Stress and Health (OCR)

TOPIC 5 Social Psychology 5.1 STRESS AND HEALTH  LEARNING OBJECTIVE MENU LO 5.1.1 Understand the concept of tress LO 5.1.2 Explain sources of stress in everyday life LO 5.1.3 Explain bodily reaction to stress LO 5.1.4 Understand relationship between stress and the imm...

TOPIC 5 Social Psychology 5.1 STRESS AND HEALTH  LEARNING OBJECTIVE MENU LO 5.1.1 Understand the concept of tress LO 5.1.2 Explain sources of stress in everyday life LO 5.1.3 Explain bodily reaction to stress LO 5.1.4 Understand relationship between stress and the immune system LO 5.1.5 Discuss relationship between stress and personality LO 5.1.6 Discuss relationship between stress and social factors LO 5.1.7 Discuss about coping strategies  Stress Stress - the term used to describe the physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses to events that are appraised as threatening or challenging. Stressors - events that cause a stress reaction. Distress - the effect of unpleasant and undesirable stressors. Eustress - the effect of positive events, or the optimal amount of stress that make demands on a person to adapt or change. environmental stressors Catastrophe Major life event Daily hassles  Catastrophe - an unpredictable, large-scale event that creates a tremendous need to adapt and adjust as well as overwhelming feelings of threat. - posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - symptoms; anxiety, sleep difficulties, alcohol and drug abuse  Major Life Event – life event that require people to change, adapt or adjust their lifestyles. Major live events that’s causing stress ranging from high to low are; - Death of spouse - Divorce - Losing job - Getting married  Hassles - the daily annoyances of everyday life. - also called micro-stressors - minor irritation, lost of key - conflict with partner - cash-flow problems ▪ Combination of daily hassles; individual overwhelmed ▪ Accumulation of daily stressors often leads to increased health risks PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESSORS Pressure Frustration Conflict  Pressure - the psychological experience produced by urgent demands or expectations for a person’s behavior that come from an outside source. - time pressure - depends on task and situation - effect on performance  Frustration - the psychological experience produced by the blocking of a desired goal or fulfillment of a perceived need. Possible reactions: ○ Persistence - continuation of efforts to get around whatever is causing the frustration ○ Aggression - actions meant to harm or destroy. ○ Escape or withdrawal - leaving the presence of a stressor, either literally or by a psychological withdrawal into fantasy, drug abuse, or apathy. Suicide is a drastic form of escape. Suicidal behavior is highly linked to depression. People who talk about suicide should be taken seriously and need help.  Conflict - psychological experience of being pulled toward or drawn to two or more desires or goals, only one of which may be attained. - Cheesecake may be delicious, but the calories! - Fearful of visiting the dentist but also afraid that your teeth will decay if you do not make an appointment and go. - Buy a car that is expensive but fuel-efficient, or a less expensive gas guzzler Bodily Reactions to Stress  GENERAL ADAPTATION SYNDROME General adaptation syndrome (GAS) a three-stage response to stress identified by Hans Selye; the stages are alarm, resistance, and exhaustion General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) - the sequence of physiological reactions the body goes through when adapting to a stressor Stage 1 (Alarm) : Reaction when sympathetic nervous system is first activated. Feel the faintness of shock Stage 2 (Resistance): Continued activation of sympathetic activity until organism’s resources are depleted. Stage 3 (Exhaustion): Prolonged stress response coupled with depleted resources can lead to stress-related diseases or death of the organism; if stressor is stopped, parasympathetic division is activated and body attempts to replenish resources The red line in this figure shows the level of physiological resistance to a prolonged stressful event. EFFECT OF Stress ON the Immune System  EFFECT OF Stress ON the Immune System Immune system - the system of cells, organs, and chemicals of the body that responds to attacks from diseases, infections, and injuries. ○ Negatively affected by stress. ○ Prolonged stress/depletion of resources results in reduced functioning of immune system Psychoneuroimmunology - the study of the effects of psychological factors such as stress, emotions, thoughts, and behavior on the immune system. Graph shows the risk of getting a cold virus increases greatly as the months of exposure to a stressor increase. Although a stress reaction can be useful in its early phase, prolonged stress has a negative impact on the immune system, leaving the body vulnerable to illnesses such as a cold. Source: Cohen et al. (1998)  STRESS AND CORONARY HEART DISEASE Stress reaction more likely to cause engagement in unhealthy behaviors Overeating, taking alcohol, drugs, avoiding exercise Figure 5.1.4 The blue box represents various sources of stress (Type A personality refers to someone who is ambitious, always working, and usually hostile). In addition to the physical reactions that accompany the stress reaction, an individual under stress may be more likely to engage in unhealthy behavior  STRESS AND CANCER Natural killer cell (NK) - immune system cell responsible for suppressing viruses and destroying tumor cells Stress does not create cancer cells ○ depress the release of natural killer cells PERSONALITY FACTORS ON STRESS  Stress and Personality Personality differences affect how one assesses a stressor, the coping strategies used, and possible health outcomes Type A personality – competitive, ambitious, time conscious, extremely hardworking, and tends to have high levels of hostility and anger as well as being easily annoyed. - more likely to have health issues (e.g., heart disease), especially the more hostile an individual is  Type B personality - person who is relaxed and laid-back, less driven and competitive than Type A, and slow to anger, less likely to have health issues Type C personality - pleasant but repressed person, who tends to internalize his or her anger and anxiety and who finds expressing emotions difficult (especially negative ones) - associated with cancer  Hardy personality (Type H) - appear to be like Type A but less prone to heart disease; appear to thrive on stress due to three factors: sense of 3 “C’s” - Commitment - Control - Challenge  Optimists - People who expect positive outcomes. - Live longer, increased immune-system functioning - Higher level of natural killer cell - More calm, peaceful, and happy Pessimists - People who expect negative outcomes. - Higher death rate than the optimists - Problems with physical and emotional health - Less ability to take part in social activities, less energetic Social Factors on stress Menu  Social Factors on stress Social factors increasing the effects of stress include poverty, stresses on the job or in the workplace, and entering a majority culture that is different from one’s culture of origin. Burnout - negative changes in thoughts, emotions, and behavior as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.  Cultural effect on stress Acculturative stress - stress resulting from the need to change and adapt a person’s ways to the majority culture. Four Methods of Acculturation: ○ Integration – maintain own culture, also trying to form positive relationship with majority culture; less stress ○ Assimilation – give up old culture and adopt majority culture; moderate level of stress ○ Separation – minority reject majority culture; fairly high degree of stress ○ Marginalization – not joining minority or majority; suffer a loss of identity, feel alienated from others  The Importance of social support system Social support system - the network of family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and others who can offer support, comfort, or aid to a person in need. Having a good social support system are less likely to die from illnesses or injuries than those without such support. - Breast cancer patients tends to be better able to deal with pain and other symptoms of their disease. Coping strategies  Ways to Deal with Stress Coping strategies - actions that people can take to master, tolerate, reduce, or minimize the effects of stressors. ○ Problem-focused coping - coping strategies that try to eliminate the source of a stress or reduce its impact through direct actions. ○ Emotion-focused coping - coping strategies that change the impact of a stressor by changing the emotional reaction to the stressor.  Meditation - mental series of exercises meant to refocus attention and achieve a trancelike state of consciousness. ○ Concentrative meditation - form of meditation in which a person focuses the mind on some repetitive or unchanging stimulus so that the mind can be cleared of disturbing thoughts and the body can experience relaxation. Being religious - people with religious beliefs also have been found to cope better with stressful events. - Attend regular religious functions; people do not feel alone in their struggle - Encourage healthy behavior and eating habits - No alcohol, tobacco and other drugs  THANK YOU CREDITS: This presentation template was created by ​Slidesgo​, including icons by Flaticon​, infographics & images by ​Freepik