Stress and Health

Question 1

Behavioral Medicine

Answer 1

An interdisciplinary field that integrates behavioral and medical knowledge and applies that knowledge to health and disease.

Question 2

Health Psychology

Answer 2

A subfield of psychology that provides psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine.

Question 3

Stress

Answer 3

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

Question 4

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Answer 4

Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three stages- alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.

Question 5

Coronary Heart Disease

Answer 5

The clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; the leading cause of death in many developed countries.

Question 6

Type A

Answer 6

Friedman and Rosenmann’s term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people.

Question 7

Type B

Answer 7

Friedman and Rosenmann’s term for easygoing, relaxed people.

Question 8

Psychophysiological Illness

Answer 8

Literally, “mind-body” illnesses; any stress-related physical illness, such as hypertension and some headaches (note- this is distinct from hypochondriasis (misinterpreting normal physical sensations as symptoms of a disease)).

Question 9

Lymphocytes

Answer 9

The 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 other lymphatic tissue and attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances.

Question 10

Coping

Answer 10

Alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods.

Question 11

Problem-Focused Coping

Answer 11

Attempting to alleviate stress directly- by changing the stress or the way we interact with that stressor.

Question 12

Emotion-Focused Coping

Answer 12

Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one’s stress reacting.

Question 13

Aerobic Exercise

Answer 13

Sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; may also alleviate depression and anxiety.

Question 14

Biofeedback

Answer 14

A system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension.

Question 15

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Answer 15

Unproven health care treatments not taught widely in medical schools, not used in hospitals, and not usually reimbursed by insurance companies.