PSYC 4 - Emotions, Stress, and Health (M.38~39)

When you have more pressure on you than you are able to handle. + Its not necessarily bad or harmful, some are actually needed to help get you motivated and mobilized.

No, it's needed sometimes

You get motivated, You get mobilized

When you shift from focusing on a goal in your life to the goal of alleviating the distrss in any way you can regardless of the negative consequences it might cause. --> rather than proactively preventing probems, you begin to react to the circumstances around you.

No, you only feel better for the moment.

The less confident and worthwhile you feel, the less pressure it takes to feel stress

When you're faced with the negative consequences of a hasty, impulsive action that you took to deal with distress

Catastrophes, Life changes, Daily hassles

How the body's adaptive response to stress is so general

Phase 1: alarm reaction - sympathetic nervous system activated Phrase 2: resistance - temperature, blood pressure, and respuration remain high Phrase 3: exhaustion - become more vulnerable to illness or even collapse and death

sympathetic, increase, muscles, fight-or-flight

Surgical wounds heal more slowly in stressed people, Stressed people are more vulnerable to colds (high respiratory infection), Stress can hasten the course of disease (AIDS caused by HIV)

psychoneuroimmunology

Stress tends to reduce our immune system's ability to function properly, so that higher stress generally leads to greater risk of physical illness.

Type A: more reactive, compettive, hard-drving, impatient, angered Type B: easygoing Type A had higher rates of getting heart attack

It's a glucocorticoid stress hormone.

alarted by brain pathways --> the sympathetic nervous system arouses us --> prepare body for the adaptive response it increases heart rate and respiration, diverts blood from digestion to the skeletal muscles, dulls feelings of pain, and releases sugar and fat by Cannon

immediate and distant or looming

Response that is found often among women that is to give and receive support.

Health psychology

anger, pessimism, or depression, persistent stressors, unhealthy behaviors (smoking, poor nutrition, sleep loss, drinking), autonomic nervous system effects (headaches, high blood pressure, inflammation), immune suppression, heart disease

Feeling angry and negative much of the time

Stress is the process by which we appraise and respond to stresors that challenge or threaten us. If we appraise an event as challenging --> aroused and focusd in preparation for sucess If we appraise an event as a threst --> experience a stress reaction, and our healthy may suffer The 3 main types: catastrophes, significant life changes, and daily hassles and social stress (inequality, prejudice, workplace stress, conflicts from approach and avoidance motives)

Cannon viewed the stress response as a fight-or-flight system. Hans Selye proposed a 3-phrase general adaptive syndrome (GAS): alarm, resistance, exhaustion. People may react to stress by withdrawing, they may also show a tend-and-befriend reponse(women)

Psychoneuroimmunology is the study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect our immune system and resulting health. Stress diverts energy from the immune system, inhibiting the activities of its B and T lymphocytes, macrophages, and NK cells. Stress does not cause illness, but by altering our immune functioning it may make us more vulnerable to diseases and influence their progression.

Coronary heart disease has been linked with the reactive, anger-prone Type A personality, compare with easygoing Type B personality. Type B are less likely to experience heart disease because Type A people are more active sympathetic nervous system may divert blood flow from the liver to the muscles, leaving excess cholesterol and fat circulating in the bloodstream. Chronic stress also contributes to persistent inflammation, which is associated with heart and other health problems, including depression.

Stress may not directly cause illness, but it does make us more vulnerable, by influencing our physiology and our behaviors.

approach-approach conflicts (2 attractive ones) - least stressful avoidance-avoidance conflicts (2 undesirable alternatives) approach-avoidance conflicts (attracted and repelled)

It's a heart disease. High blood pressure and a family history of the disease increase the risk, and smoking, obesity, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, high cholesterol level. (more men than women)

It provides psychology's contribution to behavioral medicine.

experiencing a very stressful event increases a person's vulnerability to illness

pessimism

resistance, exhaustion

tend-and-befriend response

immune system

stress does not create cancer cells, but it weakens the body's natural defenses against them

Type A individuals frequently experience nagative emotions during which the sympathetic nervous system diverts blood away from the liver. This leaves fat and chlesterol circulating in the bloodstream for deposit near the heart and other organs, increasing the risk of heart disease and other health problems. --> Type A people actually hard themselves by directing anger at others.

As stressors are unavoidable, we address some stressors direectly with problem-focused coping. (go directly to the problem) We turn to emotion-focused coping when we believe we cannot change a situation

personal control

learned helplessness uncontrollable bad events --> perceived lack of control --> generalized helpless bahavior

The perception that outside forces control their fate (perceptions of control)

They control their own destiny (perceptions of control)

problem, emotion

the ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for longer-term rewards. It predcts food health, higher income, and better school performance. Strengthening self-control is key to coping effectively with stress.

Optimists: more control, coping ability, and better health, better grades Pessimists: expect things to go badly, poor performance to a basic lack of ability, beyond their control

Feeling liked and encouraged by intimate friends and family, that promotes both happiness and health

it calms us, it improves our sleep, it reduces blood pressure

it's a sustained, oxygen-consuming exertion that increases heart and lung fitness (one of the rare near-perfect medicines)

strengthens connections among brain regions of focusing, seeing, hearing, being reflective and aware, activates brain regios associated with more reflective awareness (mindful people show less activation in the amygdala which is associated with fear & more activation in the prefrontal cortex which aids emotion regulation), clams brain activation in emotional situations (mindful people --> little change in brain response to movies & emotionally unpleasant images also trigger weaker electrical brain responses), strong, reflective, and calm

It's the finding that religiously active people tend to live longer than those who are not religiously active. Possible explanations may include intervening variables such as the healthy behaviours, social support, or positive emotions often found among people who regularly attend religious services.

Healthy behaviors, promoting self-control, Social support, having support network, positive emotions, by controlling for social support, unhealthy behaviors, gender, and preexisting helth problems

Aerobic exercise, relaxation procedures, relaxation and meditation, and religious engagement.

We use problem-focused coping to change the stressor or the way we interact with it. We use emotion-focused coping to avoid or ignore stressors and attend to emotional needs related to stress reactions.

A perceived lack of personal control provokes an outpouring of hormones that put people's health at risk. Being unable to avoid repeated aversive events can lead to learned helplessness. People who perceive an internal locus of control achieve more, enjoy better health, and are happier than those who perceive an external locus of control. Belief in free will is linked to more helpful behavior, better learning, and greater work persistence, performance, and satisfaction.

Self-cntrol requires attention and energy, but predicts good health, higher income, and better performance (better than an intelligence test score in predicting future academic and life success) Self-control varies over time. Researchers disagress about the factors influencing self-control, but strengthening it can lead to a healthier, happier, and more successful life.

optimistic outlook = more likely than pessimists to have optimal health, to be successful, and to have a longer life expectancy

Social support promotes health by calming us, improving our sleep, and reducing blood pressure, and it fosters stronger immune functioning. We can reduce our stress and increase our health by building and maintaining relationships, and by confiding rather than suppressing painful feelings.

It increases arousal, leads to muscle relazation and sounder sleep, triggers the production of neurotransmitters, fosters neurogenesis, and enhances self-image. In can reduce or prevent depression and anxiety. Regular exercise is associated with better cognitive functioning and longer life.

Relaxation and mediatation have been shown to lower stress, reduce blood pressure, improve immune functoioning, and lessen anxiety and depression. Mindfulness meditation is a reflective practive of attending to current experiences in a nonjudgemental and accepting manner. Massage theraphy also promotes relaxation and reduces depression.

emotion

no control over the shocks

internal

social support has a beneficial effect on health

aerobic