Abnormal Psychology Chapter Five Notes Introduction page 135 Healthy psychology concerned with effects of stress and other psychological factors in the development and maintenance of physical problems subspecialty within behavioral medicine Behavioral medicine concerned with psychological factors that may predispose an individual to medical problems also a focus on the effects of stress on the body What is Stress page 135 139 Stressors external demands Stress the effect stressors create within the organism Coping strategies efforts to deal with stress Stress is an interactive and dynamic construct because it reflects the interaction between the organism and the environment over time Factors Predisposing a Person to Stress o Some individuals are more likely to develop long term problems under stress which may be linked to coping strategies o Children are particularly vulnerable to severe stressors like war and terrorism o Characteristics that have been identified as improving a person s ability to handle life stress higher levels of optimism greater psychological control better social support and increased self esteem o Two short forms ss of 5HTTLPR gene linked to how likely it is that people will become depressed after experiencing four or more stressful life events opposed to two long forms ll o Stress may be cumulative so more stress early on may make one more sensitive to stress later o Stressful experiences may create how we think appraise things Characteristics of Stressors o Key factors of what makes one stressor more serious than another severity of the stressor how long it lasts chronicity its timing how closely it affects our own lives how expected it is and how controllable it is Measuring Life Stress o Social Readjustment Rating Scale self report checklist of fairly common stressful life experiences Advantages Easy to use o Life Event and Difficulty Schedule interview based approach developed because of limitations of checklist rating scale method Advantages includes extensive manual providing rules for rating both acute and chronic forms of stress considers person s unique circumstances when rating stress more reliable Resilience o Factors that increase resilience being male older positive person well educated self confident and having more economic resources Stress and the Stress Response page 139 144 Sympathetic adrenomedullary SAM system designed to mobilize resources and prepare for a fight or flight response o Stress begins in hypothalamus stimulates the sympathetic nervous system SNS causes adrenal medulla to secrete epinephrine and norepinephrine increase in heart rate and body metabolizes glucose more rapidly Hypothalamus pituitary adrenal HPA system hypothalamus releases corticotrophin releasing hormone CRH CRH stimulates the pituitary gland pituitary secretes adrenocorticotrophic hormone ACTH adrenal cortex is induced and produces cortisol o Cortisol is good to have in an emergency because it prepares the body for fight or flight and inhibits the innate immune system so your body is thinking escape over healing o Downside to cortisol if not shut off can damage brain cells especially in the hippocampus Biological Costs of Stress o Allostatic load biological cost of adapting to stress low when we are not experiencing stress high when we are The Mind Body Connection o Stress may cause an overall vulnerability to disease by compromising immune function o Psychoneuroimmunology the study of the interaction between the nervous system and the immune system o Nervous system and immune system communicate brain influences immune system and immune system influences the brain Understanding the Immune System o B cell produced in bone marrow and T cell produced in thymus two important types of leukocytes white blood cells With help of macrophages T cells are activated and release cytokines to destroy antigens B cell recognizes antigens and divides and produces antibodies Stress Depression and the Immune System o Stress slows the healing of wounds by 24 to 40 o Laughter associated with enhanced immune system o Depression comprises the immune system o Chronic stress and depression may enhance the immune system in a bad way in that it may trigger the production of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 6 This is bad because there s a relationship between Il 6 and aging chronic diseases being overweight smoking and having a sedentary lifestyle o Positive psychology focuses on human traits and resources such as humor gratitude and compassion that might have direct implications for our physical and mental well being Cardiovascular Disease page 144 150 Hypertension o Hypertension having a persisting blood pressure of 140 90 o Prevalence of high blood pressure is higher in men until age 50 and then it s higher in women o Essential hypertension when there is no specific physical cause o Black people have 40 rate of hypertension while whites only have 27 Coronary Heart Disease o Coronary heart disease CHD is a potentially lethal blockage of the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle or myocardium Risk and Causal Factors in Cardiovascular Disease o Stress increases the risk of having a heart attack everyday stressors and big stressors o Type A personality associated with twofold increase in coronary artery disease and eightfold increase risk or recurrent myocardial infarction when compared to Type B people further research has found that it is the hostility component of Type A people that put them at risk o Type D personality tendency to experience negative emotions and feel insecure o People with heart disease are three times more likely to be depressed more so and anxious than people with cancer o Depression is a risk factor for the development of CHD mind body interaction due to inflammation and the presence of inflammatory cytokines o Link between phobic anxiety and increased risk for sudden cardiac death o Link between social factors and development of CHD being alone increases risk Treatment of Stress Related Physical Disorders page 150 152 Biological Interventions o Thousands of lives can be saved each year by giving antidepressant medications to patients who have suffered a myocardial infarction and who are depressed Psychological Interventions o How to stay healthy in face of stress open up and write expressively about life problems in a systematic way biofeedback relaxation and mediation and cognitive behavior therapy Adjustment Disorder page 152 153 An