Module 43: Stress and Health

1. Module 43: Stress and Health

2. Stress • Stress – the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging • How we think about an event influences how much stress we experience and how effectively we respond • “I’ve got to pass this test. If I don’t my college aspirations are over!” OR • “This is just one test of many I’ll need to take. If it doesn’t go well, I can always do some test corrections and try studying with a partner next time” • Two types of stress • Distress – stress that is perceived as negative; those events we typically think of when we think of “stress” • A job with a horrible boss or a family member with cancer • Eustress – stress perceived as positive, but it still involves heightened arousal • Playing for the state championship in your sport • Both can be bad for us if we endure them over a long period of time.

3. The Effects of Stress • When short-lived, or we perceive them as challenges, stressors can have positive effects • Mobilize the immune system • Arouses and motivates us to solve problems • Adversity (such as rebounding from a lost job) can beget growth • But extreme or prolonged stress can harm us by lowering our resistance to infections and threatening our mental and physical well-being • People who lose their jobs (especially later in their career) have been found to have a higher risk of heart problems and death • Troops who have PTSD have higher rates of circulatory, digestive, respiratory, and infectious diseases • Brain’s production of new neurons slows and some neural circuits degenerate with prolonged stress • Telomeres (pieces of DNA at the end of chromosomes) may also shorten

4. Stressors • Three main types of stressors: • Catastrophes • Unpredictable large-scale events, such as wars, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, and famines • Can negatively affect physical and mental health • Significant life changes • Life transitions can cause stress • More vulnerable to diseases around big life changes • Daily hassles • Ex: rush-hour traffic, aggravating siblings, long lunch lines, too many things to do, and family frustrations – these can add up and cause stress • Counterparts to daily hassles are daily uplifts – pleasant and satisfying experiences, like hearing good news, getting a good night of sleep, or solving a difficult problem

5. The Stress Response System • Fight or flight – sympathetic nervous system increases heart rate and respiration, diverts blood from digestion to skeletal muscles, dulls feelings of pain, and release sugar and fat from the body’s stores • The hypothalamus and pituitary gland tell the adrenal glands to secrete glucocorticoid stress hormones such as cortisol • General adaptation syndrome (on next slide)

6. General Adaptation Syndrome • General adaptation syndrome (GAS) – Hans Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three phases–alarm, resistance, exhaustion • Seyle proposed that the body’s response to stress is so general that it sounds no matter what the stressor is • The human body copes well with temporary stress, but prolonged stress can damage it

7. General Adaptation Syndrome • General adaptation syndrome (GAS) • Phase 1: alarm reaction – body mobilizes resources • Sympathetic nervous system is activated • Heart rate increases, blood goes to skeletal muscles • Phase 2: resistance – fully engaged, summoning all your resources to meet the challenge • Adrenal glands release hormones into bloodstream • Temperature, blood pressure, and respiration remain high • Phase 3: exhaustion – body’s reserves run out • More vulnerable to illness or collapse and death in extreme cases • Try describing the General Adaptation Syndrome for taking a final exam or asking someone out on a date

8. G.A.S. – An Example

9. The Stress Response System • Can deal with stress by withdrawing, pulling back, and conversing energy • Or seek and give support • Tend-and-befriend response – under stress, people (especially women) often provide support to others (tend) and bond with and seek support from others (befriend) • Ex: help after a natural disaster • Men more often than women tend to socially withdrawn, turn to alcohol, or become aggressive when faced with stress • Women more often respond by nurturing and banding together • Oxytocin (a stress-moderating hormone released by cuddling between humans) may play a role in this • Women’s brains become more active in areas used for face processing and empathy while men’s becomes less active