Psych 104 Stress Chapter 1 Stress and Stressors Stressor the factor that triggered the response of stress The Steps that Lead to Stress Awareness and Appraisal of a Stressor Attempts to Cope with the Stressor If coping is effective the process is stopped Stress Response Cognitive Component I can t deal with this Physiological Component Increased heart rate muscle tension Possible Use of Defense Mechanisms Denial Suppression If the defense is effective stress is reduced but the stressor remains and may cause problems Defense Mechanisms work for reducing the stress don t solve problem Denial redefines the stressor so as to make it less stressful There is no problem making up excuses redefinition Work to relieve stress but does not solve the problem Displacement the individual expresses an emotion toward an individual or object other than the individual or object that generated the emotion Don t attack the source of the stress displace it onto someone else Slamming a door hitting something is effective but doesn t solve problem Suppression Distraction upset about something sit down and get absorbed in TV Effective but does not solve problem Repression there is no such thing as repression Other factors in the Control of Stress Social Support counseling and psychotherapy it is crucial to have someone to talk to who will give you emotional support a friend groups Writing about stress writing about the stress can help relieve the stress Aerobic Exercise oxygen in and out of body running can help reduce stress At least 20 minutes and results in an increase in heart rate Meditation and Biofeedback meditation is no different than resting Biofeedback example believing thinking feeling that the blood is running to the palms of your hands can reduce the symptoms that occur after a migraine Learned to flow blood to her hands meant the blood couldn t run to her head reduced With biofeedback people relaxed and therefore their heart rate decreased it wasn t because they learned how to do something There is no effective biofeedback training EXMAPLE Famous experimental psychologist Neill Did research to see if animals could control their psychological responses Trained rats to warm up one ear and not the other revolutionary Tried the exact experiment a little later and got no response tried to figure out why Tried to find more sedative to use injected the animals but still nothing Neill Miller admitted the experiment cannot be replicated Suspicion the experiment has human error and therefore could not be replicated Just a sophisticated model of the biofeedback approach but no evidence Influence of Genetics on Stressors some people are genetically programmed to be more responsive to stress than others Stress Your Brain and Your Behavior Stress is bad Cortisol Hormone released during stress that can increase energy but also interfere with memory and prolong stress response Hippocampus A structure in the brain responsible for memory and to some extent reducing the stress response Its effects can be interfered with by cortisol Prolonged high levels of cortisol can actually destroy parts of your hippocampus permanently reduce your memory ability Chapter 2 Pyschological Factors in Physical Health
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