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Health and StressPsych 1

Marina Sangkavichai

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Health Psychology: Uses behavioral principles to prevent illness and promote health

Lifestyle Diseases: Diseases related to health-damaging personal habits

Stress: the term used to describe the physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses to events that are appraised as threatening or challenging.

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Distress: the effect of unpleasant and undesirable stressors

Eustress: the effect of positive events, or the optimal amount of stress that people need to promote health and well-being

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Behavioral Risk Factors: Behaviors that increase the chances of disease, injury, or premature death

What do you think are some behavioral risk factors that increase your chances of getting ill?

Disease-Prone Personality: Personality type associated with poor health; person tends to be chronically depressed, anxious, hostile, and frequently ill

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100 Death of a spouse

73 Divorce

65 Marital separation

63 Detention in jail or other institution.

63 Death of a close family member

53 Major personal injury or illness

50 Marriage

47 Fired from work

45 Marital reconciliation

45 Retirement

44 Change in health or behavior of family member

40 Pregnancy

40 Sex difficulties

39 Gain new family member

39 Major business readjustment

38 Change in financial state

37 Death of close friend 36 Change to a different line of work 35 Change in number of arguments with partner 31 Taking on a new mortgage

30 Foreclosure on a mortgage or loan

    29      Change in responsibilities

  29      Son/daughter leaves home

  29      Trouble with in-laws

  28      Outstanding personal achievement

  26       Partner begins/stops work

  26       Starting or finishing school

  25       Change in living conditions

  24       Revision of personal habits

  23       Trouble with boss

  20      Change in working hours or               conditions

  20       Change in residence

  20       change in schools

  19       Change in recreational habits

  19       Change in church activities

  18       Change in social activities

  17       Major purchase such as a new car

  16      Change in sleeping habits

  15      Change in number of family                 gatherings

  15      Change in eating habits   13      Vacation

   12     Christmas or holiday observance

   11     Minor violation of the law

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Score of 150-300 you have a 50% chance of developing a stress related illness within two years

Score of 300 plus, you have an 80% chance of developing a stress related illness within two years

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Burnout: Job-related condition (usually in helping professions) of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustionEmotional Exhaustion: Feel “used up”

and apathetic toward workCynicism: Detachment from the jobFeeling of reduced personal

accomplishment

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Problem-Focused Coping: Managing or altering the distressing situation/Is there something you can do about it? Something specific in order to solve the problem?

Emotion-Focused Coping: Trying to control one’s emotional reactions to the situation/Can you look at this problem or issue in a different way?

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Describe problem focused coping and emotion focused coping. Give examples of each. ( personal experience )

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Aggression: Any response made with the intention of harming a person, animal, or object

Displaced Aggression: Redirecting aggression to a target other than the source of one’s frustration/Unemployment one of the factors correlated with high rates of child abuse.

Scapegoating: Blaming a person or group for conditions they did not create; the scapegoat is a habitual target of displaced aggression

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Escape: May mean actually leaving a source of frustration (dropping out of school) or psychologically escaping (apathy)

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Conflict: Stressful condition that occurs when a person must choose between contradictory needs, desires, motives, or demands

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Approach-Approach Conflicts: Having to choose between two desirable or positive alternatives (e.g., choosing between a new BMW or Mercedes)

Avoidance-Avoidance Conflicts: Being forced to choose between two negative or undesirable alternatives (e.g., choosing between going to the doctor or contracting cancer)NOT choosing may be impossible or

undesirable

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Approach-Avoidance Conflicts: Being attracted (drawn to) and repelled by the same goal or activity; attraction keeps person in the situation, but negative aspects can cause distress/loving your house but hating the mortgage payment. Asking yourself isn’t really worth it?

Ambivalence: Mixed positive and negative feelings; central characteristic of approach-avoidance conflicts

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Feelings of tension, uneasiness, apprehension, worry, and vulnerability We are motivated to avoid experiencing

anxiety

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State of feeling despondent defined by feelings of powerlessness and hopelessnessOne of the most common mental problems

in the worldSome symptoms: Loss of appetite or sex

drive, decreased activity, sleeping too much

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One method to combat learned helplessness and depression/You must feel you have control over what happens to you and that you can make a difference for yourself

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You have a consistently negative opinion of yourself

You engage in frequent self-criticism and self-blame

You place negative interpretations on events that usually would not bother you

The future looks grim You can’t handle your responsibilities

and feel overwhelmed

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Type A Personality: Personality type with elevated risk of heart attack; characterized by time urgency and chronic anger or hostility

Anger may be the key factor of this behavior

Type B Personality: All types other than Type A’s; unlikely to have a heart attack

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Personality type associated with superior stress resistance

Sense of personal commitment to self and family

Feel they have control over their lives

See life as a series of challenges, not threats, or obstacles necessarily

Sense of humorLighthearted

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Use of behavioral strategies to reduce stress and improve coping skills

Progressive Relaxation: Produces deep relaxation throughout the body by tightening all muscles in an area and then relaxing them

Guided Imagery: Visualizing images that are calming, relaxing, or beneficial

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It’s important to use positive coping statements internally to control fear and anxiety; designed to combat:Negative Self-Statements: Self-critical

thoughts that increase anxiety and lower performance

Coping Statements: Reassuring, self-enhancing statements used to stop negative self-statements.

I am studied, I will do well I am confident and can get through this!

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Mental exercise designed to focus attention and interrupt flow of thoughts, worries, and analyses

Concentrative Meditation: Attention is paid to a single focal point (i.e., object, thought, etc.)Produces relaxation response and thus

works to reduce stress

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Mantra: Word(s) or sound(s) repeated silently during concentrative meditation

Relaxation Response: Occurs at time of relaxation; innate physiological response that opposes fight or flight responses

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