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Essentials of Psychology: Concepts and Applications, 6e Chapter 10: Psychology

and Health

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Icebreaker

Each student is asked to reflect upon the following questions to begin thinking about concepts related to psychology and health.

Imagine you just won $214,000,000 in a lottery prize.

Which aspects of your life would become less stressful? Why?

Which aspects of your life would become more stressful? Why?

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Chapter Objectives (1 of 2)

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

10.01 Define stress in psychological terms.

10.02 Identify and describe the major sources of stress.

10.03 Define the general adaptation syndrome and identify and describe its three stages.

10.04 Evaluate the effects of stress on the body’s immune system.

10.05 Identify psychological factors that buffer the effects of stress.

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Chapter Objectives (2 of 2)

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

10.06 Apply stress management techniques to daily life.

10.07 Identify psychological factors linked to coronary heart disease.

10.08 Identify psychological factors linked to cancer.

10.09 Apply knowledge of the transmission of sexually transmitted disease to steps we can take to protect ourselves from these diseases.

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Module 10.1

Stress: What It Is and What It Does to the Body

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Sources of Stress (1 of 6)

Health psychology is the study of interrelationships between psychology and physical health.

Health psychologists are especially concerned with the effects of stress on physical health.

Psychologists use the term stress to describe the pressures of demands placed upon an organism to adjust or adapt to its environment.

Psychologists distinguish healthy stress, which helps to remain active, alert, and energized; and distress, an unpleasant state of physical or mental pain and suffering.

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Sources of Stress (2 of 6)

Sources of stress are called stressors. Stressors include daily hassles (e.g., work and school demands), life events or life changes (e.g., getting married or having a child), frustration, conflict, and trauma.

How well we cope with stress in our daily lives plays a key role in determining our mental and physical well-being.

Some of the ways in which Americans manage their stress include listening to music, exercising or walking, surfing the Internet, watching TV or going to the movies, and socializing with friends or family.

Chronic stress is a state of persistent tension that can lead to feeling exhausted, irritable, and depressed.

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Sources of Stress (3 of 6)

Hassles are the common annoyances of everyday life.

An accumulation of hassles may contribute to chronic stress.

Life events are positive or negative major changes in life circumstances that place demands on us to adapt.

Frustration is a negative emotional state experienced when one’s efforts to pursue one’s goals are thwarted.

Conflict is the state of tension that occurs when we feel torn between two opposing goals. Conflicts are most stressful when opposing goals are equally strong and no clear resolution is apparent.

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Sources of Stress (4 of 6)

The four major types of psychological conflict are:

Approach-Approach Conflict arises when you are drawn toward two positive but mutually exclusive options.

Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict arises when you face two opposing goals, both of which are unpleasant.

Approach-Avoidance Conflict arises when you face a single goal that has both positive and negative qualities.

Multiple Approach-Avoidance Conflict arises when there are two or more goals, each with compelling positive and negative qualities. This is the most complex type of conflict.

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Sources of Stress (5 of 6)

Traumatic stressors are sudden, life-threatening events and can tax our coping abilities to their limit.

Trauma survivors may develop a psychological disorder called posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Type A behavior pattern (TABP) is a behavior pattern characterized by impatience, competitiveness, aggressiveness, and time urgency.

It was once thought that those with TABP had a greater risk of developing coronary heart disease than others. However, research found that the TABP component that is linked to such illnesses is hostility.

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Sources of Stress (6 of 6)

Acculturative stress refers to the pressures faced by immigrants in adapting to the cultural and linguistic demands of the host country and affects psychological health and adjustment.

Stressors include economic hardship, racism, and discrimination.

Maintaining a strong connection to one’s traditional cultures can help protect immigrants and members of ethnic minority groups from the negative effects of discrimination.

For many, making a successful transition is a process of balancing participation in mainstream culture with maintaining their ethnic identify or cultural heritage.

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Think-Pair-Share Activity 1

Students pair up and discuss the following questions:

Hassles are things that annoy or bother a person.

Think about the hassles in your life.

Where is the specific source of most of your stress?

What can do you to reduce the hassles in your life?

Student pairs then share their answers with the class.

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The Body’s Response to Stress (1 of 4)

Hans Selye recognized the body responds in a similar manner to various stressors, a response pattern he called the general adaptation syndrome (GAS). The general adaptation syndrome consists of three stages.

The alarm stage is the first stage and involves mobilizing the body’s resources to cope with an immediate stressor.

The body’s response during this stage is called the fight-or-flight response as it is characterized by biological changes that prepare the body to deal with a threat by either fighting or fleeing.

The resistance stage is the second stage and is characterized by the body’s attempt to adjust or adapt to persistent stress.

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The Body’s Response to Stress (2 of 4)

If the stressor persists, the body may enter the final stage of the general adaption syndrome, the exhaustion stage. This stage is characterized by the depletion of bodily resources and a lowered resistance to stress-related disorders, disease, or illnesses.

Psychologists have found behavioral differences in how men and women respond to stress.

Women tend to engage in more nurturing behaviors than do men.

Men are more likely to react by engaging with aggressive or hostile behaviors.

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The Body’s Response to Stress (3 of 4)

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The Body’s Response to Stress (4 of 4)

The body’s stress response involves coordinated actions by the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA axis), an integrated system of endocrine glands.

Key hormones involved in the stress response are:

Corticotrophin-releasing hormone, which is released by the hypothalamus and induces the pituitary to release adrenocorticotrophic hormone.

Adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), which activates the adrenal cortex to release corticosteroids.

Corticosteroids increase the body’s resistance to stress by increasing the availability of stored nutrients to meet the increased energy demands of coping with stressful events.

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Knowledge Check Activity 1

During which stage of Selye’s general adaptation syndrome is an individual especially vulnerable to illness?

Exhaustion

Resistance

Alarm

Fight-or-Flight

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Knowledge Check Activity 1: Answer

During which stage of Selye’s general adaptation syndrome is an individual especially vulnerable to illness?

Answer: a. Exhaustion

During the exhaustion stage the body’s resources are depleted, leaving an individual vulnerable to illness, disease, and even permanent damage to the body. During the resistance stage the body attempts to adapt to the persistent stress. The alarm stage is the first stage and involves the mobilization of the body’s resources to cope with the stressor. This response is called the fight-or-flight response.

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Stress and the Immune System (1 of 2)

The immune system is the body’s primary system of defense against infectious diseases and worn-out or diseased cells.

One way the immune system fights disease is through lymphocytes, specialized white blood cells that detect the presence of antigens.

Antigens activate the immune system to produce antibodies, specialized proteins that serve to mark antigens for destruction by specialized lymphocytes.

We can acquire immunity through vaccination, which involves injecting a weakened or partial form of an infectious agent that can induce production of antibodies but does not produce a full-blown infection.

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Stress and the Immune System (2 of 2)

While occasional stress may not be harmful, persistent or chronic stress can weaken the immune system, making us more vulnerable to various diseases, including heart disease.

Stress and physical illness are also linked through the actions of corticosteroids. Although these hormones help the body cope with stress, continued secretion of these hormones impairs the ability of the immune system to respond to invading pathogens.

Psychological interventions may help combat stress and even improve immunological functioning.

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Knowledge Check Activity 2

The white blood cells that detect the presence of foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses are called

Antibodies

Hemoglobin

Immune cells

Lymphocytes

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Knowledge Check Activity 2: Answer

The white blood cells that detect the presence of foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses are called

Answer: d. Lymphocytes

Lymphocytes are white blood cells that are important in the immune response, as they detect the presence of antigens. Stress can inhibit the production of lymphocytes. Antibodies are specialized proteins that target a specific antigen for destruction. There are many types of immune cells, including neutrophils, macrophages, and lymphocytes. Hemoglobin is a protein found in red blood cells and carries oxygen to the body’s organs.

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Psychological Moderators of Stress

Psychological moderators that may lessen the impact of stress include social support, self-efficacy, perceptions of control and predictability, psychological hardiness, and optimism.

Social support is a major factor in determining how well people cope with stress, and how well the body’s immune system fends off infections.

Self-efficacy, the confidence we have in our ability to succeed in tasks we set out to accomplish, acts as a buffer to stress.

Psychological hardiness is a cluster of personality traits (commitment, openness to challenge, internal locus of control) that may buffer the effects of stress.

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Discussion Activity 1

Some cultures places a high value on stoicism and quiet tolerance of suffering.

How does this approach relate to the hardy personality?

How might this approach be adaptive?

How might this approach be maladaptive?

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Taking the Distress Out of Stress (1 of 3)

Suggestions for managing stress more effectively include:

Maintain stress at a tolerable level.

Reduce daily hassles.

Know your limits.

Follow a reasonable schedule.

Take frequent breaks.

Develop more effective time-management skills.

Learn to prioritize.

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Taking the Distress Out of Stress (2 of 3)

Learn relaxation skills.

Gather information

Expand your social network.

Take in a dose of humor.

Prevent burnout.

Replace stress-inducing thoughts with stress-busting thoughts.

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Taking the Distress Out of Stress (3 of 3)

Keep physically active.

Take a problem-solving approach to coping with stress.

Don’t keep unsetting feelings bottled up.

Control Type A behavior.

Take things slower.

Free yourself from digital overload.

Schedule breaks for yourself.

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Think-Pair-Share Activity 2

Students pair up and discuss the following questions:

Reflect on a stressor you have been dealing with lately.

What techniques have you been using to deal with the stressor?

Has this strategy been helpful? Why or why not?

What additional techniques can you use to manage your stress?

Student pairs then share their answers with the class.

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Module 10.2

Psychological Factors in Physical Illness

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Coronary Heart Disease (1 of 2)

Our health and longevity are affected by many lifestyle factors – by what we eat, whether we exercise regularly, whether we use alcohol excessively or smoke, and whether we take steps to manage weight and blood pressure.

Coronary heart disease is the most common form of heart disease, caused by blockages in coronary arteries.

In most cases, the underlying cause is atherosclerosis, the narrowing of artery walls resulting from a buildup of fatty deposits called plaque.

A heart attack is a potentially life threatening event involving the death of heart tissue due to a lack of blood flow to the heart.

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Coronary Heart Disease (2 of 2)

Risk factors for coronary heart disease include: age (risk increases with age at about age 40), male gender, family history, hypertension, obesity, lack of exercise, and high cholesterol levels.

Adopting a healthier lifestyle, such as exercising regularly, avoiding smoking and excess alcohol use is linked with positive health outcomes, including a lower risk of heart disease.

Black Americans have a higher death rate due to coronary heart disease than white Americans and other racial and ethnic groups in the U.S.

One reason is that black Americans are more likely to suffer from hypertension and obesity, two of the major risk factors for heart disease.

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Cancer (1 of 2)

While cancer deaths in the U.S. have been declining for the past 30 years, more than one out of every five deaths in the U.S. is caused by cancer.

Cancer is a disease in which the body cells exhibit uncontrolled growth. Malignant tumors are uncontrolled growths of body cells that invade surrounding tissue and spread to other parts of the body.

There are many causes of cancer, including exposure to cancer-causing chemicals, exposure to some viruses, and the use of harmful substances such as tobacco.

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Cancer (2 of 2)

Risk factors for cancer include family history and age, things that an individual cannot control.

However, adopting healthier behaviors such as avoiding smoking, limiting alcohol use, following a low-fat diet, exercising, and limiting sun exposure all reduce the risk of cancer.

Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer but the least dangerous if detected early.

Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer.

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Discussion Activity 2

Americans engage in unhealthy behaviors such as making poor dietary choices, consuming excess alcohol, smoking, not exercising, and spending too much time outdoors in the sun, even though doing so increases the risk of developing serious health conditions.

Why is it hard for people to change unhealthy behavior?

What are steps that can help one make lifestyle changes?

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Sexual Behavior and STDs: Are You Putting Yourself at Risk?

Many sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) pose serious threats to our health.

HIV/AIDS is the most threatening STD. Other STDs include genital herpes, chlamydia, and human papilloma virus (HPV).

Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial forms of STDs; antiviral dugs help control viral STDs, including HIV/AIDS.

Practicing abstinence, maintaining a monogamous relationship with an uninfected partner, and practicing safer sexual techniques are ways to precent STDs.

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Written Assignment Activity 1

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are an unrecognized public health concern among sexually active youth and adults in the United States, with approximately 15 million people becoming infected with a STD each year.

Even when people are aware of the health consequences of STDs they often are unmotivated to change their sexual behavior. Why might this be?

What information would you include in designing a STD awareness and prevention program at your university?

How would you evaluate its effectiveness?

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Self-Assessment (1 of 2)

What are the various definitions of stress?

Can you identify the major sources of stress?

Can you describe Han Selye’s general adaptation syndrome?

Can you describe the events that occur in the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis during stress?

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Self-Assessment (2 of 2)

How does stress impact the body’s immune system and affect one’s health?

What are some of the psychological factors that can buffer the impact of stress, and how can you apply these to your daily life?

Can you describe the psychological factors that are linked to coronary heart disease and cancer?

What steps can people take to reduce their chances of acquiring a STD?

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Summary (1 of 2)

Now that the lesson has ended, you should have learned how to:

Define stress in psychological terms.

Identify and describe the major sources of stress.

Define the general adaptation syndrome and identify and describe its three stages.

Evaluate the effects of stress on the body’s immune system.

Identify psychological factors that buffer the effects of stress.

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Summary (2 of 2)

Now that the lesson has ended, you should have learned how to:

Apply stress management techniques to daily life.

Identify psychological factors linked to coronary heart disease.

Identify psychological factors linked to cancer.

Apply knowledge of the transmission of sexually transmitted disease to steps we can take to protect ourselves from these diseases.

Psychology

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