STRESS AND HEALTH

WHAT IS STRESS?

 Stress is
 the process by which we perceive and
respond to certain events, called
stressors, that we appraise as
threatening or challenging
 Stressors
 are the sources of stress but keep in
mind that there is not one set of
stressors that reliably produces stress
in everybody
STRESS APPRAISAL IS KEY Appraisal Response

Threat
(“Yikes! This is Panic, freeze up
beyond me!”)

Stressful event
(tough math test)

Challenge
(“I’ve got to apply Aroused, focused
all I know”)
FROM WALTER CANNON TO HANS SELYE

• Cannon demonstrated that extreme cold, lack of oxygen and emotional

experiences all had the capacity to initiate specific physiological
changes (acute stress response)
• Heart rate, blood pressure and respiration increase and nonessential functions while
food digestion are inhibited while stored energy is released

• …the fight or flight response!

• Hans Selye (a Canadian researcher)expanded on these findings through his rat

studies
HANS SELYE’S FINDINGS

• Selye used exposed rats to a variety of stressors and measuring how

long they could then swim before giving up.
• Stressors included cold water, restraint, electric shock, surgery, having whiskers
cut off and these greatly reduced the amount of time the rats would swim
• Regardless of the kind of stressor, the rats responded in a consistent
pattern
• General Adaptation Syndrome
• the body’s adaptive response to stress in three stages
 GENERAL ADAPTATION SYNDROME (GAS)
• Alarm is essentially the same as Cannon The body’s resistance to stress can
last only so long before exhaustion sets in
described (sympathetic arousal and
mental clarity)
• Resistance is entered when the stressors Stress
are prolonged (resting and arousal resistance
functions are simultaneously taken care of
– judgement is not as clear) Stressor
• Exhaustion occurs when stressors last long occurs

enough and are severe enough such that

strength and energy levels are very low Phase 1
Alarm
Phase 2
Resistance
Phase 3
Exhaustion
(physical and psychological resources are reaction (cope with (reserves
(mobilize stressor) depleted)
depleted) resources)
THERE IS VARIABILITY BUT…

• Catastrophes
• Natural disasters, war, etc.
• Significant life changes
• Moving, marriage, divorce, having children, getting a job, losing a job,
losing a loved one
• Everyday hassles
• Mild disagreements, traffic, being late for school, getting a zit, etc.

• Look at the list – it’s not all bad things!

THOMAS HOLMES AND RICHARD RAHE
• Holmes and Rahe 1967 – investigated the
correlations between stress and health
• Surveyed 5000 medical patients and asked them to
report on their experiences of a set of 43 life events in
the past two years
• Each event, called a Life Change Unit (LCU), had a
different weight for stress. The more events the patient
added up, the higher the score. The higher the score, and
the larger the weight of each event, the more likely the
patient was to become ill
• argued that positive life events can be equally or even
more stressful than some negative events
THOMAS HOLMES AND RICHARD RAHE

• This is not wholly accepted and critics dispute that

good life events are as stressful or that change is a
reliable predictor of stress
• Vacations and holidays are themselves not
inherently stressful but trying to fulfill unrealistic
expectations may be stressful
HOW STRESS IMPACTS HEALTH

• Remember, eventually everything that is psychological is biological!

• Yes, stress activates the hypothalamus which signals the sympathetic
nervous system, which then activates the central part of the adrenal
gland to release large amounts of norepinephrine and epinephrine
(fight or flight)

• BUT the hypothalamus also activates the pituitary gland which in turn
activates the core of the adrenal gland to release the hormone cortisol
HOW STRESS AFFECTS HEALTH Heart
disease

Persistent stressors
Release of stress Immune
and negative
hormones suppression
emotions

Autonomic nervous
Unhealthy behaviors system effects
(smoking, drinking, (headaches,
poor nutrition and sleep) hypertension)
CORTISOL

• Long-term, high levels of cortisol have been linked to increased depression,

post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), memory problems, substance abuse,
impairment of immune system
• Studies in rats have shown that long-term exposure to cortisol results in the
death of neurons and inhibits neurogenesis (birth of new neurons)
• Chronic stress has an impact on your cognition!!!
REMEMBER LEARNED HELPLESSNESS?

• In the normal course of escape and avoidance learning, a light dims shortly before the floor is electrified
(a). Since the light does not yet have meaning for the dog, the dog receives a shock (non-injurious, by
the way) and leaps the barrier (b). Dogs soon learn to watch for the dimming of the light (c) and to jump
before receiving a shock (d). Dogs made to feel “helpless” rarely even learn to escape shock, much less
to avoid it.
STRESS AND THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
• Immune system – bodily organs and responses that protect the body from
foreign substances and threats
• Expendable in the fight or flight mode
• Your immune system can either under react or overreact when you are
stressed.
• Lymphocytes - two types of white blood cells that are part of the body’s immune
system but their activity is suppressed when stressed
• B lymphocytes form in the bone marrow and release antibodies that fight bacterial
infections
• T lymphocytes form in the thymus and, among other duties, attack cancer cells,
viruses, and foreign substances
WE CANNOT IGNORE OUR HEARTS
• Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman (1970s)
• Those who are highly competitive workaholics are more susceptible to heart
disease than mellow, laid back people

• Type A –
behavior pattern characterized by intense, angry, competitive, or
perfectionistic responses to challenging situations

• Type B –
behavior pattern characterized
by a relaxed, unstressed
approach to life
PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL ILLNESS

“mind-body” illness
any stress-related physical illness
some forms of hypertension
some headaches
distinct from hypochondria— misinterpreting normal
physical sensations as symptoms of a disease
PSYCHOLOGICAL COPING STRATEGIES
• Think of coping as dealing with stress by reducing or eliminating
stressful conditions and their effects
• Emotion-focused coping –
Responding to stress by controlling one’s emotional responses
• Problem-focused coping –
Responding to stress by identifying, reducing, and eliminating the stressor
• Social support –
Resources others provide to help an individual cope with stress
• Psychological debriefing –
brief, immediate strategy of crisis focusing on venting emotions and
discussing reactions to the trauma
PSYCHOLOGICAL COPING STRATEGIES
• Optimistic style of thinking –
pattern of thinking that interprets stressors as external in origin, temporary,
and specific in their effects
• The power of humor
• Evaluating the evidence on attitudes and health
• Meditation
• Tend and befriend – connected to the release of oxytocin (social bonding
hormone and relieves stress)
PHYSICAL COPING STRATEGIES

• Physical coping strategies include:

• Exercise
• Nutrition and diet
• Using drugs as stress relievers is more of a defense than a
coping strategy
 Life events

Personal appraisal
Challenge Threat

Personality type
Easy going, Nondepressed, Hostile, Depressed,
Optimistic Pessimistic

Personal habits
Nonsmoking, Regular Smoking, Sedentary,
exercise, Good nutrition Poor nutrition

Level of social support

Close, enduring Lacking

Tendency toward
Health Illness
STRESS SLEEP
Subfields of Alternative Medicine
Alternative systems of Health care ranging from self-care according to folk principles,
medical practice to care rendered in an organized health care system based on
alternative traditions or practices

Bioelectromagnetic The study of how living organisms interact with electromagnetic

applications (EM) fields

Diet, nutrition, The knowledge of how to prevent illness, maintain health, and
life-style changes reverse the effects of chronic disease through dietary or
nutritional intervention

Herbal medicine Employing plan and plant products from folk medicine traditions
for pharmacological use

Manual healing Using touch and manipulation with the hands as a diagnostic
and therapeutic tool

Mind-body control Exploring the mind’s capacity to affect the body, based on
traditional medical systems that make use of the interconnected-
ness of mind and body

Pharmacological and Drugs and vaccines not yet accepted by mainstream medicine
biological treatments