2. How Stress Affects Health
Allostatic load: the wear and tear on the body as a result
of chronic overactivity of the physiological response to
stress.
leads to physical disorders
Chronic stress
impairs immune system
Emotional stress related to >50% of medical
problems.
Psychophysiological disorders: physical disorders in
which emotions are believed to play a central role.
3.
4. Does stress cause disease?
Diathesis-Stress Model — An individual’s
susceptibility to stress and illness is determined by
two interacting factors
Predisposing Factors (in the person)
genetic vulnerability
acquired behavioral or personality traits
Precipitating Factors (from the environment)
traumatic experiences
5. Psychoneuroimmunology
A multidisciplinary field that focuses on the
interactions among behavior, the nervous system,
the endocrine system and the immune system.
Stress Immune system Disease
6. Psychological and social factors can affect the CNS,
endocrine system, and immune system.
Classical conditioning of the immune system
(Ader & Cohen, 1975).
8. Physical mechanisms of influence
Direct influence: through the effects of stress on
the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems.
1. Peripheral nervous system
2. Secretion of hormones
Indirect influence: changes in health behaviors
that increase risks for diseases.
10. Coronary heart disease (CHD)
Overarousal caused by chronic stressors can
contribute to CHD.
About third of risk for heart disease connected to
stressfulness of people’s environments.
People in high-stress jobs (high demand with little
control).
Animal studies have shown that the disruption of
the social environment can lead to health problems
that resemble coronary heart disease.
11. The immune system
Lymphocytes: small white blood cells that plays a
large role in defending the body against disease.
Stress makes people more susceptible to infectious
diseases, allergies, cancers, and autoimmune
disorders.
Stress affects the immune system’s ability to
defend the body.
12.
13. The Immune system (Cont.)
One important factor appears to be the extent to
which an individual can control stress
Lower controllability = greater impact on immune system
Perception of stress
Marital separation/divorce
Women with breast cancer
14. Controllability
Studieson rats show that uncontrollable shock has a
greater effect on the immune system than controllable
shock.
Perception of control (e.g., initiating divorce was more
in control; breast cancer patients and
optimism/pessimism)
15. Controllability (Cont.)
A demanding family life + a stressful job can
adversely affect women’s cardiovascular health.
The likelihood of disease increases with the
number of children for working women but not for
homemakers.
Women with flexibility and control over their
work, good income, hired help, don’t suffer as
much physically or psychologically from their work
overload.
16. Best evidence of how stress affects health:
Supportive psychological interventions can slow the
progress of cancer (Baum & Posluzny, 1999).
Randomly assigned women with breast cancer into
two groups: weekly support groups, or no group.
The support group was to improve the women’s
quality of life.
4 years after the study, all the women who had not
been in the support group died of their cancer, while
a 1/3 of women in the support groups were still alive.
17. Health-related behaviors
What are some of the health-related behaviors
that can increase our susceptibility to illness?
What is the relationship between stress and
healthy-behaviors?
18. Health-related behaviors (Cont.)
Most of the diseases people die from in industrialized
countries heavily influenced by health-related
behaviors (e.g. smoking, drinking alcohol etc.).
Stress may indirectly affect health by reducing rates
of positive health-related behaviors and increasing
rates of negative health-related behaviors.
Stress Unhealthy behaviors
20. Chronic Stress-Induced Disorders (Cont.)
Musculoskeletal: muscle strain, tendonitis, tension
headache, low back pain.
Reproductive:, suppresses sperm count, ovulation
and sexual activity, as well as sexual desire and
performance in both men and women.
Cognitive: low self-esteem and self-efficacy,
pessimistic expectancy, learned helplessness.
Emotional: mood and adjustment disorders, PTSD,
reactive psychosis.
21. Signs and Symptoms of Stress
Cognitive symptoms Emotional symptoms
• Memory problems • Moodiness
• Inability to concentrate • Irritability or short temper
• Poor judgment • Agitation, inability to
• Seeing only the negative relax
• Anxious or racing • Feeling overwhelmed
thoughts • Sense of loneliness and
• Constant worrying isolation
• Depression or general
unhappiness
22. Signs and Symptoms of Stress (Cont.)
Physical symptoms Behavioral symptoms
• Aches and pains • Eating more or less
• Diarrhea or constipation • Sleeping too much or too
• Nausea, dizziness little
• Chest pain, rapid • Isolating yourself from
heartbeat others
• Loss of sex drive • Procrastinating or neglecting
• Frequent colds responsibilities
• Using alcohol, cigarettes, or
drugs to relax
• Nervous habits (e.g. nail
biting, pacing)
23. Optimism/Pessimism
How does pessimism affect health?
A pessimistic outlook may affect health directly, by
reducing immune system functioning, or
indirectly, by reducing a person’s tendency to
engage in health-promoting behaviors.
24. Finding meaning
When faced with a major trauma people say that they
feel their lives have changed in extremely positive ways
as a result of their experiences.
Finding meaning or positive growth in a trauma seems
to help people adjust, both psychologically and
physically.
Why are some people able to find meaning and growth
in trauma and other do not?
25. Personality and illness
Hardiness
Focuses on people who are most resistant to stress,
who do not become physically or emotionally
impaired even in the face of major stressful events
Personalities of hardy people are characterized by:
Commitment to goals
Sense of control
Challenge, or viewing any change as positive
26. Type A Behavior
1950s two cardiologists used this label to characterize
patients with coronary heart disease
A person’s level of hostility is a better predictor of heart
disease
When anger is repressed (held in) it may be more
destructive to the heart than anger that is expressed
28. How does type A behavior or hostility lead to
coronary heart disease?
Their sympathetic nervous system appears to by
hyperresponsive to stressful situations.
Report more interpersonal conflict.
Less social support.
Hostility may have both direct effects on cardiovascular
health by increasing chronic arousal and indirect effects
by lowering social support.
