the individual. • Behavioural changes:shaky voice, hand tremors, muscle stiffness, strained expressions, ‘jumpiness’. • Emotional changes:anxious, tense, depressed, angry, helplessness, ‘trapped’. • Cognitive changes:distorted perception, difficulty concentrating or making decisions, forgetful. • Catastrophising: overemphasising the negative, ‘glass half empty’ thinking.

11. Psychological Determinants of the Stress Response • Coping with a stressor can depend on: • Individual’s appraisal of the situation (hopeless?); • Prior experience with stressors; • Motivation, attitudes, self-esteem, general outlook; • Personality, coping skills; • Perception of how much control we have in situation. • Stress is in the eye of the beholder.

12. Lazarus & Folkman’s Transactional Model • Stress involves a transaction/encounter between the individual and the external environment. • Stress response depends on the individual’s interpretation/appraisal of the stressor and their own ability to cope with it. • Stress response can also occur if appraisal does not match the individual’s actual ability to cope.

13. Lazarus & Folkman’s Transactional Model Primary appraisal • Judge the significance of the situation: • Is it irrelevant, benign-positive or stressful? • If deemed to be stressful, do additional appraisals: • Harm/loss (how much damage has already occurred); • Have I already lost my job? • Threat (what harm/loss could occur in the future); • I might not be able to afford rent. • Challenge (potential for personal gain/growth); • I’ll get another job and learn how to budget effectively.

14. Lazarus & Folkman’s Transactional Model Secondary appraisal • Evaluate our coping options & the internal/external resources available to us: • Reappraisal - Going back over an earlier stressor to determine if it warrants further attention. • Coping - Changing cognitive and behavioural efforts to meet stressors; An attempt to manage demands of stressors. • Problem focused coping – Manage or change the cause of the problem (i.e. the stressor). • Emotion focused coping - Strategies to deal with emotional responses to stress.

15. Transactional Model:Strengths & Limitations Activity: 12.8 Strengths Limitations • Focus on individuality of stress response. • Allows for changes to stressors (& thus our responses) over time. • Enhances and emphasises importance of stress-management strategies (to deal with psychological responses). • Difficult to test through experimental research (highly subjective). • Debate over whether conscious appraisal is required to experience stress (person could feel ‘on edge’ well before consciously thinking about a stressor).

16. Factors That Influence the Stress Response • Social, cultural & environmental factors: • Typically overlap and combine to influence the stress response.

17. Social Factors That Influence Stress • Relationships, lack of social skills, lack of support, bullied, discrimination, etc. • Social Readjustment:the amount of change in lifestyle after a specific event. • Large changes can cause stress. • Not all events are universally stressful. • It does depend on the persons perception and circumstances. • E.g. Leaving an abusive marriage would be less stressful than remaining married. See Table 12.3, Pg. 603

18. Cultural Factors That Influence Stress • Immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers. • Acculturation: adapting to the values, customs and language of a new culture. • Entering a new culture at a lower socioeconomic level, trouble preserving old values. • Refugees – post traumatic stress. • Racism - clear link to mental health problems in targets. See Table 12.4, Pg. 605

19. Environmental Factors That Influence Stress • Crowding, loud noise, air pollution, extreme temperatures, natural disasters. • Crowding is linked to the stress response. • Crowding is a subjective experience. • Personal space is important: • loved ones < 50cm • Good friends 50 – 150 cm • Strangers > 150 cm

20. Crowding…

21. Environmental Factors That Influence Stress • Calhoun’s Research (1962): • Mice in a large enclosure, plenty of space, food etc. • Mice displayed normal social behaviour, mating etc. • Population doubled every 55 days. • Mice in overcrowded enclosure showed maladaptive behaviours: • Aggression and even cannibalism; • Hyperactivity or lethargy; • Mothers attacked their young, stopped breeding.

22. Environmental Factors That Influence Stress • Calhoun’s Research: Results. • Calhoun concluded that the mice were stressed because of the crowded conditions. • Experiment was limited because mice could not report on their subjective experiences. • Difficult to test on humans (unethical to test beyond short time periods and often ‘artificial’). • One method is to compare otherwise similar groups of people who live in crowded/non-crowded conditions.

23. Environmental Factors That Influence Stress Activity: 12.10 • Human Crowding: Results. • No clear link between crowding and stress. • Difficult to control extraneous variables ethically. • Self-report does clearly show a correlation between overcrowding and stress. • Does depend on the situation and the individual involved. • Being mentally prepared for crowding seems to help some people.

24. Allostasis • The body’s ability to maintain physiological stability by changingto meet internal and external demands. • NOT homeostasis where balance is maintained by keeping internal functioning constant. • Emphasis that healthy functioning requires constant physiological fluctuation. • Achieved through the brain regulating the HPA, ANS and cardiovascular system. • HPA and sympathetic arousal most common response. • Turned on when needed and then turned off when the threat has passed.

25. Allostatic Load Activity: 12.11 • Prolonged arousal can lead to wear and tear on the body. • Increased secretion of adrenal hormones can damage cardiovascular and immune systems. • Caused by frequent stressors or perhaps one stressor that is not alleviated. • See Figure 12.22, Pg. 614 (plus paragraph above) for example of Allostatic Load + Biopsychosocial.

26. Strategies for Coping with Stress • Biofeedback: technique that can teach people how to recognise & control specific physiological responses. • Feedback on a bodily response, e.g. beep when heart beats; • Subjects can learn to control response using biofeedback and relaxation techniques. • Often doesn’t work outside of a lab setting. • Meditation: conscious internal attempt to bring about a deeply relaxed state • Relaxation: Any activity (physical or psychological) that reduces tension.

27. Strategies for Coping with Stress Activity: 12.13 • Exercise: • Promotes social interaction; • Uses up stress hormones secreted by HPA; • Releases tension in muscles; • Releases endorphins (pleasure-related neurotransmitters).

29. Strategies for Coping with Stress Activity: 12.14 • Social Support: • Help or assistance from others when needed. • Appraisal support:improves understanding of the situation. • Tangible assistance: material support, financial, food, goods etc. • Information support:ideas on how to cope. • Emotional support:targets emotional reactions by the individual, reassures the individual that they are cared for and valued.

30. Now What…? • Complete the Chapter 12 activities highlighted throughout these slides. • Complete the Chapter 12 True/False Quiz (pg. 625). • Complete the Chapter 12 Test (pg. 626). • Put your left hand in… put your left hand out… put your left hand in… shake it all about…!