Health Psychology
Subfield of psychology concerned with ways psychological factors influence the causes and treatment of physical illness and the maintenance of health
Stressors (Stimulus)
Specific events or chronic pressures that place demands on a person or threaten the person’s well-being
Stress (response to stressor)
Physical and psychological response to internal or external stressors
Chronic Stress
Sources of stress that occur continuously or repeatedly
Sense of Control and Stress
A significant part of stress management is control of the mind.
Fight-or-flight Response
Emotional and physiological
reaction to an emergency that
increases readiness for action
Alarm
Rapid mobilization (rapid breathing, increased heart, sweating, uneasy stomach etc.
Resistance
Adaption and coping (body settles in to resist stressor on a long term basis if stressor persist
Exhaustion
Collapse (weaken immune system, heart and blood vessel damage, signs physical wear – costly!!!!!!)
“Type A” People and Stress
Tendency toward easily aroused hostility, impatience, a sense of time urgency, and competitive achievement strivings
Primary Appraisal
Interpretation of stimulus as stressful
or not
Secondary Appraisal
Determination of whether the
stressor is something that can be
handled or not
A challenge vs. a threat
Stressor you feel fairly confident you can control vs Stressor you believe that might not be overcome
Burnout
A state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion created by long-term involvement in an emotionally demanding situation and accompanied by lowered performance and motivation
Burnout and the helping profession
because of the high demands placed on employees
Repressive Coping
Avoiding situations or thoughts that are reminders of a stressor and maintaining an artificially positive viewpoint
Rational Coping
Facing a stressor and working to overcome it
Reframing
Finding a new or creative way to
think about a stressor that
reduces a threat
Tend-and-befriend (Women)
Tend to other people and support other people. Tend to bond together.
Oxytocin
triggers social responses: a
tendency to seek out social
contacts, nurture others, and create and maintain cooperative groups.
Fight-or-flight (Men)
(more likely to isolate)
Humor and Stress
Humor can help with stress coping. Reduce sensitivity to pain and stress. Reduce time to calm down after stressful event
Optimists
Presence of positive future expectancies predict
positive health outcomes.
Self-regulation
Exercise of voluntary control over the self to bring the self into line with preferred standards; willpower
Anger and hostility and Heart Disease
increase the risk of developing heart disease.
Consuming Alcohol and Unprotected Sex
Avoiding sexual risks is difficult because of the illusion of
unique
invulnerability or impulsive emotions
Persistence and Quitting Smoking
causes 80% of lung cancers