©2002 Prentice Hall Health, Stress, and Coping Chapter 10

©2002 Prentice Hall The Stress-Illness Mystery Stressor: any event that requires adjustment or places a demand on an individual Stressors can increase illness when they: severely disrupt a person’s life. are uncontrollable. are chronic (i.e., lasting at least 6 months).

©2002 Prentice Hall Stressors and the Body Noise. Bereavement and Loss. Work-Related Problems. Poverty, Powerlessness, and Racism.

©2002 Prentice Hall The Physiology of Stress General adaptation syndrome. (Seyle) There are three phases in responding to stressors: Alarm. Resistance. Exhaustion. Goal is to minimize wear and tear on the system.

©2002 Prentice Hall Current Approaches HPA (Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal cortex axis) A system activated to energize the body The hypothalamus sends chemical messengers to the pituitary gland (“master” gland). The pituitary gland -> 1) adrenal cortex to produce adrenaline, and 2) adrenal cortex to produce cortisol Short-term increased energy*

©2002 Prentice Hall The Brain and the Body Under Stress

©2002 Prentice Hall 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.

©2002 Prentice Hall 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.

©2002 Prentice Hall 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. Emotional Inhibition: A personality trait involving a tendency to deny feelings of anger, anxiety, or fear (increased risk of illness)

©2002 Prentice Hall Letting Grievances Go Research on confession: divulging private thoughts and feelings that make you ashamed or depressed. Freshman who wrote about their fears reported greater short term homesickness and anxiety. By end of year they had fewer bouts of flu visits to the infirmary. Can also give up thoughts that produce grudges and replace them with different perspectives.

©2002 Prentice Hall Explanatory Styles A study of Hall-of-Fame baseball stars showed that those with Optimistic explanatory styles: Lived longer They may have been in better health because optimists: take better care of themselves when sick cope better. draw on friends in hard times.

©2002 Prentice Hall 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.

©2002 Prentice Hall Coping with Stress Cooling Off (relaxation, massage, exercise) Solving the problem (cognitive techniques) Reappraisal, learn from experience, sense of humor Looking outward (social network)