1. Health Psychology (9)
Christine L. Whitley

2. Phychophysiological disorders are those that link physical symptoms with psychological factors
Some psychophysiological disorders are brought about purely by psychological factors (e.g. anorexia nervosa)
Some psychophysiological disorders have a larger physical component, and are less closely related to psychological factors (e.g. cardiovascular disease) although psychological factors are still important
Nuclear Conflict Theory holds that each physiological disorder is associated with certain specific (unconscious) emotional conflicts.

3. Freud
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. - Sigmund Freud

4. The Psychoanalytic Perspective
Psychoanalysis
Freud’s theory of personality that attributes our thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts
techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions
Free Association
in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious
person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

5. Stress and Illness Stress
the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging

6. What Is Stress?
Stress is the emotional and physiological process that occurs as one tries to adjust to or deal with environmental circumstances that disrupt, or threaten to disrupt, one’s daily functioning.
Stressors are the environmental circumstances that cause people to make adjustments.
Stress reactions are the physical, psychological, and behavioral responses displayed in the face of stressors.

8. Stress Appraisal Appraisal Response Stressful event (tough math test)
Threat
(“Yikes! This is
beyond me!”)
Challenge
(“I’ve got to apply
all I know”)
Panic, freeze up
Aroused, focused
Appraisal
Response

9. The Process of Stress

10. Chronic stress and the effects on the body
Test your daily hassles

12. Found on: http://www.paniccure.com/Approaches/CBT/Intro_Understandg_P.htm

13. Stress and Illness General Adaptation Syndrome
resistance
Phase 1
Alarm
reaction
(mobilize
resources)
Phase 2
Resistance
(cope with
stressor)
Phase 3
Exhaustion
(reserves
depleted)
The body’s resistance to stress can
last only so long before exhaustion sets in
Stressor
occurs
General Adaptation Syndrome
Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three stages

14. PSYCHONEUROIMMUNOLOGY: the field that examine the relationship between psychosocial processes and nervous, endocrine, and immune system functioning.
The Immune system is a group of cells and organs that work together to fight infections in our bodies. Some of these organs are the thymus, spleen and lymphocytes.
The Immune System protects our body from pathogens, disease-causing agents, such as bacteria.  
There are two parts of the Immune System called nonspecific defenses and specific defenses. 
Nonspecific defenses, also known as the innate immune system, guard infections.  These defenses can find foreign tissues, but do not recognize a particular invader. 
Specific defenses, also known as the adaptive immune system, can track down pathogens that passed through the nonspecific defenses. 
Resources:

16. Health information
Social Network:
Family
Friends …

17. Coronary Heart Diseases (CHD) is also linked to stress, with “stressed out” individuals…
Type A
Tendency to respond to environmental stressors in a particular way; of its components (hostility, competitiveness, aggressiveness, and mistrust
Hostility is most reliably linked to CDH
Type B
Individuals are calm and relaxed - essentially they are the anti Type A
Not a risk factor for CHD
Type C
Can’t express hostile emotions, are overly agreeable, and avoid conflict.
At risk for cancer but there is no clear empirical evidence

18. 5 general strategies
Seeking information refers to evaluating possibilities and their likelihood for success
Taking direct actions refers to actually doing something to change the situation
Inhibiting action refers to suppressing the desire to act; it’s effective if there really is nothing that can be done.
Engaging intrapsychic efforts involves suppressing or ignoring upsetting thoughts or reframing them into more positive ones.
Calling on others involves asking other people for physical or emotional support or help.

19. 5 major goals associated with coping efforts
A. Dealing realistically with the problem
B. Tolerating or adjusting emotionally to the negative realities
C. Attempting to maintain a positive self-image
D. Attempting to maintain emotional equilibrium
E. Attempting to continue satisfying relationships with other people

22. Social-Cognitive Perspective
Personal Control
our sense of controlling our environments rather than feeling helpless
External Locus of Control
the perception that chance or outside forces beyond one’s personal control determine one’s fate

23. Social-Cognitive Perspective
Learned Helplessness
Uncontrollable
bad events
Perceived
lack of control
Generalized
helpless behavior

24. Social-Cognitive Perspective
Personal Control
our sense of controlling our environments rather than feeling helpless
Internal Locus of Control
the perception that one controls one’s own fate

25. Optimistic Thinking Pessimistic Thinking
Challenge: open to change. take risks. willingness to make the effort. 'I can do it' 'I will try my best' Control: take responsibility for their actions. proactive. 'I have choices and options' 'If I make a mistake I will do whatever it takes to correct it'
Commitment: tendency to persist. 'I will keep trying until it works' 'I will make it happen'
Personalize: tendency to take the blame for everything.  freeze.  'Its my fault'  'I am bad'  or 'I am wrong' Pervasive: tendency to over-generalize. feel overwhelmed. 'Everything I do is wrong'  'I can do nothing right'  'I always make a mess of things'
Permanent: tendency to exaggerate.  'It will always be this way' 'Nothing I do will make it change' 'It is always a mess'

26. Sense of Coherence (SOC)
Professor Aaron Antonovsky (1923–1994): the father of the salutogenesis
We are coming to understand health not as the absence of disease, but rather as the process by which individuals maintain their sense of coherence (i.e. sense that life is comprehensible, manageable, and meaningful) and ability to function in the face of changes in themselves and their relationships with their environment. -Aaron Antonovsky.
Sense of Coherence
(SOC)

27. Emotion Joy Anger Interest Sadness Disgust Fear Surprise Emotion
a response of the whole organism
physiological arousal
expressive behaviors
conscious experience
Sadness
Disgust
Fear
Surprise

28. Wellness
Exercise properly
Sleep adequately
Maintaining a healthy diet

29. Diathesis-Stress Approach to Psychopathology
James D. Laird and Nicholas S. Thompson, Psychology. Copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Reprinted by permission.

31. Promoting Health The religion factor is multidimensional Religious
involvement
Healthy
behaviors
(less smoking,
drinking)
Social support
(faith
communities,
marriage)
Positive
emotions
(less stress,
anxiety)
Better health
(less immune system
suppression, stress
hormones, and suicide)

32. Promoting Health Life events Tendency toward Health Illness
Personal appraisal
Challenge
Threat
Personality type
Easy going, Nondepressed,
Optimistic
Hostile, Depressed,
Pessimistic
Personal habits
Nonsmoking, Regular exercise, Good nutrition
Smoking, Sedentary,
Poor nutrition
Level of social support
Close, enduring
Lacking