Stress and Health

Ch.14
Tanner Leiderman, M.A
 Stress and Health
• Health psychology examines how
biological, social and psychological factors
influence health and illness.
• Many factors can interfere with a person’s
ability to stay healthy.
o Environmental pollutants
o Poor nutrition
o Psychological trauma from childhood
o Toxic relationships
o Stress
 Stress and Health
• Stress is what happened when life exerts
pressure on us.
• It is a response that operates on
biological, cognitive, and behavioral levels.
• Stress can be:
• 1. Short-term – is activated by a sudden
threat or danger.
 Stress and Health
• 2. Chronic or long-lasting – is stress that
can result in significant health effects.
• Brain researcher McEwen (2002) says that
stress is both a stimulus and a response.
• A stimulus is something in the environment
that triggers a response.
• When stress is a stimulus, it is called a
stressor.
 Stress and Health
• Examples of stressors would be:
o A situation like a difficult homework
assignment
o An event like an earthquake
o An incident like a car accident.
 Stress and Health
• Physical reactions may include:
– Headache
– Muscle aches
– Rapid heart rate
– Rash or hives
– Nausea
– Diarrhea
– Profuse sweating
– Lowered immune system
 Stress and Health
• Psychological symptoms are:
– Anxiety
– Depression
– Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness
– Suicidal ideation
– Anger
 Stress and Health
• Perception is a key factor when it comes
to a response.
• The way a person thinks about a stimuli or
the way a person interprets a stimuli will
affect the way a person responds.
 Stress and Health
• Walter Cannon (1932) studied
physiological changes that happen in the
face of stress.
• He observed a stress response and called
it the fight-or-flight reaction.
• In the face of danger a person will either:
o Fight off the threat
o Flight or run away from the threat.
 Stress and Health
• It is referred to as the fight-freeze-flight
reaction.
• Freeze refers to a person being so scared
that they just freeze and cannot move.
 Stress and Health
• Hans Selye (1907 - 1982) experimented
with rats causing them extreme stress.
• He found a pattern of bodily changes that
occur with stress
• The adrenal glands, thymus, spleen and
lymph nodes changed dramatically.
• The pattern of change in response to
external environmental demands is called
the general adaptation syndrome (GAS).
 Stress and Health
• The three stages of GAS are:
• A. Alarm reaction - homeostasis is
disrupted
• The brain activates physiological
responses through the autonomic and
endocrine systems.
• The autonomic system controls the
involuntary organs of the body.
 Stress and Health
• Lungs – breathing is increased
• Heart – heart rate is increased
• Eyes – pupils dilate to let in more light
• Digestive system – slows down to
conserve energy
• Muscles – tense up.
 Stress and Health
• The endocrine system controls the release
of hormones.
o Adrenal glands – produce stress hormones
like Cortisol
 Stress and Health
• B. Resistance - adaptations are made for
the sake of survival.
• The person uses their biochemical energy
to survive.
o Metabolism of food energy
o Glucose production – a sugar that fuels the
body.
o Flud retention – helps the body to survive.
 Stress and Health
• C. Exhaustion - the body depletes its
stored energy.
• Mental and physical energy are empty.
• Exhaustion can lead to illness or death.
 Stress Management
• Management of stress involves reducing
the magnitude of your responses to
stressors.
• Prevention involves shaping, modifying or
eliminating stressors in the first place.
• It is always better to prevent stress than
have to manage it.
 Stress Management
• The second-best situation is to develop
coping mechanisms to manage stress.
• 1. Psychological and Spiritual Relaxation
Methods
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• One of the best psychological methods to
reduce stress is THERAPY:
• A person revisits past events and traumas
that may still be affecting them.
• They talk about the events and express
feelings about them.
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• Physically releasing emotional pain is very
helpful.
• A person should attend one session every
week for about one year.
 Stress Management
• The healing process will help:
o Bring new awareness to problematic
behaviors
o Release pent up emotions
o Change self-defeating behaviors into more
positive behaviors.
 Stress Management
• Relaxation methods help a person:
o Stay calm when they feel anxious
o Reduce overall tension
o Enhance performance in difficult situations
o Sleep better
 Stress Management
• The following activities have a profound
effect on our well-being:
• A. Guided Imagery - the conscious use of
imagination to create positive images
• It is also called visualization.
• It can be self-guided or guided by an
external source like CD or DVD
 Stress Management
• The purpose is to:
o Stimulate the immune system
o Fight disease
o Motivate and support goals
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• Types of imagery:
• 1. Feeling State Imagery
• Used to produce feelings of love, car,
security, and happiness.
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• 2. End State Imagery
• A person creates the ideal outcome or
goal. (Efficacy?)
• The person pictures him/herself several
years from the present with everything
they want.
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• 3. Physiological imagery
• A person visualizes cancer cells being
destroyed by a powerful laser.
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• B. Mindfulness
• This involves a non-judgemental approach
to life.
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• A person refrains negative judgements of
him/herself and others.
• They focus on moment-to-moment
awareness of bodily sensations, emotions,
and thoughts.
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• C. Meditation
• This practice originated in the East (India,
Tibet, Japan, China).
• Became popular in the 60's because of the
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, an Indian master.
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• Transcendental meditation - a person
silences their thoughts until they
experience inner peace and tranquility.
• Two types of meditation are:
• 1. Restrictive - a person focuses their
consciousness on a single symbol, object
or thought.
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• 2. Inclusive - a person opens their mind by
allowing thoughts to pass before them.
• They “watch” their thoughts come and go
without judging them or getting stuck on
them.
• This helps a person to remain detached
from their thoughts.
 Stress Management
• Benefits:
o Lower levels of stress
o Reduced blood pressure
o Improved breathing
o Enhanced concentration
o Reduced depression
o Increased feeling of self-control
o Improved Sleep
 Stress Management
• D. Breathing
• The goal is diaphragmatic breathing –
deep, slow breathing
• When a person is stressed their breath
becomes shallow and rapid.
• Hypoxia – a lack of oxygen which affects
the brain and other organs.
(hyperventilating from stress??)
 Stress Management
• 2. Physical Methods for Stress Reduction
• A. Exercise
• 15 minutes a day of exercise can reduce
stress.
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• Research has shown that it can:
– Pump up endorphins.
• These are feel-good neurotransmitters.
– Improve mood - diminishes depression and
anxiety
– Improve sleep
– Reduces blood pressure and increases the
immune system for better health
– Promote weight loss which can contribute to
feeling better overall
 Stress Management
• B. Yoga
• There are many styles of yoga including:
• 1. Hatha Yoga – is gentler
• 2. Astanga Yoga – more vigorous
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• The goals of yoga are:
– Relaxation and tension release
– Improvement of posture
– Increased breathing
– Focused concentration
– Inner peace
 Stress Management
• 3. Healthy Nutrition
• Examples are: (Are these bad things?)
o Salt – Raises blood pressure
o Sugar – Can cause diabetes
o Excess amounts of soda drinks – there are
about 16 teaspoons of sugar in each can
o Coffee – affects the chemicals in the brain
making a person hyperactive.
 Stress Management
• The following are some tips on how to eat
healthy:
• A. Avoid red meat – contributes to high
cholesterol and cancer.
• B. Eat chicken and turkey; Zachy, Foster
farms, and Shelton farms.
• C. Fish is a good but some can be high in
mercury.
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• D. Buy organic fruits and vegetables
• E. Avoid food coloring – especially red dye
#40
o Eyes are made from PETROCHEMICALS like
coal tar.
• Read labels – if you can't pronounce the
ingredient don't buy it.
 Stress Management
• 5. Cultivating Healthy Relationships
• Unhealthy relationships contribute to:
o Sleepless nights
o Worry
o Anger
o Anxiety
o Depression
o Suicide
 Stress Management
• Studies have found that stressful
relationships affect the body in these
ways:
o Increase stress hormone levels – cortisol and
norepinephrine
o Increase blood pressure
o Cause migraine headaches
o Increase muscle tension
o Lower the immune system
 Stress Management
• Many unhealthy relationships revolve
around power and control.
• A. Parents want to control their children -
even their adult children
• They create stress for the child who is
powerless to get away from the abuse.
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• B. A person wants to have control over his
or her partner
• The person may be a batterer who uses
physical force or verbal abuse to control
his partner
• Death threats are the ultimate source of
stress for a partner.
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• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - causes a
person to experience panic attacks.
• Signs to look for in a batterer:
• 1. Controlling – they have a need to
control their partner and will use fear,
intimidation and threats.
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• 2. Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde – They change
moods quickly and unpredictably
• 3. Excessively jealousy
• 4. Public “mask” – they usually don’t let
others see their abusive side.
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• As soon as a person becomes physically
or emotionally abusive END THE
RELATIONSHIP IMMEDIATELY.
• C. A boss wants to have power over his or
her employees
 Stress Management
• They:
– Are critical and judgmental
– Get pleasure out of belittling employees and
verbally abusing them
– Dump tons of work onto their employees and
demand instant results
 Stress Management
• Surround yourself with loving and positive
people who lift you up, not tear you down.
• Control the factors that you can and be
mindful of the one’s you cannot
 My Thoughts
It's interesting to see frequent terminology given more concrete definitions,
similar to how force means something different in physics. Exhaustion was
most surprising. People usually use that word to express long-lasting or
extreme tiredness, but death is not something I expected.

Flight-Fright-Freeze is not exclusive to humans. The term "standing like a

To my knowledge, therapy will trump anything when addressing stressful