Stress and Health By: Shelby Smith, Sydni White, Tony Ho, Justin Call, and Elton Luong

Introduction Psychological states (nervousness, fear, joy) causes

physical reactions (sweating, shaking, smiling) Stress & unhealthy lifestyle are connected with the

four leading causes of death; heart disease, cancer, stroke, & chronic lung disease

Health Psychology is psychology portion of behavioral medicine, increasing field over the years

Health psychologists ask “How do out emotions and personality influence our risk of disease?” and “How can we change stress or behavior to determine health?”

Stress and Illness Our responses to stress can save or

damage our lives (ex. Tensing up when hearing a rattlesnake or being stressed about a late office meeting)

High stress or psychological pressure results in less sleep and exercise less healthy

Stress and Stressors Stress is hard to define, either a threat or reaction Stressor- something that causes stress A reaction to it is known as a stress reaction Stress is a process on how we analyze and cope

with threats and challenges Short-term stress can be beneficial, it boosts the

immune system and gives motivation Those who go through temporary stress come out

more resilient and stronger self-esteem Prolonged stress leads to chronic diseases

The Stress Response System In 1920’s, Walter Cannon confirmed that stress causes a

psychological and physiological response Physical stress causes release of hormones Additional hormone that related to stress;

glucocorticoid, which helps regulate the body during stress and provides temporary energy boost

General adaptation syndrome (GAS) is the body’s consistent response to prolonged stress; alarm, resistance, and exhaustion

Prolonged stress causes physical damage such as shrunken hippocampus (affects memory), cells no longer dividing, and older cells, resulting in quicker death

Stressful Life Events Catastrophes are unpredictable large-

scale events that almost everyone sees as a threat (earthquakes, shootings)

Significant life changes also impact health; divorce, marriage, death, loss of a job

Daily hassles are the last kind of stressor; traffic, yelling, waiting in lines, tying shoelaces, or even thinking about stressful things

Stress and the Heart Being stressed increases blood pressure, which leads to

coronary heart disease, the closing of a heart vessel Two types of people; Type A Personality are impatient,

super motivated, aggressive, and time-conscious while Type B Personality are easygoing and relaxed

Type A are about 70% more prone to suffer from heart attacks than Type B because Type A is more physiologically reactive to stress (hormone secretion, pulse, etc.)

More hormones means more plaque buildup in artery walls heart attacks

Pessimists are also more likely to develop heart diseases Depression is lethal in terms of unnatural cardiovascular

death

Stress and Susceptibility to Disease Psychophysiological illnesses are

physical illnesses derived from a psychological reaction

Stress and the Immune System Immune system has two kinds of white blood

cells; lymphocytes and macrophages Immune system can either attack too

strongly or respond too weakly Immune system is connected to brain

hormone regulation, therefore stress greatly affects white blood cell production

It restrains immune system because fight or flight response doesn’t require immune defense

Stress and Aids AIDS is world’s fourth leading cause of

death Higher stress levels push the

development of HIV to AIDS

Stress and Cancer Carcinogens are cancer-producing

substances Higher chance of developing cancer and

faster rate of progression

Conditioning the Immune System Immune system can be conditioned (ex.

Putting immune-lowering chemicals in sweet drinks for rats, and slowly lowering the dosage of chemical until none, yet the rat’s systems still are lowered)

Stress is a good motivator and pushed out lives forward

Promoting Health Implementing strategies to reduce

illness and enhance wellness

Coping with Stress Stress is unavoidable, thus learn to cope with it Problem-focused coping is dealing with stress by

going directly to the source (talking to someone after having an argument)

Emotion-focused coping is more common and is reaching out to other emotional sources to deal with our stress (friends, familial support)

Problem-focused is used when we feel we have control and emotion-based is when we feel a lack of control

Problem-focused is more effective at getting rid of stress while emotion-focused is less adaptive (going to a party to forget a test the next day)

Perceived Control Feelings of helplessness accelerate

ulcers and lower immunity Control is linked to economic status and

longevity, more wealth is more health

Explanatory Style Our basic outlook (pessimism or

optimism) is an influence on how we cope with stress

Optimists perceive more control = less stress, longer lives, and lower changes in blood pressure

Social Support Isolation and loneliness have a long-

term impact on health and happiness Researchers have found that close

relationships promote health Close ties and support allow us to

confide painful feelings which foster the immune system, as does writing in diaries or journals

Managing Stress Develop a base of social support can

help us experience less stress and improve health

You can’t alleviate stress without managing it

Aerobic Exercise Provides mood boost, energy increase,

and lowered tension Exercise increases blood flow, emotional

stability, lowers overreaction to stress, and promotes heart health

Exercise increases disease-resisting proteins in the body

Biofeedback, Relaxation and Mediation Biofeedback is subtly changing your

physiological responses voluntarily (regulating heartbeat, internal temperature)

Works best on tension headaches Relaxation procedures lower headaches,

anxiety, and insomnia Meditation relaxation decreased blood

pressure, heart rate, and oxygen consumption

Spirituality & Faith Communities There is a faith factor related to religious

people being healthier Religious devotion is a predictor of

longevity, not necessarily a cause Religious people have healthier

lifestyles and are more social

Modifying Illness-Related Behaviors About 20% of care patients suffer from

an illness cause by psychosocial factors This means health programs have ability

to save money

The Risks of Smoking Smoking, on average, takes away

twelve minutes per cigarette WHO reports that it harms nearly every

organ in the body Smoking more correlated with

depressions, anxiety, divorce, chronic disease, and general health

Helping Smokers Quit Pediatric diseases are habits beginning in

adolescence that carry on into adulthood, like smoking

Teens are targeted because they are easily influenced by social pressure and instinct to fit in

Smokers become dependent upon cigarettes and tolerant, needing a higher dose every time to satisfy their addiction

Nicotine reinforced habit by being addictive and calming, used in times of stress or depression

Obesity & Weight Control Fat is our body storing energy for later

usage Changing society and availability of

fatty and sugar foods means more fat Being overweight has health risks like

diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, gallstones, and cancer

The Social Effects of Obesity Being obese is socially toxic because of

the stereotypes Obesity seen as evidence of lack of self-

discipline Weight discrimination has been shown

to far outweigh racial or sexual

The Physiology of Obesity Adults have 30-40 million fat cells, which can swell or deflate with

fat Once they get full, they divide, but never go away People who lose weight just shrink their fat cells; the cells

themselves deflate, but don’t dissipate A set-point is the weight needed to be reached for the body to start

taking energy from fat cells Lean people tend to be more fidgety and energetic than obese Researchers found that leptin, a hormone that induces physical

activity and weight loss, are effective in mice Genes have an influence on weight change through internal

bacteria and hormone regulation Genes determine why one person is heavier than another;

environment determines why someone is heavier today than fifty years ago

Losing Weight Some solutions include; taxing

unhealthy food, eliminating junk food advertisements, support the spread of healthier foods, and design physically-based activities everywhere (bike trails, paths)

Those who repeatedly lose weight and try are more likely to succeed