1. Chapter 6 STRESS AND HEALTH

2. Section 1: Effects of Stress  What is Stress?  Stress is the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events that we appraise as threatening or challenging  Health psychology- a subfield that focuses on how stress affects our well being and our health.  Stress comes into two types:  Distress is stressed perceived as being negative.  Eustress is stress perceived as being positive.

3. Responding to Stress  I f you see the stressor as a threat, you’re more likely to panic and freeze up, making it more difficult to solve your problem.  If you view it as a challenge, your response will be focused, and you’re more likely to overcome the obstacle.  How do you often view your stressors? Threat or Challenge.

4. G.A.S General Adaption Syndrome  Walter Canon was an American psychologist who concluded that physiological and emotional experiences occur simultaneously.  Hans Selye- researched a recurring response to stress that he called the general adaption syndrome.  General Adaption Syndrome- Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three stages---alarm, resistance, exhaustion.  Three Stages of G.A.S.  1 st -alarm reaction- nervous system is activated.  2 nd resistance- stress-related hormones, keep your respiration, temperature. Blood pressure high.  3 rd exhaustion- greater susceptibility to illness and under circumstances, death.

5. Find a friend!  Using your electronic devices answer the following with a partner  What specific health problems are positively correlated with prolonged stress?  What specific hormones are related to stress?  What other health factors and habits complicate stress-related health problems?  How can people reduce stress naturally?

6. Stressful Events  Burnout- physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion brought on by persistent job related stress.  Results of burnout: depression, decreased performance or productivity, and cynicism ( from the mental exhaustion.)  When was the last time you where burned out? How did it affect your overall heatlh?

7. Promoting Wellnesss

8. What is wellness?  What are 5 words that you believe describes wellness?  Using those words, write a definition for wellness.

9. Wellness  Wellness is the common result of a healthy lifestyle and healthy attitudes.  Martin Seligman- American psychologist & proponent of positive psychology.

10. Healthy lifestyles  June of 2002, President Bush asked all Americans to exercise 30 minutes a day. He wanted to improve health of U.S. citizens and save millions of dollars in lost productivity on the job.  Do you exercise regularly?  If so you are apart of a minority of Americans.  There are benefits to aerobic exercise, such as increased lung and heart fitness, are well documented.  Several studies suggest exercise is an effective, nonmedical means of reducing anxiety & depression.

12. How does exercise makes us feel better?  Increases the output of mood boosting chemicals your nervous system produces.  Enhances your cognitive abilities, such as memory, to some degree.  Lowers your blood pressure  Has side effects such as better sleep, that provide emotional benefit.

13. With your neighbor, describe your exercise habits. Why are you maintaining your current level of activity? What would you change about your exercise habits?

14. Family and Friends  Does social support make a difference in our health and well-being?  Joy and Strife- our family members sometimes bring stress, but they also bring us support and happiness.  People with more social ties are less likely to die prematurely.  Children who grew up with parents who did not divorce outlived children of divorce by 4 years.  Stress is unavoidable, but the support provided by family, friends, and support groups provides a buffer against the ill effects of stress.

15. The Faith Factor

16. What is the “faith factor,” how does it relate to wellness?  Do religion and spirituality relate to health?  Poll showed 80% of Americans believe they do.  Researchers found that people who did not attend religious services were 1.87 times more likely to have died than those who did attend services weekly.  Three factors contributed to better health.  The beliefs of the religiously active often promote healthier lifestyles.  Attending religious services is a communal, not a solo, experience.  Religiously active people often experience less anxiety and stress.

17. Talk with someone  How would you describe the quality of your religious or spiritual life? How often do you attend religious or spiritual services per week? What would you change about your religious habits?

18. Positive Experiences and Well- being  Positive Psychology- focuses on the study of optimal human functioning and the factors that allow individuals and communities to thrive.  Flow- a challenge requiring skill, clear goals, and feedback can become a “flow” activity.  Ex. Playing a sport or activity that is a real challenge.  Happiness  Researcher found that happy people tend to have high self-esteem, optimistic, outgoing, and agreeable, close friendships or marriages, have work and leisure that engage their skills, meaningful religious faith, sleep well and exercise.

19. Optimism  Optimism is the belief that bad events are temporary, not your fault, and will not have effects beyond the present circumstances.  Pessimism is the opposite of optimism---the tendency to expect the worst.  Explanatory style- The habits we have for thinking about the good or bad causes of events.  Do teen in your school typically make pessimistic or optimistic attributions? Why?  How can one learn to be less pessimistic and more optimistic?

20. Overcoming Illness-Related Behaviors  Smoking  Why is smoking so dangerous, and why is it so hard to give up?  If you start smoking in your teens and never quit, you have a 50% chance of dying a premature and agonizing death from your addictive habit.  Smoking is bad for your heart and lungs.  Have high rates of depression and divorce, lose 12 minutes of your life every cigarette.  Math problem: if a person smokes every day for 20 years how much time would they have lost off their lives?  Three times more likely than non smokers to drink alcohol.  17 times more likely than nonsmokers to smoke marijuana

21. So why don’t teenage smokers throw their cigarettes when they learn these facts?  Nicotine- behavioral stimulant found in tobacco.  This is more addictive than cocaine or heroin!  1 out 3 who try cigarettes get hooked!  Withdrawal-The discomfort and distress that follows discontinuing the use of an addictive drug.  How to quit  Set a quit date, inform family and friends, get rid of all cigarettes, review things you learned, be totally abstinent, avoid alcohol, avoid places where there is smoking.

22. Obesity  Obesity’s health risks are not as clear-cut as those connected to smoking.  Body mass index (BMI) your weight in kilograms (pounds times.45) divided by your squared height in meters (inches divided by 39.4). U.S. gov’t encourages BMI under 25.  If your BMI is over 30, a person is considered obese.  Find your BMI  Why is it so hard to lose weight?  Energy is equivalent of a pound of fat is 3500 calories.  To understand weight lost, you have to know about fat cells, set point, and metabolism.  The average adult has 30 million fat cells. Once fat cells reach a limit, they divide and make more.

23.  Set point- The point at which an individual’s “weight thermostat” is supposedly set.  When the body falls below weight, an increase in hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may act to restore the lost weight.  The amount of food that formerly maintained your normal weight may now increase your weight.  Metabolic rates vary from person to person. The roots of metabolic rate are genetic.  Hints to help:  Reduce exposure to tempting food cues.  Boost your metabolism. Exercise speeds it up and lowers your set point. Walking, jogging, and swimming, empty fat cells, build muscle and make you feel better.  Be patient, realistic and moderate.  Permanently change the food you eat.  Control your portions  Don’t skip breakfast and lunch in order to eat a big dinner. This slows metabolism.  Set attainable goals.