11 1 What Affects Health 453 455 Chapter 11 Health and Well Being Health psychology a field that integrates research on health and psychology it involves the application of psychological principles to promote health and well being o Understand the interrelationship between thoughts actions and physical and mental health Well being a positive state that includes striving for optimal health and life satisfaction Biopsychosocial model a model of health that integrates the effects of biological behavioral and social factors on health and illness o Biological characteristics genetic predisposition o Behavioral factors lifestyle stress and beliefs about health o Social conditions cultural influences family relationships and social support Both mental states and behaviors are critical in preventing illness helping people regain health following illness and helping achieve well being 11 2 What Is Stress Stress a type of response that typically involves an unpleasant state such as anxiety or tension o Eustress the stress of positive events o Distress the stress of negative events Stressor something in the environment that is perceived as threatening or demanding and therefore produces stress Coping response any attempt made to avoid escape from or minimize a stressor Hypothalamic pituitary adrenal HPA axis a body system involved in stress responses o Hypothalamus sends a chemical message to the pituitary gland pituitary gland send a hormone that travels through the bloodstream and reaches the adrenal glands adrenals secrete cortisol cortisol increases the amount of glucose in the bloodstream Help the body to respond to the stressor Fight or flight response the physiological preparedness of animals to deal with danger by either fighting or fleeing o Generally men Tend and befriend response females tendency to protect and care for their offspring and form social alliances rather than fight or flee in response to threat Oxytocin a hormone that is important for mothers in bonding to newborns and may encourage affiliation during social stress o Very important in women s stress response General adaption syndrome a consistent general pattern of responses to stress that consists of three stages alarm resistance and exhaustion o Alarm an emergency reaction that prepares the body to fight or flee Brief reduction of stress resistance o Resistance stage the body prepares for longer sustained defense from the stressor Body maximizes its defenses o Exhaustion various physiological and immune systems fail Stress results directly from the ways we think about events in our lives Major life stressors changes or disruptions that strain central areas of people s lives Daily hassles small day to day irritations and annoyances Stressor activates two systems a fast acting sympathetic nervous system response and a slower acting response resulting from a system of complex biological events known as the HPA axis o Hypothalamus activates the sympathetic nervous system activates the adrenal glands to release epinephrine and norepinephrine increases heart rate blood pressure and making the body ready for actions Stress interferes with the ability to retrieve information from long term memory Activation of HPA axis helps us prepare a prolonged response 11 3 How Does Stress Affect Health Immune system the body s mechanism for dealing with invading microorganisms such as allergens bacteria and viruses o Stress interferes with this natural process Lymphocytes specialized white blood cells that make up the immune system the three types are B cells T cells and natural killer cells o B cells produce antibodies protein molecules that attach themselves to foreign o T cells are involved in attacking the intruders directly and also with increasing the agents and mark them for destruction strength of the immune response Type A behavior pattern a pattern of behavior characterized by competitiveness achievement orientation aggressiveness hostility relentlessness impatience with others and inability to relax o Men who exhibited these traits were more likely to develop coronary heart disease smoking o Strong predictor of heart disease high blood pressure high cholesterol or Type B behavior pattern a pattern of behavior characterized by noncompetitive relaxed easygoing and accommodating behavior Primary appraisals part of the coping process that involves making decisions about whether a stimulus is stressful benign or irrelevant Secondary appraisals part of the coping process during which people evaluate their response options and choose coping behaviors Emotion focused coping a type of coping in which people try to prevent having an emotional response to a stressor o Adopt strategies to numb the pain o Avoidance minimizing the problem trying to distance oneself from the outcomes of the problem or engaging in behaviors such as eating or drinking Problem focused coping a type of coping in which people take direct steps to confront or minimize a stressor o Generating alternative solutions weighing their costs and benefits and choosing between them Brief stressors decrease the ability of white blood cells and natural killer cells to fight off infection Optimistic people tend to be at a lower risk for heart disease People deal with stress in ways that are bad for health Some personality traits have negative effects on people s social networks and on any support they may provide against stress Stress decreases blood flow by making blood vessels less able to dilate Cognitive appraisals enable us to think about and manage our feelings more objectively Negative personality traits can produce direct physiological effects on the heart Anticipatory coping coping that occurs before the onset of a future stressor Positive reappraisal a cognitive process in which a person focuses on possible good things in his or her current situation Downward comparisons comparing oneself to someone who is worse off Creation of positive events a strategy of giving positive meaning to ordinary events Stress resistant hardiness o Commitment o Challenge o Control Broaden and build theory positive emotions prompt people to consider novel solutions to their problems 1 4 Can a Positive Attitude Keep People Healthy Buffering hypothesis the idea that other people can provide direct emotional support in helping individuals cope with stressful events Happiness has three components o Positive emotion and pleasure o Engagement in life o A meaningful life A truly successful