PSYC 407 1st Edition Lecture 15 Outline of Last Lecture I Exam Outline of Current Lecture II What are Physical Disorders and Health III DMS a Axis III IV New Fields of Study a Behavioral Medicine b Health Psychology V Overview of Stress and Stress Responses VI Physiology of Stress VII Stress and the Immune System VIII Diseases and Stress a AIDS b Cancer c Heart Disease d Chronic Pain Current Lecture Physical Disorders and Health Psychological behavioral and social factors contribute to illness and disease Example genital herpes Sexual behaviors Stress and relaxation Psychological and Social Factors that Influence Health Early 1900 s infectious diseases were prominent causes of death These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Today the 2nd revolution in public health the shift in focus to psychological forces Some examples of diseases w important psychological and social factors Genital herpes AIDS cancer cardiovascular diseases DSM IV TR and physical disorders Coded on Axis III Recognize that psychological factors affect medical conditions There s a recognition that psychological social and biological factors also interact to produce medical disorders as well as psychological disorders Psychological approaches to health and disease Used to be called psychosomatic or psycho physiological medicine implied less physical component Now we know that Psychological behavioral and social factors Are major contributors to medical illness and disease New Fields of Study Behavioral medicine study of factors affecting medical illness Health psychology factors related to the promotion and maintenance of health Behavioral Medicine Behavioral ideas applied to the prevention diagnosis and treatment of medical problems An interdisciplinary approach Health Psychology Practitioners look at factors that promote and maintain health Thought of a subset of behavioral medicine How Do Psychological and Social Factors Influence Medical Illness Two primary paths Psychological factors can influence basic biological processes that leads to illness Long standing behavior patterns may put people at risk for disease AIDS is an example of both forms of influence Immune system directly affected by stress Behavior patterns put one at risk to get it Leading causes of death in the U S 50 of the 10 leading causes of death are linked to lifestyle and behavior patterns Smoking leading preventable cause Also lifestyle habits poor eating habits lack of exercise seat belts stress Overview of Stress and the Stress Response Nature of stress Stress physiological response of an individual Stressor event that evokes stress response Stress responses vary from person to person Selye s Rat Studies 1936 Injected rats with extract that caused ulcers and atrophy of immune system tissues The control group who received injections of saline only developed the same lesions How did that happen The injection process was harmful enough to produce the same results and Selye called that nonspecific reaction STRESS The stress response and the general adaptation syndrome GAS to continued stress o Phase 1 alarm response sympathetic arousal to immediate threat o Phase 2 resistance mobilized coping and action o Phase 3 if stress too long exhaustion chronic stress permanent body damage Physiology of Stress The biology of stress Activates the sympathetic branch of the ANS Activates the HPA axis producing cortisol hippocampus responsive to cortisol and helps turn off stress response Chronic stress may kill cells in hippocampus and cause permanent damage to the brain Hippocampus responsive to cortisol helps turn off the stress process but Prolonged and increased cortisol levels can kill the cells of the hippocampus which then does not turn off the stress as easily Thus chronic stress leads to long lasting effects on brain function Psychological and Social Factors Their Relation to Stress Physiology Primate research High and low social status Sapolsky 2007 High cortisol is associated with low social status Low social status fewer lymphocytes and immune suppression Dominant males benefit from predictability and controllability subordinates were bullied and had less access to resources An example of stress level influenced by psychosocial factors Vulnerabilities in coping ability or mental illness contribute to physical illness Stress Perceived uncontrollability low social support negative affect Anxiety depression stress or excitement Interpretation of physiological response and situation Seems critical in the stress response Excitement Stress Anxiety Depression When excited you may react with rapid heartbeat sudden energy jumpy stomach If prepared for the challenge excitement is pleasurable If not fully prepared for the challenge or you think you don t have the resources to cope You may feel pressure and work harder to try to cope STRESS OR become tense and irritable because you have less sense of control You worry incessantly Thus you have little self efficacy and you become ANXIOUS The role of self efficacy control confidence If something threatening and there is little you can do you get anxious Individuals who ALWAYS see life as threatening fear never having control and lose hope Get Depressed Effect of stress on catching a cold Intensity of stress and negative affect at time of exposure Is linked to severity of the cold How sociable you are determines whether you actually catch the cold A positive and optimistic cognitive style is protective Stress and the Immune System Effect of stress on susceptibility to infection is mediated through the immune system Your text says the effects on the immune system may occur within two hours of exposure to stress Function of immune system Eliminate foreign materials in the body Foreign materials are called ANTIGENS Bacteria viruses parasites Eliminates body s own cells that have become damaged Relation of immunity and brain Used to think they were separate Experiment Gave rats sugar water with an immune suppressor Later gave rats only the sugar water but it still produced changes in the immune system Rats learned through classical conditioning to react to sugar water w immunosuppression Stress dramatically and quickly alters immune function and this may happen because of psychological factors like sense of uncontrollability Diseases and Stress AIDS Cancer Heart Disease Chronic Pain Influenced by