Chapter 16: The Healthy Mind- Stress and coping, health psychology, and positive psychology- Adrenal glands are located on top of your kidneys in your lower back- Cortisol- a hormone that is naturally high in the morning that wakes you upo In response to the release of cortisol by your adrenal glands, the body is mobilized for action- Our bodies are usually protected from too much circulating cortisol by a feedback loop that reduces cortisol release after circulating levels reach a certain point- Feedback loop malfunctions in stress-related disorders are depressionsWhat is Stress?- Stress- an unpleasant emotional state that results from the perception of danger- Stressor- a stimulus that serves as a source of stress- No one set of stressors reliably produces stress in everybody- They are highly individual and idiosyncratic- Stress is a powerful adaptive response that mobilizes the body’s resources to enhance survival in dangerous situations- A diathesis-stress model predicts that stress can contribute to the development of depression, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other serious conditionsThe stress response- Walter Cannon- demonstrated the ability of a number of stressors to activate the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous systemo Extreme cold, lack of oxygen, and emotional experiences all had the capacity to initiate “fight or flight”o Heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration all increase, while nonessential functions, like digesting food, are inhibitedo Stored energy is released and blood is shunted from the surface of the body to the muscles needed for exertion- Hans Selye- studied the effects of stronger, longer lasting stressorso Worked with rats- General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)- Hans Selye’s three-stage model for an organism’s response to stressors- Alarm reaction- the first stage of the general adaptation syndrome, characterized by sympathetic arousal and mental clarityo Initiated when a stressor is first perceived and identifiedo Equal to “fight or flight” response- Resistance- the second stage of the general adaptation syndrome, characterized by coping with ongoing stresso We alternate between periods of calm and periods of relative arousalo We attempt to take care of both arousal and resting functions simultaneously- Exhaustion- the third and last stage of the general adaptation syndrome, characterized by depletion of physical and psychological resourceso Strength and energy drop to very low levelso Exhaustion stage has much in common with the criteria for major depressive disorderSources of Stress- Cognitive appraisal models- help us to predict when a particular stimulus or event is likely to be a stressor for an individual persono We make appraisals, or very rapid initial assessments, or potential stressors to determine if they are irrelevant or harmless, positive or negative.- The ability of cortisol and other stress hormones to cross the placenta probably accounts for the effects of stress beginning in the prenatal environment- Changes, including soe changes for the better, can also trigger stress- Christmas is more stressful than minor violations of the law- Getting married is more stressful than being fired from your job- Critics of the Holmes and Rahe approach argue that most of the items on their list are quite negative and that these negative items are responsible for more stress- It is likely that most of the stress associated with “good” changes occurs when the anticipated event does not live up to the person’s expectations- Relatively insignificant sources of stress, often referred to as “hassles” can also contribute to a person’s overall level of stress- Social relationships and their disruption can be a significant source of stress for many people- Because lonely people see the social environment as threatening, they respond with feelings of hostility, stress, pessimism, anxiety, and low self-esteemWhat are the biological correlates of stress?- Regardless of the identity of a stressor, once you appraise a stimulus as a danger, youinitiate Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)- The first stage, the alarm state, is accompanied by a coordinated reaction including physical, cognitive, and behavioral responses to perceived dangero Fight or flighto The brainstem will initiate the release of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine, which increases vigilance and fearStress and the Amygdala- Sensory input travels from the thalamus to the amygdala, which plays an important role in the identification of dangerous stimuli- The amygdala participates in a “fear circuit” that provides a very rapid assessment ofa stimulus or situation as potentially dangerous- If the amygdala is lesioned, animals no longer respond with conditioned fear to previously learned classically conditioned associations between a stimulus and electric shock- Because sensory information can reach the amygdala along routes that are separate from the pathways for information going to the cortex, we might find ourselves frightened by stimuli that we don’t immediately understand or consciously view as dangerous- Once the amygdala has identified a stimulus as potentially dangerous, it communicates with the hypothalamus- Hypothalamus most directly commands the autonomic nervous system and the sympathetic division in particularo Responsible for fight or flightStress, SAM, and the HPA Axis- Perceiving a potential source of danger mobilizes the body’s resources using two systemso Sympathetic adrenal-medullary system (SAM)- a circuit that responds to perceived stressors by initiating the release of epinephrine and norepinephrine into the bloodstream From the adrenal glands located above the kidneys in your lower back These chemical messengers circulate to may organs and to the brain, producing many of the immediate, short-lived, fight-flight responses to stress, such as a pounding heart and rapid breathingo Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA)- a circuit that responds to perceived stressors by initiating the release of cortisol into the bloodstream The hypothalamus communicates with the pituitary gland, located justabove the roof of your mouth, which in turn tells the adrenal glands to release cortisol Circulating cortisol boosts the energy available for dealing with a stressor HPA axis response to stress can continue much longer than SAMo Cortisol- a hormone released into the bloodstream from the adrenal glands-