test 5 (13 & 16) Flashcards
(207 cards)
Health Psychology
- APA (1979) Health Psychology is the educational, research, and clinical contributions of Psychology to:
- The promotion and maintenance of health
- The prevention and treatment of illness
- The analysis and improvement of the health care system and health policy formation.
50% of all deaths are preventable - due to lifestyles
stress
- A state that impairs our ability to respond to internal and external demands
- Stress is a psychobiological process
- Stress is a stimulus e.g., catastrophies, life events, circumstances
- Stress is a response (physiological and psychological)
- Stress is a process (relationship between person and environment)
modern views of stress
(richard lazarus)
Richard Lazarus: stress is a transaction between a person and their environment
- Primary appraisal: person evaluates situations as benign or stressful
- Secondary appraisal: person decides how to deal with stress
modern views of stress
(lazurus 3 types)
- Loss: person loses a loved one or a possession
- Threat: anticipated harm
- Challenge: opportunity for growth (new job)
Appraisal of stress
We can influence the impact of a stressor
- Behaviorally e.g., drug use vs. relaxation
- Cognitively e.g., denial vs. cognitive restructuring
- Emotionally e.g., hopelessness vs. optimism
Sympathetic Adrenal Medullary system (SAM)
- Stress is perceived by cerebral cortex
- Affects hypothalamus which activates the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight)
- Stimulates the Adrenal Medulla glands which secrete catecholimines, epinephrine, and norepinephrine
- Raises blood pressure, irregular heart rate, sweating, constriction of peripheral blood vessels
Hypothalmic-Pituitary-Adrenocorticol system (HPA)
- Hypothalamus releases corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF)
- Influences Pituitary gland to secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)
- This affects adrnal cortex, relasing coritcosteroids like cortisol that reduce inflammation and help body return to normal state after acute stressors
14 physical symptoms of stress
- increases in heart rate and pressure
- increased adrenaline and noradrenaline
- stomach ulcers
- injuries
- fatigue
- death
- heart disease
- lung diseases
- increased sweating
10.skin rashes
11.headaches - cancer
- muscular tension
14. sleep disorders
Prolonged Exposure to Stress
- Suppress cellular immune functioning
- Produces hemodynamic changes (increased heart rate and blood pressure)
- Provoke irregular heart rhythms
- Produce neurochemical imbalances (depression, panic disorder)
- Atherosclerosis
- Destruction of neurons in the hippocampus (memory impairment, senility)
Psychological Responses to Stress
- Emotional instability
- Thinking problems:
- problem solving difficulties
- Ruminative thinking
- Castastrophizing
- Irrational thoughts
12 Psychological Symptoms of Stress
- anxiety, tension, confusion, & irritability
- frustration, anger, and resentment
- hypersensitivity, hyperactivity
- suppression of feelings
- poor communication
- withdrawal and depression
- feeling isolated and alienated
- boredom, job dissatisfaction
- mental fatigue, poor reasoning
- poor concentration
- loss of spontaneity & creativity
- lowered self-esteem
12 behavioural responses to stress
- procrastination & avoidance
- lowered performance
- increased alcohol & drug use and abuse
- intentional acts of sabotage
- increased use of prescription drugs
- undereating due to apathy, depression
- overeating as an escape
- weight loss
- increased recklessness, gambling
- aggression and criminal acts
- poor relations with family and friends
- suicide or attempted suicide
Coping
- People manage the gap between demands and resources in stressful situations
- Individual coping mechanisms and beliefs affect the outcome of stress.
- How an event is appraised determines its impact
- problem and emotion focused coping
Emotion Focused Coping
- aimed at controlling the emotional response to the stressful situation
Behavioural: drugs, distraction, or support
Cognitive: denial, optimism, hardy personality
Problem Focused Coping
- aimed at reducing the demands of the stressful situation or expanding the resources available to deal with the stressor
- E.g., quit job, seek treatment or support, learn new skill to adapt to situation
Person attempts to change the situation
- Try to remove the stressor
- Plan ways of resolving the situation
- Seek advice from others on how to change the situation
Social Support and Stress
- Other persons can provide social support:
- Two-way communication in which a person can confide their concerns and receive support from others
- Low social support decreases life span
- Social support may work by
- Buffering person against the harmful effects of stress
- Social support is a positive force that reduces susceptibility to stress
Positive Coping Strategies
- Focused breathing/meditation
- Progressive Muscle relaxation
- Cognitive restructuring
- Visualization and Imagery
- Self-hypnosis
- Anger management
- Thought Stopping Procedures
- Stress Inoculation Training
- Assertiveness Training/Social Skills - Training
- Time Management
Affirmations (Benson, 1995)
- I can handle this
- I accept myself as I am
- I am peaceful I am becoming healthy and strong
- Let it be
- I am doing the best that I can
- through repetition and imagination you can speak directly to your own unconscious mind (which takes everything you say as truth and creates your belief system about they way the world works)
effective affirmations are:
1. stated in the positive
2. written down on paper
3. posted everywhere for repeated viewing
Health and Well Being
Benson & Friedman (1995)
The Three Legs supporting health & wellbeing:
- pharmaceuticals
- surgery and medical procedures
- self-care (the leg that has been missing) of the inner development of the whole person and nurturing beliefs that faciltate healing -
- Western Thinking needs an overhaul
Many medical experts like Benson are recognizing
we need to borrow from the older Eastern traditions.
(Deepak Chopra, Andrew Weil,Jon Kabat-Zinn)
attributions
- Internal vs. External
- Stability
- Fundamental
- Attribution Error
- Defensive Attribution
- Self-serving Bias
- Individualism vs. Collectivism
The Justification of Effort
- If someone works hard to attain a goal, the will be more attractive than to the individual who achieves the same goal with no effort.
- Hazing
- Basic training
- Charging money for pound puppies
- Aronson and Mills (1959) sex discussion group with an embarrassing initiation
Why Do Behaviors Change Attitudes?
- Self-Presentation (Impression Management)
- Self-Justification (Cognitive Dissonance)
- Self-Perception
Conformity and Obedience
- Asch experiment
- Milgram experiment
- The difference a symbol of authority makes e.g., a lab coat
- The nurse’s obedience experiment – much lower level of compliance when the drug was familiar and when they had an opportunity to consult with someone
- Knowledge and social support increase the likelihood of resistance to authority
Norm Formation
- Norms can be arbitrary, pervasive and unintentional
- Norm violation examples