Chapter 14 Flashcards
(26 cards)
Define Stressors?
Specific events or chronic pressures that place demands on a person or threaten the persons well-being.
Define stress?
The physical and psychological response to internal or external stressors?
Define health psychology?
The subfield of psychology concerned with ways psychological factors influence the causes and treatment of physical illness and the maintenance of health.
Define chronic stressor?
Sources of stress that occur continuously or repeatedly.
Define the flight-or-fight response?
An emotional and physiological reaction to an emergency that increases readiness for action.
Define general adaptation syndrome? (GAS)
A three stage physiological response that appears regardless of the stressor that is encountered.
Define telomeres?
Caps at the end of each chromosome that protect the ends of chromosomes and prevent them from sticking to each other.
Define telomerase?
An enzyme that rebuilds telomeres at the tips of chromosomes.
Define the Immune system?
A complex response system that protects the body from bacteria, viruses, and other foreign substances.
Define lymphocytes?
White blood cells that produce antibodies that fight infection, including T-Cells and B-Cells.
What is the Type A behaviour pattern?
The tendency toward easily aroused hostility, impatience, a sense of time urgency, and competitive achievement strivings.
Define Type B behaviour pattern?
Less driven than pattern A.
Define burnout?
State of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion created by long term involvement in an emotionally demanding situation and accompanied by lowered performance and motivation.
Define Repressive coping?
Avoiding situations or thoughts that are reminders of a stressor and maintaining an artificially positive viewpoint.
Define Rational coping?
Facing a stressor and working to overcome it.
Define Reframing?
Finding a new or creative way to think about a stressor that reduces its threat.
Define Stress Inoculation Training? (SIT)
A reframing technique that helps people to cope with stressful situations by developing positive ways to think about the situation.
Define meditation?
The practice of internal contemplation.
Define Relaxation Therapy?
A technique for reducing tension by consciously relaxing muscles of the body.
Define Relaxation response?
A condition of reduced muscle tension, cortical activity, heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure.
Define biofeedback?
The use of an external monitoring device to obtain information about a bodily function and possibly gain control over that function.
Define social support?
The aid gained through interacting with others.
Define Psychosomatic illness?
An interaction between mind and body that can produce illness.
Define Somatic symptom disorders?
A set of psychological disorders in which a person with at least one bodily symptom displays significant health-related anxiety, expresses disproportionate concerns about their symptoms, and devotes excessive time and energy to their symptoms or health concerns.
