Chapter 13 – Health, Stress and Coping I. Health Psychology aims to use behavioral principles to prevent illness and dea

1. Chapter 13 – Health, Stress and Coping I. Health Psychology aims to use behavioral principles to prevent illness and death and to promote health

2. Behavioral Risk Factors Today, people generally die from lifestyle diseases: heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer Behavioral risk factors are actions that increase the chances of disease, injury, or early death -high levels of stress, untreated high blood pressure, cigarette smoking, abuse of alcohol or toher drugs, overeating, inadequate exercise, unsafe sexual behavior, exposure to toxic substances, violence, excess sun exposure, reckless driving and disregarding personal safety

3. 2. Some people have a general disease-prone personality that leaves them depressed, anxious, hostile, and frequently ill 3. Lifestyle -many small risks can add up -unhealthy lifestyles almost always create multiple risks -many deaths attributed to infections can actually be traced to smoking, poor diet, or alcohol abuse.

4. B. Health-Promoting Behaviors -lifestyle diseases can be treated or prevented by making specific, minor changes in behavior -psychologists are interested in getting people to increase behaviors that promote health C. Early Prevention -smoking is the largest preventable cause of death and the single most lethal factor

5. D. Positive Psychology: Wellness -health is not just absence of disease; people who are truly healthy enjoy a positive state of wellness or well-being -people who attain optimal wellness are both physically and psychologically healthy; they are happy, optimistic, self-confident individuals who can bounce back emotionally from adversity

6. II. Stress stress is the mental and physical condition that occurs when we adjust or adapt to the environment 2. a stress reaction begins with the same autonomic nervous system arousal that occurs during emotion

7. A. General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) –a series of bodily reactions to prolonged stress -three stages: alarm reaction, your body mobilizes its resources to cope with added stress. 2. stage of resistance, bodily adjustments to stress stabilize 3. stage of exhaustion – the body’s resources are drained and stress hormones are depleted.

8. a. emotional signs: anxiety, apathy, irritability, mental fatigue b. behavioral signs: avoidance of responsibilities or relationships, extreme self-destructive behavior, self-neglect, poor judgment c. physical signs: excessive worry about illness, frequent illness, exhaustion, overuse of medicines, physical ailments and complaints

9. B. Stress, Illness, and Your Immune System -stress and upsetting emotions can affect the immune system in ways that increase susceptibility to disease -stress management reduces the severity of cold and flu symptoms in a group of university students -can improve the chances of survival in people with life-threatening diseases: cancer, heart disease, HIV/AIDS

10. C. When Is Stress a Strain? 1. a stressor is a condition or event that challenges or threatens a person 2. Pressure occurs when a person must meet urgent external demands or expectations D. Appraising Stressors -stress depends on how you perceive a situation

11. 1. Am I Okay or in Trouble? -there are two important steps in managing a threat a. primary appraisal – you decide if a situation is relevant or irrelevant, positive or threatening b. secondary appraisal – you assess your resources and choose a way to meet the threat or challenge. 2. The Nature of Threat -threat has more to do with the idea of control; we are particularly prone to feel stressed when we can’t – or think we can’t-control our immediate environment

12. E. Coping with Threat -you have appraised a situation as threatening.. what will you do next? You have two choices 1. emotion-forced coping – we try to control our emotional reactions to the situation 2. problem-faced coping – managing or correcting the distressing situation itself; focusing on the next step

13. III. Frustration -a negative emotional state that occurs when people are prevented from reaching desired goals external frustration – based on conditions outside a person that impedes progress toward a goal -repeated frustrations can accumulate until a small irritation sets an unexpectedly violent response

14. A. Reactions to Frustration aggression is any response made with the intent of harming a person or object; it is one of the most persistent and frequent responses to frustration 2. targets of displaced aggression tend to be safer, or less likely to retaliate, than the original source of frustration -In a pattern known as scapegoating, a person or a group is blamed for conditions not of their making.

15. -another major reaction to frustration is escape or withdrawal – actually leaving a source of frustration B. Coping with Frustration 1. try to identify the source of your frustration…external or personal? 2. Is the source of frustration something that can be changed? How hard would you have to work to change it? Is it under your control at all? 3. If the source of your frustration can be changed or removed, are the necessary efforts worth it?

16. IV. Conflict -occurs whenever a person must choose between contradictory needs, desires, motives, or demands 1. Approach-approach conflict -having to choose between two positive, or desirable alternatives 2. Avoidance-avoidance conflict -choosing between two negative, or undesirable, alternatives 3. Approach-avoidance conflict -caught by being attracted to and repelled by the same goal or activity

17. 4. Multiple Conflicts -double approach-avoidance conflict-each alternative has both positive and negative qualities A. Managing Conflicts –are a normal part of life. With practice you can learn to manage many of the conflicts you will face.

18. V. Psychological Defense -threatening situations tend to produce anxiety – feel tense, uneasy, apprehensive, worried, and vulnerable -defense mechanism is any mental process used to avoid, deny, or distort sources of thereat or anxiety, especially threats to one’s self-image 1. Denial – protecting oneself from an unpleasant reality by refusing to accept it or believe it

19. 2. Repression – holding painful memories from awareness; blocking out threatening thoughts and impulses 3. reaction formation – impulses are not just repressed; they are held in check by exaggerating opposite behavior 4. Regression – any return to earlier, less demanding situations or habits 5. Projection- tends to see his or her own feelings, shortcomings, or unacceptable impulses in others

20. 6. Rationalization – making of excuses comes from a tendency to explain our behavior 7. Compensation-a person who has a defect or weakness may go to unusual lengths to overcome the weakness or to compensate for it by excelling in other areas 8. Sublimation – working off frustrated desires through socially acceptable activities

21. VI. Learned Helplessness -an acquired inability to overcome obstacles and avoid aversive stimuli Depression -both are marked by feelings of despondency, powerlessness, and hopelessness -learned helplessness seems to explain many cases of depression and hopelessness -hopelessness is almost always a major element of depression

22. Hope -the value of hope should not be overlooked; it is a powerful antidote to depression and helplessness -you may find hope in religion, nature, human companionship, technology -having positive beliefs, such as optimism, hope, and a sense of meaning and control, is closely related to overall well-being

23. B. Depression: Why Students Get the Blues 1. stresses from college work and pressures to choose a career 2. isolation and loneliness are common when students leave their support groups behind 3. problems with studying and grades 4. breakup of an intimate relationship 5. find it difficult to live up to their idealized images of themselves 6. more likely to abuse alcohol, which is a depressant

24. C. Recognizing Depression 1. consistently negative opinion of yourself 2. engage in frequent self-criticism and self-blame 3. place negative interpretations on events that usually wouldn’t bother you 4. future looks bleak and negative 5. feel that your responsibilities are overwhelming

25. D. Coping with Depression -students who strongly link everyday events to long-term goals (successful career, high income) tend to overreact to day-to-day disappointments -it’s important to take daily tasks one step at a time and chip away at them. That way you are less likely to feel overwhelmed, helpless, or hopeless

26. VII. Stress and Health -life changes – both good and bad – can increase susceptibility to accidents or illness A. Life Events and Stress -Social Readjustment Rating Scale shows the impact of life events in life change units

27. Hazards of Hassles -many of us face ongoing stresses at work or at home that do not involve major life changes: hassles or micro stressors -hassles are closely linked to immediate health and psychological well-being -major life changes have more of a long-term impact

28. B. Psychosomatic Disorders -psychosomatic illnesses – psychological factors contribute to actual bodily dame or to damaging changes in bodily functioning -the most common are gastrointestinal and respiratory (stomach pain and asthma); eczema, hives, migraine headaches, rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension, colitis, heart disease; sore muscles, headaches, neck aches, backaches, indigestion, constipation, chronic diarrhea, fatigue, insomnia, premenstrual problems, sexual dysfunctions

29. C. Biofeedback -people can learn to control bodily activities once thought to be involuntary -applying informational feedback to bodily control – biofeedback -can help relieve muscle-tension headaches, migraine headaches, and chronic pain -shows promise for lowering blood pressure and controlling hearty rhythms -many of its benefits arises from general relaxation

30. D. The Cardiac Personality - a person at high risk for heart disease 1. Type A personalities – those who run a high risk of heart attack -hard driving, ambitious, highly competitive, achievement oriented, and striving -person’s who keep their anger bottled up; such people seethe with anger, don’t express it outwardly. This increases their blood pressure and puts a tremendous strain on the heart. 2. Type B personalities – those who are unlikely to have a heart attack

31. E. Hardy Personality 1. have a sense of personal commitment to self, work, family , and other stabilizing values 2. feel they have control over their lives and their work 3. have a tendency to see life as a series of challenges, rather than a series of threats or problems

32. F. Positive Psychology -good and bad events occur in all lives. What separates happy people from those who are unhappy is largely a matter of attitude. Happy people tend to see their lives in more positive terms

33. G. The Value of Social Support -close, positive relationships with others -support from family and friends serves as a buffer to cushion the impact of stressful situations