1. Stress and Health Chapter 14 James A. McCubbin, PhD Clemson University
Modified by Pamela Hammond
Brantley County High School

2. What do you think? Take out a scrap piece of paper
Brainstorm: Write down all of the things that stress you out; free flow thought
Rank your stressors from least to worst

3. Fact or Falsehood?
T F 1. Half of all deaths in the United States are due to people’s behavior.
T F 2. Cancer rates are higher among concentration camp survivors.
T F 3. Compared to others, pessimists are more than twice as likely to develop heart disease.
T F 4. Writing about personal traumas in a diary reduces stress and the likelihood of health
problems during ensuing months.
T F 5. Those who do not exercise are twice as likely as exercisers to report being not “too
happy.”
T F 6. Religious faith and health show a strong positive correlation.
T F 7. Smoking a cigarette takes 12 minutes off one’s life expectancy.
T F 8. Genes influence one’s propensity to cigarette addiction.
T F 9. It is possible for two people of the same height, age, and activity level to maintain
the same weight, even if one of them eats much more than the other does.
T F Most people who lose weight on a weight-loss program will eventually regain most
of it.
Answers:
All are true except number 2

4. Stress and Health Behavioral Medicine Health Psychology
interdisciplinary field that integrates behavioral and medical knowledge and applies that knowledge to health and disease
Health Psychology
subfield of psychology that provides psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine

5. Stress and Illness
Leading causes of death in the US in 1900 and 2000

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

7. 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

8. Pituitary hormone in the
bloodstream stimulates
the outer part of the adrenal
gland to release the stress
hormone cortisol
Sympathetic nervous
system releases the
stress hormones
epinephrine and
norepinephrine
from nerve endings
in the inner part of
the adrenal glands
Thalamus
Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
Adrenal glands
Cerebral cortex
(perceives stressor)

9. 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

10. Three Stages of the General Adaptation Syndrome
1) Alarm Reaction--general arousal caused by:
*increase of adrenal glands
*reaction of sympathetic nervous system
If stressor is not removed, organism moves to:
2) Resistance--arousal subsidies because of:
*decrease in adrenal output
*counter reaction of parasympathetic nervous system
If stressor is not removed, organism moves to:
3) Exhaustion-- general arousal of Stage 1 reappears:
Powerful parasympathetic response opposes arousal.
If stressor is not removed in time, death occurs.

11. Stressful Life Events Catastrophic Events Life Changes Daily Hassles
earthquakes, combat stress, floods
Life Changes
death of a loved one, divorce, loss of job, promotion
Daily Hassles
rush hour traffic, long lines, job stress, burnout,
AP Psychology…school in general

12. Stressful Life Events
Chronic Stress by Age

13. Stress and the Heart Type A Type B
Friedman and Rosenman’s term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people
Type B
Friedman and Rosenman’s term for easygoing, relaxed people
Quiz: Are you Type A or Type B? (14.8)

15. Personal Factors in Reactions to Stress
Gender differences
Women more likely to have lasting reactions to traumatic events; at more risk for exposure
Marriage and committed relationships have health benefits
Social buffer against stress
Live healthier, longer lives on average
Loss of spouse affects men more
Maybe marriage is choice of healthier people

16. Personal Factors in Reactions to Stress
Gender differences
Fight-or-flight important to both sexes
Men more likely to use fight-or-flight response
Women more likely to tend-and-befriend
Creates alliances for future if reoccurrence
Average response to workplace stress
Mothers more nurturing to children
Fathers more grouchy or withdrawn

17. Personal Factors in Reactions to Stress
Ethnic differences
Minority groups experience more stress
Few advantages and opportunities
Stressful interactions with majority culture due to stereotypes, discrimination, prejudice
Rapid acculturation of immigrant children clash with family pressures to maintain old culture (ie: language, customs)

18. Stress and the Heart Coronary Heart Disease
clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle
leading cause of death in many developed countries

19. Stress and the Heart Hopelessness scores Heart attack Death 3.5 3 2.5
1.5 1
0.5
Heart attack
Death
Low risk
Moderate risk
High risk
Men who feel extreme hopelessness
are at greater risk for heart attacks
and early death

20. Stress and the Heart

21. Stress and Disease Psychophysiological Illness Psychosomatic
“mind-body” illness
any stress-related physical illness
some forms of hypertension
some headaches
distinct from hypochondriasis-- misinterpreting normal physical sensations as symptoms of a disease

22. Stress and the Immune System
Lymphocytes
two types of white blood cells that are part of the body’s immune system
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

23. Stress and the Immune System
Stress does not directly cause disease
When energy is diverted from immune system activities and directed toward stress-response system  vulnerability to infection and disease increases
Acceleration of AIDS
Rapid spread of cancerous cells

24. poor nutrition and sleep)
Stress and Disease
Negative emotions and health-related consequences
Mind and body interact; everything psychological is simultaneously physiological
Unhealthy behaviors
(smoking, drinking,
poor nutrition and sleep)
Persistent stressors
and negative
emotions
Release of stress
hormones
Heart
disease
Immune
suppression
Autonomic nervous
system effects
(headaches,
hypertension)

25. Promoting Health Coping with stress
Problem-focused coping: when we feel a sense of control and think we can change the situation
Change the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor
Emotion-focused coping: when we feel we have no or little control over the situation
Avoid or ignore a stressor
Meet emotional needs

26. Perceived Control Health consequences of a loss of control
Higher than normal susceptibility to infections, cardiovascular disease, and possibly, a shorter life span
Diminished immune system responses

28. Explanatory style
Optimists, more than pessimists, feel they have more control over stressor
Cope better with stressors
Better moods
Stronger immune systems
Live longer
Laugh more, less sarcastic

29. Life-style modification patients
Promoting Health
Modifying Type A life-style can reduce recurrence of heart attacks
Percentage
of patients
with recurrent
heart attacks
(cumulative
average) 6 5 4 3 2 1
Year
Life-style modification patients
Control patients
Modifying life-style
reduced recurrent

30. Social Support
Supportive family members, friends, companionable pets help people cope with stress
Fosters stronger immune systems
Lowers blood pressure
Nursing homes
Therapy pets
People feel loss of control, die sooner

31. Promoting Health Social support across the life span Percentage
Age in years
100% 90 80 70 60 50
Percentage
with high
support

32. Promoting Health Aerobic Exercise
Depression
score 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
Before treatment
evaluation
After treatment
No-treatment
group
Aerobic
exercise
Relaxation
treatment
Aerobic Exercise
sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness

33. Promoting Health Biofeedback
system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state
blood pressure
muscle tension

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

35. Promoting Health Predictors of mortality 1 0.8 Relative 0.6 risk
0.4
0.2
Men
Women
Not smoking Regular exercise Weekly religious
attendance
Relative
risk
of dying

36. Promoting Health
Religious Attendance

37. 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)

38. Promoting Health Complementary and Alternative Medicine
unproven health care treatments not taught widely in medical schools, not used in hospitals, and not usually reimbursed by insurance companies

39. Subfields of Alternative Medicine
Alternative systems of
medical practice
Bioelectromagnetic
applications
Diet, nutrition,
life-style changes
Herbal medicine
Manual healing
Mind-body control
Pharmacological and
biological treatments
Subfields of Alternative Medicine
Health care ranging from self-care according to folk principles,
to care rendered in an organized health care system based on
alternative traditions or practices
The study of how living organisms interact with electromagnetic (EM) fields
The knowledge of how to prevent illness, maintain health, and
reverse the effects of chronic disease through dietary or
nutritional intervention
Employing plan and plant products from folk medicine traditions
for pharmacological use
Using touch and manipulation with the hands as a diagnostic
and therapeutic tool
Exploring the mind’s capacity to affect the body, based on
traditional medical systems that make use of the interconnected-
ness of mind and body
Drugs and vaccines not yet accepted by mainstream medicine