Stress - Psych Flashcards
What is stress?
A physical and psychological response to events that challenge a person’s normal functioning
What are some physical stressors?
- injury
- physical exertion
- noise
- overcrowding
- excessive heat or cold
Where does your brain process stress? What does it do?
In the corticolimbic system and it determines the possible threat and processes emotions
What are the two identifiers and what do they do?
Primary identifier - determine if there is a threat and how big it is
Secondary identifier - evaluates ways to cope with the stressor
What are the stress responses?
A. behavioural - leave a situation
B. Physiological - sympathetic nervous system is activated
C. Negative emotional states - frustration, fear, anxiety, pressure
D. Eustress - seen as beneficial for the experiencer, joy, sense of happiness
What are the types of stressors?
A. psychological conflict B. Everyday hassles C. Life changes D. Catastrophes E. poverty and inequality F. discrimination G. Adjustment to a new culture
What are the four responses to a psychological conflict?
- Approach- approach = choice between two things you want to do
- Avoidance-avoidance = choice between two thing you do not want to do
- approach-avoidance = choice between something you like and something you do not like
- double approach-avoidance = choice between two things both having positive and negative features
What is chronic stress? What can it do to you?
Chronic stress is prolonged activation of the stress response, can lead to negative mood states, sickness
Order of stress response is?
- events processed in corticolimbic system
- message sent to peripheral nervous system to prepare for movement
- message also sent to hypothalamus which controls the autonomic system
What does the hypothalamus do?
Communicates with the endocrine system to activate two systems
What two systems does the hypothalamus activate? What do they release?
Adrenocortical - releases cortisol
Adrenomedullary - releases adrenaline
Who introduced the term stress? What did they distinguish?
Walter Cannon, distinguished between short and long-term stressors
Who is Hans Selye? What did they do?
Hans Selye identified the body’s response to stress - general adaptive system
What is GAS?
Alarm - sympathetic nervous system activated
Resistance - body uses hormone to keep the system elevated
Exhaustion - resources are depleted body is exhausted
What are the psychological responses to stress?
- emotional - crying, nervousness, irritability, anger, fear
- cognitive - memory problems, distractibility, obsessiveness
- behavioural - relationship problems, substance abuse, compulsive eating
