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Stress:

Sympathmedulary pathway: This is an acute response to stress higher brain


areas detect and perceive a stressor and triggering the hypothalamus which
activates the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system which
stimulates the adrenal medulla which releases adrenaline and noradrenaline
which increase heart rate blood. Pressure tense muscles and dilate pupils (2)
good
Pituitary adrenal Axis: This is a chronic response to stress Higher brain areas
detect and perceive something as a stressor and then trigger the hypothalamus
which releases CRH (Cortisol-releasing hormone) which activates the Pituitary
gland in the brain which in turn releases ACTH Hormone which activates the
adrenal cortex which releases corticosteroids which cause liver to release fats
and sugars which provide continued energy for the flight or fight response in the
long term cortices can supress the immune system.
How Stress causes illness: Direct effect continuous activation on the Fight flight
response will eventually damage blood vessles due to the continuous high blood
pressure this causes an inflamantory response which causes cholesterol build up
and eveutally the formation of an atheroma which has been linked to blood clot
this can cause a heart attack.
Indirect effect people who are stressed are more likely to resort to dangerous
behaviours such as smoking and excessive drinking whom all weaken the
immune system which leave people more prone to illess and stomach ulcers.

Stress effects on the immune system: Kieclot-glaser etal. Medical students


The aim was to investigate if exam stress can effect immune system functioning
this used a a natural experiment a volunteer sample of 75 medical students and
a repeated measures design. Blood samples were taken from the Medical
students on to occasions 1 month before their exam which is the lower stress
condition and on the day of their exam the higher stressor. Their blood samples
were analysed for natural killer cells and T cells. A strong immune system has a
high number of the these cells where weak has little of these cells. When results
were collected it was found that in the higher stress condition there was lower
amount of natural killer cells and T cells when compared to the lower stress
condition thus a negative correlation was found between Immune system
strength and Stress.
Eval points

Natural high eco lower chance of demand mundane realism


All medical students findings cant be generalised to other students ect
also used a volunteer sample also the fact it was opputunity all lower its
population validity
Study was correlational cant say that stress migt of been oter factors such
as Individuall differences
Impossible to replicate to see if findings are reliable

.
Marucha: Aimed to see the effect of stress on wound healing

11 Dental students volenteers


Used a small biopsy to make a small cut on roof of mouth
Done on two occasions on summer holiday lower stress condition and 6
weeks before their exams higher stress condition
Wound size reduction and healing was checked and mointered regualry
with mouth camera and measurements
Found that the wound on the mouth in the higher stress condition took
40% longer to heal than in the lower stress condition
However evaluate it by saying Small sample size and also only dental
students were used therefore we cant generalise findings furthermore
findings were a mere correlation however this supports Kieclot and the
wound healthing chicks

Life changes: Holmes and rahe


1) To construct an instrument for measuring stress which is defined as the
amount of life change people experience during a fixed period.
2) To show that the amount of life change is related to psychological and
physiological illness.
3) The medical records of 5000 patients were examined and a list of 43
events that had occurred 12 months before their illness were compiled
then. 100 people (judges) were told that event of marriage was 50 and
they were asked to rank how much readjustment each of the 43 life events
would require relative to marriage.
4) Findings Death of a spouse was found to cause 2x the readjustment than
marriage and was given 100 points by the judges. The average of each of
the life events was calculated. Holmes and rahe could now rank the 43 life
events from death of a spouse to minor violations of the low resulting in
the social readjustment rating scale!
5) A questionnaire was designed in which the participants would tick the life
events they had experienced in the last 12 months thus giving a measure
of the amount of life change (stress) they experienced.
6) People with high scores on the SRRS were likely to experience some
physical illness. A Person having 30 points over 12 months had an 80%
chance of getting ill and illness ranged from heart attack to sports injury.
7) Conclusions- Stress can be objectively measured using the SRRS Scale
8) High scores on the SRRS scale predict physical illness.
9) Supported by Rahe
10)
Critisim- The scale is outdated as well as ethnocentric and
androcentric the events dont apply to modern society for example an life
event on the scale was large mortage $10000 thus it lacks ecological
validity.
11)
It can be seen as androcentric as it reflects the male dominant era
eg another event was wife begins and stops work furthermore it is also

specific to western cultures as events such as Christmas and church are


on the list therefore it isnt applying to other cultures.
12)
In addtoin the scale is too vauge as it is unclear wheater many of
the events are positive or negative just states a change for example a
change in financial state can be either positive or negative and research
has shown that only undesired and uncontrollable life events are stressful
but this isnt taken into account.

Rahe- investigated the link between Life change unit scores on SRRS Scale and
illness. He used an opportunity sample of 2500 American navy seamen who were
about to set out on 6 month tour of duty he gave them the SRRS scale and
asked them to note if they had experienced any of life events in the last 6
months. During the navy seamen tour of duty detailed medical records were kept
and were given an illness score. Illness score and life change unit score were
correlated and a weak correlation of 0.118 was found and it was concluded there
was a relationship between the both.
An oppourtunity sample was taken which can cause problems as the participants
were selected by the experimenter which can cause some problems as it can be
bias therefore unrepresented and results cannot be generalised to other females
and groups as only American navy seamen were used. Lacks population validity.
Furthermore a self-report measures was used which can be unreliable as
participants can give socially desirable answers , they may have been reluctant
to admit an event on the SRRS Scale that was overly personal cause them illness
to save embarrassment.
This also required the use of retrospective information which can prove to be
inaccurate as ppts had to recall events that had happened a long way
Also this was correlational so it doesnt mean its causation.
1) Daily hassles: 100 adults completed a questionnaire each month that
asked them what daily hassles they had experienced that month from a
list of 117. And were asked to rate how severe that hassle was for them,
this was repeated for 9 months.
2) If was found some hassles occurred more frequently than others such was
worrying about weight and family and living costs. It was also found that
those with high scores on severity were found more likely have
psychological and physiological problems It was also founds that scores on
the uplifts scale were negatively correlated with stress
3) Conclusion was found that daily hassles are linked to stress with a stronger
correlation than the SRRS scale.
4) Eval this was a correlational study so it isnt possible to establish a cause n
effect realationship between variables
5) Self report measure was used neg that

Delongis etal compared scores on the SRRS Daily hassles and uplifts and found
no link between life events and illness. However she did find a positive

correlation between daily hassles and next day ill health it was then concluded
that daily hassles maybe more important than life events as a source of stress.
However this study was merely correlational we cant prove that daily hassles
caused next day ill health as all other factors and extraneous variables were not
controlled also she used self-report measures which could leave results prone to
social desirability.
Bouteyre found a positive correlation between daily hassles and mental health
issues (especially depression) in students who had just started university. Also
she found that daily hassles had an acclimating effect the stress of these builds
up and makes further stressors more servere it was also found that scores on
uplifts balance these out.
Why daily hassles they are continuous minor and frequent and common
occrances mean that the FF response is constantly being activated. LOL
Work place stressors
Lack of control there is evidence to suggest that lack of control at work can
cause stress
The environment
Role conflict
Marmots aimed to investigate the link workplace stress specifically lack of
control and illness. Marmot argued that jobs highest demand and the lowest
control cause the most stresss over 7000 civil servant employee volunteers were
checked for signs of cardiovascular disease, grade of employment and amount of
control they had they were followed 5 years later longi tstudy and it was found
that those on the low control who felt they had low control over work and those
on the lowest grade of employment were 4x more likely to get die from heart
attack than those in the highest control. Neg correlation

Self report
Correlation
Attrition
High eco natural
Sample was unrepresentive and biased as only one profession was
focused on therefore we cannot gerenlise fidings to other jobs .
furthermore it only represents a busy western culture as it was done in
London so it doesnt apply to non western culture.
All sample were volunteers therefore they might be ectra motivated +
attriction lacks POP Val
Indiviual differences
Frankenhauser Supports Marmot
He also studied the link between workplace stress and illness
He looked at 2 groups of sawmill workers of the low control which had the
repetitive task of feeding logs into a machine all day which was very noisy
also all workers were socially isolated and they had low control because
the machine dictated how fast they could feed the logs in and were
compared with another group who had a different task that agve them

more control and more social contact. Stresslevels were measured using
urine samples and blood pressure and it was found that the group of
sawmill workers that had low control had more stress hormones in their
urine such as adrenaline and non adrenaline and also had higher blood
pressure and stomach ulcers.
This was a field experient so it was high ecological vailidty the findings
supported by marmot however it doesnt take indivudal differences into
account SCHAUBROEK Found that workers respond differently to lack of
control others see it positivity as they wouldnt have to think for
themselves or take responsibity whereas others ight blame themselves
and see failures as their falut which causes immense stress also the
results could be been effected by EXTRANEOUS VAARIABLES!
Type A are very competitive they wont play aunless they are sure they
make themselves more prone to the neg effects of stress.
Friedman and Rosenhan noticed that those who experienced heart
conditions had similar characteristics of impatience and Fidgety They
argued they had a specific personality type Type A they cairred out this
study to investigate this
They designed a questionnaire to distinguish between the personality
types they also used structured interviews and observations with the
information gathered they categorised over 3200 male volunteers from
San Francisco At the start of the study all ppts were free from heart
disease and other life style factors such as smoking were controlled As it
was a longitudinal study they were followed up for 8.5 years later health
was assessed it was found that 257 heart attacks had occurred and 70
percent were from type A this showed that they were 2x more likely to get
heart attack than Type B and were also with the highest levels of
adrenaline and noradrenaline and thus it was concluded that that Type A
More vunrable to Heart disease.
Evaluation problem with sample used
Androcentric as only men were used so we cant generalise findings to
females and its also androcentric as only men from san Francisco were
used to represent western culture so the sample was limited so it lacks
population validity.
Also there is lack consistent research as the study was replicated but
findings were not the same so it questions the relibility of results.
Self report measures was used so ppts might of gave social desireabile
answers making results unreliable furthermore its easy to come across as
a certain personality type .
Also observations were used it could lead to unreliability as

Additionall Personality factor : Maria kosaba suggests that some hardiness


helps us understand why some people are more resistant to stress. So she
came up with 3 characteristics she believed that can help us to be
resistant to stress

Control and individual believes that they are the sole factor in their lives
they believe they have control over their life and events this is
empowering
Commitment : they show large amount of aommitment in what they do
and aware of their purpose in the word and they are unlikely to give up in
stressful situations
Challenge an indivual might see a change or a stressful situation as a
challenge and an oppoutunity to develop themselves.
There is a great deal of research that supports that this personality
promotes strss resilence as she found that people who scoare highly on
the 3 Cs questionnaire had fewer stress releated problems.

Benzodiazepines are used to treat stress and anxity brand names include
Librium and valium they work directly on the brain and the CNS they slow
down the centeral nervous system by increasing the Activity of the neruo
transmitter GABA slows down nerve activity which makes a person feel
relaxed
Advan they are quick and cheap to consume
They are quarentee to work unlike therapies
Fast effect
Supported by scientific research khan!
Disadvantage can cause addition
Side effects such as motor coordination impairment
And unpleasant withdrawal symptoms
Beta Blockers these drugs are used for stress management and they work
directly on organs that are used by the fight or flight response they reduce
they amount of adrenaline and non adrenaline by blocking receptors on
the cells that the hormones sually attached to so the organs are not
stimulated as a result
Ad- quick and cheap to consume
Lockwood 2000 27 did it and got bette critics
They also have a life saving function for those suffering hypertension
Gaurenteed to work unlike other therapies
No Serious side effects like BZ
However can cause addition and dependcy
Only treat symptoms and not cause short term
If you stop medication Shown to have a link with diabetes
symptoms return unlike others
Best given in combination

Stress inculation therapy


Designed by meichambuam to prepare people for future stressors

Conceptualisation

Trust is built between therapist and client


Client is educated about the nature of the stress
The client relives mental situations and analyses them and to see how
they usually deal with them and reach a realistic understanding of what is
expected of them
The client is encouraged to see stressors as problems to be solved
Skills training and practice

Client is taught both specific and nonspecific coping strategies in order to


cope more effectively with stressors examples of non-specific are
controlled breathing and progressive muscle relaxation
Non specific skills can be applied to any stressor but specific techqniues can
be used to help client deal with particular stressors
Skills are practiced until the client has mastered them and can use them
confidently
Given positive ways of thinking so they change their views about the
stressor
Real life application and Rehearsal
Therapist takes client through stressful situations teaching them how to deal
with the stressors and how to apply their skills if he fails he returns to
training

Pros Deals with the underlying cause rather than dealing with symptoms
It can be used to reduce stress in future situation so it can be seen as a long
term solution
It gives a person a sense of control over their stress which is good for recovery
As the technique stay with them for life and can apply to any stressor
The tecqniue is very felxable as it can be adapted to deal with both acute and
chronic stressors
Also effectiveness supported by Research studies on law students and athelests
as this therapy boosted their performance by Ackerman and Ackerman which
gives it scientific credibility.

Cons can take weeks and even months on the clients behalf so requires large
amount of motivation so a person might find it more convinident to take drugs
instead
Its a complex technique so lack of therapist that have been adqutely trained
measns pirces are high and
Its difficult and near impossible to change aspects of ones personality as some
people will always react body to stressors

HARDINESS TRANING:
Maria kosaba believed that having traits associated with hard personality can
make people practically immune to stress they devised a way to teach it to
people
Focus:
This is where the client is taught to spot and stop physical stress such as
tension so the individual can identify when they are stressed.
By doing this people have more control over their stressors
Reliving stressful situations
This is where the client analyse stressful events and how they are resolved
thinking of better and worse ways that they could have been delt with this
provides the client with valuble insight into the effectiveness of their
current coping stratigies
And therefore is able to recognise and indentify their beahaviour so they
admit their weakness
Once that has been done the client is able to change their stratigies.

Self improvementThis is where the client learns to build there confidence by taking on new
challenges which increase in difficulty but that the client will sure be able
to cope with
By completing challenges they experience positive outcomes and so more
control and confedence in their lives as it helps one to see stressors as
cahllange that will enable them to learn and grow rather than something
distressful and negative

Pros Deals with underlying cause


Skills learned can be applied to any stressor long term sootuion
Gives confidence
Cons- Lots of time and motivation on the patients part might find it easier to take
drugs
Another weakness is that the therapy seems to be predominately successful with
middle class businessmen meaning its success and effectivnesss is limited and it
may not work with others further more it may be impossible to change aspects of
ones personality there despite this therapy some people will always be
suspectable to stress

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