1. Stress and Health

2. Stress and Personality
Type A
Type B
Feel time pressure.
Easily angered.
Competitive and ambitious.
Work hard and play hard.
More prone to heart disease than rest of population.
Relaxed and easygoing.
But some people fit in neither type.

3. Health Psychology
a subfield of psychology that focuses on how stress affects our well being and health

4. Responding to Stress

5. Responding to Stress

6. Responding to Stress

7. Hans Selye (1907-1982) program 23; start @ 16:20
Psychologist who researched recurring responses to stress the he called the general adaptation syndrome (GAS)
Discovered various chemicals caused stress reactions in animals

8. Seyle’s General Adaptation Syndrome
Describes our response to a stressful event.
Three stages
Alarm
Resistance
Exhaustion

9. General Adaptation Syndrome
Alarm Reaction – nervous system activated in response to stressor
Resistance – body responds with physiological reactions to cope with the stressor
Exhaustion – body’s resistance to stress is depleted (physical deterioration)

10. General Adaptation Syndrome

11. General Adaptation Syndrome

12. General Adaptation Syndrome

13. Stress and Conflict
Casey comes home from school where she has to decide between doing homework or doing house chores. Name that conflict situation!
Juan wants to goes out to eat at a delicious restaurant, but knows it will be expensive. Name that conflict situation!
Burt has to decide whether to go to work or go out with friends. Burt knows going to work gives him the chance to make money, but not have an enjoyable time. At the same time, going out with friends allows Burt to have a good time, but he wont have any money in his wallet. Name that conflict situation!
Kim must decide where to go on her vacation, the Caribbean or Hawaii. Hmmm What will she decide? Name that conflict situation!

14. Stress and Disease Humans Changes in Housing Marital Problems
School Stress (Testing)
General Anxiety
Lymphocytes
white blood cells; two types
B lymphocytes - form in the bone marrow and release antibodies that fight bacterial infections
T lymphocytes - form in the thymus and, among other duties, attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances

15. Stress-Cancer Connection
Evidence for a connection is not conclusive.
Two conclusions:
Stress does not create cancer cells.
Stress affects the body’s malignancy- fighting ability.

16. Perceived Control #22 Health consequences of a loss of control
No connection
to shock source
To shock control
To shock source
“Executive” rat
“Subordinate” rat
Control rat

17. Locus Of Control
Internal Locus of Control- believe that you are in control of your own destiny.
“I am gaining weight because of my poor diet and exercise habits. I can change and be healthy”.
External Locus of Control- believe that others (high power, fate, etc) are in control of your destiny and there is nothing you can do about it.
“I am gaining weight because I have a history of obesity in my family and there is nothing I can do about my genetics. Diet and exercise won’t help”.

18. Martin Seligman (1942- ) American psychologist
Proponent of positive psychology
Study on Learned Helplessness

19. Psychological Coping Strategies
Cognitive Strategy - a mental technique in which we try to convince our brains to feel something different from what the incoming impulses may say.
Cognitive appraisal - interpretation of an event that determines stress impact
Denial - deciding that an event isn’t a stressor
Intellectualization - watching a situation from a detached standpoint

20. Relaxation Techniques
Progressive relaxation - Reduces muscle tension. People purposely tense a particular muscle group & then relax it.
Meditation- Reduces both physical & psychological responses to stress
Biofeedback - technique for bringing specific body processes - blood pressure & muscle tension under control.

21. Other Techniques Religion Exercise Optimistic Outlook Support Groups
Improving Interpersonal Skills
Training

22. Exercise and Mental Health

23. The Faith Factor Explained

24. The Faith Factor Explained

25. The Faith Factor Explained

26. The Faith Factor Explained

27. The Faith Factor Explained

28. Optimism The tendency to expect the best Believe bad events are:
Temporary
Not their fault
Will not have broader effects beyond the present circumstances