Lecture 5 Stress & Health

Iclicker Questions A. How demanding is your Fall semester? B. How much are you capable of doing well this semester? C. Did you answer higher to question A or B? D. How stressed are you, in general?

Lecture Overview Stress Effects of Stress Physiological Thriving Reducing Stress

Stress Stress is operationalised in two ways: Psychological events causing stress Physiological responses to stress

Psychological Stress Degree to which people have to change and readjust their lives in response to an external event

Psychologically Stressful Events Both “good” and “bad” things can cause significant stress

Physiological Stress Stress on the body caused by physical or psychological stressors

Allostasis Body’s ability to adapt to constantly changing environments to maintain homeostasis Tight Allostatic System One that moves from high to low levels of arousal flexibly and fluidly depending on demands

Allostatic Load A chronically elevated state of arousal which damages the body and makes it less able to flexibly adapt to the environment Result of chronic stressors Associated with heart disease, diabetes, suppressed immunity, hypertension

Effects of Stress Stress & Performance Stress & Health

Stress & performance When motivated to perform well, the way your body responds to the stressor can either IMPROVE or INHIBIT your performance Improving Performance: Challenge Inhibiting Performance: Threat

Challenge & Threat ChallengeThreat Physiological Patterns ↑ Heart Rate ↑ Strength of Heart Contraction Mild-or-No increase in strength of Heart Contraction ↑ Cardiac Output (Blood Circulating in Torso) ↓ Cardiac Output ↑ Diameter of Circulatory Vessels ↓ Diameter of Circulatory Vessels Performance Implications ↑ blood flow to brain ↓ blood flow to brain ↑ blood to effector muscles ↓ blood to effector muscles ↑ cognitive & physical performance ↓ cognitive & physical performance

Why Respond with Challenge or Threat? What you expect is what you get … … it all comes down to how you appraise the situation: Personal Resource s Situational Demands Personal Resource s Situational Demands >< If you perceive that your... ChallengeThreat

Cognitive Appraisals & Cardiovascular Responses Tomaka, Blascovich, Kibler, & Ernst (1997) Method: 1. Have participants complete verbal math task 2. Before task, asked participants: Q1. How well can you can cope with the upcoming task? Q2. How threatening is the upcoming task? 3. Divide participants into 2 groups: Challenge Appraisals: Q1 > Q2 Threat Appraisals: Q1 < Q2

Cognitive Appraisals & Cardiovascular Responses Tomaka, Blascovich, Kibler, & Ernst (1997) Results: Cardiac Output by Cognitive Appraisals

Cognitive Appraisals & Cardiovascular Responses Tomaka, Blascovich, Kibler, & Ernst (1997) Results: Performance by Cognitive Appraisals

Extreme Stress & Memory In response to extreme stressors, body releases catabolic hormone cortisol Cortisol reduces memory and linguistic functioning

Cortisol & Cognitive Performance Cortisol: Decreases hippocampal mass in rats Restricts blood flow in the hippocampus Reduced linguistic complexity among humans giving speeches

Stress & Health Stress & Immunity Stress & Long-Term Health

Stress & Immunity Psychological stress decreases immune functioning, making you more susceptible to disease

Cohen’s Hotel Study Cohen, Tyrrell, & Smith (1991) Method: healthy adults invited to stay a week in a hotel 2. Completed measures of life stress 3. Were exposed to common cold viruses through nasal spray 4. Monitored for 7 days post- exposure

Cohen’s Hotel Study Cohen, Tyrrell, & Smith (1991) Results:

Stress & Long-Term Health Revisiting Allostatic Load … Chronic stress predicts: Hypertension Type II Diabetes Weakened immune system

Physiological Thriving But sometimes … Stress = Thriving 2 Aspects of “Positive” Stress: Acute stressors (instead of chronic) Complete relaxation in between stressors

Physiological Toughening Fast and strong mobilization of bodily stress responses during a stressor coupled with rapid recovery after the stressor is the healthiest response

Physiological Toughening in Animals Animals exposed to chronic stressors showed allostatic load Animals exposed to intermittent stressors showed toughening Increased immune response and suppression of cortisol

Physiological Toughening in Humans Performance of Swedish students directly predicted by: Strong hormonal response to an exam Rapid return to baseline post-exam

Physiological Thriving Epel, McEwen, & Ickovics (1998) Compared to no stress or chronic stress, intermittent stressors lead to: More effective coping with subsequent stressors Healthier immune system Longer cell life

Epel, McEwen, & Ickovics (1998) Compared to no stress or chronic stress, intermittent stressors lead to: Responding positively to past stressors leads to perception of benefiting from stressors Viewing stressors as a challenge improves responses to subsequent stressors Psychological Thriving

Take-home Messages The ability to recover from stressors can turn potentially damaging events into empowering ones Appraisals of resources vs. demands affect your physiological ability to perform If you feel threatened … Boost your resources: Practice makes perfect! Re-appraise the situational demands Know that if you can go in with confidence, your body will back you up! Challenge responses are positive responses to stressors => Physical Thriving & Resilience to Future Stressors

Reducing Stress Exercise Meditation

Exercise & Stress Reduction Berger & Motl (2000) reviewed > 80 studies Exercise reliably improves mood and reduces stress Caveats: Regularity: ≥ 3 x per week Duration: ≥ 20 minutes per session Intensity: ≥ moderate intensity (break a sweat)

Meditation A class of techniques designed to influence an individual’s perception of consciousness through the regulation of attention

Benefits of Meditation Benefits of meditative practice: Improved immune functioning Decreased stress, improved well-being Decreased relapse of chronic depression Faster recovery from disease Increased left pre-frontal asymmetry

Left Pre-Frontal Cortex Asymmetry Asymmetry in activity levels of left and right prefrontal cortex The “Monk Experiments” Left activity > 7 x right activity More Generalizeable Populations: US Employees Left Activity ≥ 1.5 x RightRight Activity ≥ 1.5 x Left More positive emotion Approach orientation High immune functioning Greater incidence of mood disorders Avoidance orientation

Relaxation & Meditation When to meditate? Whenever you think of it! Try meditating for 5 min./day for overall improvement Relaxation techniques to deal with immediate stressors: Focusing on Breath Given that: Inhaling increases your heart rate, and Exhaling decreases your heart rate Exhale longer than you inhale to slow heart rate

Example Exam Question After learning about the effects of chronic stress on health in PSYB10, you make a New Year's Resolution to improve your mood and stress level through an exercise plan for Winter term. Which of the following exercise plans will require the smallest time investment necessary to improve your daily stress levels? A. Jogging around your neighbourhood at a moderate pace for 25 minutes on Monday nights, Tuesday nights, Thursday afternoon, and Saturday afternoon B. Regularly taking a long, 2-hour stroll with your elderly grandmother in the park every weekday C. Taking a long, 2-hour stroll around the park with your elderly grandmother every Sunday morning D. Walking 30 minutes to work every day, which luckily doesn't make you sweaty at the start of the day E. Doing jumping jacks (i.e., high intensity workout) continuously for 10 minutes each morning before school

Example Exam Question After learning about the effects of chronic stress on health in PSYB10, you make a New Year's Resolution to improve your mood and stress level through an exercise plan for Winter term. Which of the following exercise plans will require the smallest time investment necessary to improve your daily stress levels? A. Jogging around your neighbourhood at a moderate pace for 25 minutes on Monday nights, Tuesday nights, Thursday afternoon, and Saturday afternoon B. Regularly taking a long, 2-hour stroll with your elderly grandmother in the park every weekday C. Taking a long, 2-hour stroll around the park with your elderly grandmother every Sunday morning D. Walking 30 minutes to work every day, which luckily doesn't make you sweaty at the start of the day E. Doing jumping jacks (i.e., high intensity workout) continuously for 10 minutes each morning before school

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes you Stronger Next time: Two Great Films of Social Psychology Relevant Websites: Toronto Meditation Guide: CMHA Coping With Stress Info & Resources: ress/