1. Health, Stress, and Coping
Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
Health, Stress, and Coping
Prepared by Krista D. Forrest
These slides ©2002 Prentice Hall Psychology Publishing.
Chapter 15
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall

2. Health, stress and coping
Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
Health, stress and coping
The physiology of stress.
The psychology of stress.
Coping with stress.
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall

3. The Stress-Illness Mystery
Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
The Stress-Illness Mystery
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
©2002 Prentice Hall

4. Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
Stressors and the Body
Noise.
Bereavement and Loss.
Work-Related Problems.
Poverty, Powerlessness, and Racism.
Figure of
Wade, C., & Tavris, C. (2002). Invitation to Psychology, 2nd Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall

5. Stress and the Common Cold
Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
Stress and the Common Cold
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall

6. The Physiology of Stress
Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
The Physiology of Stress
General adaptation syndrome.
There are three phases in responding to stressors:
Alarm.
Resistance.
Exhaustion.
Goal is to minimize wear and tear on the system.
Figure from page 411 of
Wade, C., & Tavris, C. (2002). Invitation to Psychology, 2nd Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall

7. Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
Current Approaches
HPA (Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal cortex axis)
A system activated to energize the body to respond to stressors.
The hypothalamus sends chemical messengers to the pituitary gland.
The pituitary gland prompts the adrenal cortex to produce cortisol and other hormones.
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall

8. The Brain and the Body Under Stress
Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
The Brain and the Body Under Stress
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall

9. Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
The Mind-Body Link
Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)
The study of the relationships among psychology, the nervous and endocrine systems and the immune system.
Psychological factors explain why not all people are stressed the same amount by the same things.
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall

10. The Psychology of Stress
Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
The Psychology of Stress
Emotions and illness.
Letting grievances go.
Explanatory styles.
The sense of control.
The benefits of control.
The limits of control.
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall

11. Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
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.
Proneness to anger is a major risk factor
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall

12. Hostility and Heart Disease
Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
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.
Figure of
Wade, C., & Tavris, C. (2002). Invitation to Psychology, 2nd Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall

13. Depression and Disease
Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
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.
Other research failed to find the link.
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall

14. Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
Emotional Inhibition
Emotional Inhibition: A personality trait involving a tendency to deny feelings of anger, anxiety, or fear; in stressful situations, physiological responses such as heart rate and blood pressure rise sharply.
People who display this trait are at greater risk of becoming ill than people who can acknowledge feelings.
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall

15. Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
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.
Forgiving thoughts.
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall

16. Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
Explanatory Styles
A study of Hall-of-Famer 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
©2002 Prentice Hall

17. Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
The Sense of Control
Locus of Control
A general expectation about whether the results of your actions are under your own control (internal locus) or beyond your control (external locus).
Feelings of control can reduce or even eliminate the relationship between stressors and health.
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall

18. Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
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
©2002 Prentice Hall

19. Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
Coping with Stress
Cooling Off.
Solving the problem.
Looking outward.
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall

20. Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
Cooling Off
Relaxation Training
Learning to alternately tense and relax muscles, lie or sit quietly, or meditate by clearing the mind; has beneficial effects by lowering stress hormones and enhancing immune function.
Massage therapy.
Exercise is also an excellent stress reliever.
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall

21. Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
Fitness and Health
Among those with low stress, fit and less-fit people had similar levels of health problems.
Among those with high stress, there were fewer health problems among people who were more fit.
Figure of
Wade, C., & Tavris, C. (2002). Invitation to Psychology, 2nd Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall

22. Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
Solving the Problem
Emotion-focused and problem-focused coping.
Effective Cognitive Coping Methods:
Reappraising the situation.
Learning from the experience.
Making social comparisons.
Cultivating a sense of humor.
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall

23. Emotion, Stress, and Health
4/16/2017
Looking Outward
Friends can help with coping:
People with network of close connections live longer than those who do not.
After heart attack, those with no close contacts were twice as likely to die.
Relationships can also cause stress.
Giving support to others can be a valuable source of comfort.
©2002 Prentice Hall
©2002 Prentice Hall