Health, Stress, and Coping

Chapter 15

Health, stress, and coping What is stress? The stress-illness mystery The physiology of stress The psychology of stress Coping with stress

What is Stress? Stress is subjective; can include:

sudden traumatic experiences continuing pressures that seem uncontrollable small irritations that wear you down

Holmes and Rahe developed the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) a stress scale that rates the degree to which

life events are stressful

Daily Hassles SRRS considers both positive and negative

events as stressful. Most stress, however, comes from a series

of little stressors, or daily hassles, that include irritations and demands that occur in daily life.

Stress reactions to hassles may predict one’s stress toward major life events.

The Stress-Illness Mystery

Stressors can increase illness when they: severely disrupt a person’s life are uncontrollable are chronic (i.e., lasting at least 6 months)

Stressors and the Body

Noise Bereavement and Loss Work-Related Problems Poverty and Powerlessness Recent Immigration

Stress and the Common Cold

The Physiology of Stress

General adaptation syndrome. (Selye’s Theory) There are three phases in responding to stressors:

Alarm Resistance Exhaustion

Goal is to minimize wear and tear on the system.

Current Approaches HPA (Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal

cortex axis) A system activated to energize the body to

respond to stressors. The hypothalamus sends chemical

messengers to the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland prompts the adrenal

cortex to produce cortisol and other hormones.

The Brain and the Body Under Stress

The Mind-Body Link Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)

The study of the relationships among psychology, the nervous and endocrine systems and the immune system.

Psychological factors explain why not all people are stressed the same amount by the same things.

The Psychology of Stress Emotions and illness Letting grievances go Explanatory styles The sense of control

The benefits of control The limits of control

Emotions and Illness Hostility and heart disease.

Type A Personality: Determined to achieve, sense of time urgency, irritable, respond to threat or challenge very quickly, and impatient with obstacles.

Type B Personality: Calmer and less intense. Personality type is less predictive of health

problems than is hostility. Proneness to anger is a major risk factor.

Hostility and Heart Disease Men with highest

hostility scores as young medical students had higher rates of heart disease 25 years later.

Hostility is more hazardous than a heavy workload.

Depression and Disease Two studies followed 1000 people for many

years. Those who had been clinically depressed at

the outset were 2-4X more likely to have a heart attack than nondepressed people were.

Other research failed to find the link.

Emotional Inhibition Emotional Inhibition: A personality trait

involving a tendency to deny feelings of anger, anxiety, or fear; in stressful situations, physiological responses such as heart rate and blood pressure rise sharply.

People who display this trait are at greater risk of becoming ill than people who can acknowledge feelings.

Letting Grievances Go Research on confession: divulging private

thoughts and feelings that make you ashamed or depressed. First-year students who wrote about their fears

reported greater short term homesickness and anxiety. By end of year they had fewer bouts of flu and visits to the infirmary.

Can also give up thoughts that produce grudges and replace them with different perspectives.

Forgiving thoughts.

Explanatory Styles 2 styles: optimistic and pessimistic

explanatory style Optimism seems to produce good health and

even prolong life. Pessimism is associated with early death. Optimists take better care of themselves when

they get sick, cope better, and draw on social support.

Pessimists often engage in self-destructive behaviours.

The Sense of Control Locus of Control

A general expectation about whether the results of your actions are under your own control (internal locus) or beyond your control (external locus).

Feelings of control can reduce or even eliminate the relationship between stressors and health.

The Benefits of Control Among people exposed to cold viruses, those who

feel in control of their lives are 1/2 as likely to develop colds.

Low-income people with a strong sense of control are as healthy as people from higher-income groups.

People with more control over their work pace and activities have fewer illnesses and stress symptoms.

Residents of nursing homes show more alertness, happiness, and longevity when given more choices and control over their activities.

The Limits of Control Primary Control (Western Cultures)

An effort to modify reality by changing other people, the situation, or events; a “fighting back” philosophy.

Secondary Control (Eastern Cultures) An effort to accept reality by changing your own

attitudes, goals, or emotions; a “learn to live with it” philosophy.

Coping with Stress Cooling Off Solving the problem Drawing on social support

Cooling Off Relaxation Training

Learning to alternately tense and relax muscles, lie or sit quietly, or meditate by clearing the mind; has beneficial effects by lowering stress hormones and enhancing immune function.

Massage therapy Exercise is also an excellent stress reliever

Fitness and Health Among those with low

stress, fit and less-fit people had similar levels of health problems.

Among those with high stress, there were fewer health problems among people who were more fit.

Solving the Problem

Emotion-focused and problem-focused coping.

Effective Cognitive Coping Methods: Reappraising the situation Learning from the experience Making social comparisons Cultivating a sense of humor

Drawing On Social Support Friends can help with coping:

People with network of close connections live longer than those who do not.

After heart attack, those with no close contacts were twice as likely to die.

Relationships can also cause stress. Giving support to others can be a valuable

source of comfort.