Myers EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY (6th Edition in Modules)

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Myers EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY (6th Edition in
Modules)

• Module 31
• Stress and Illness
• James A. McCubbin, PhD
• Clemson University
• Worth Publishers

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Stress and Illness

• Stress
• the process by which we perceive and respond to
  certain events, called stressors, that we
  appraise as threatening or challenging

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Stress Appraisal
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Stress and Illness

• General Adaptation Syndrome
• Selyes concept of the bodys adaptive response
  to stress in three stages

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Stress and Health

• Behavioral Medicine
• interdisciplinary field that integrates
  behavioral and medical knowledge and applies that
  knowledge to health and disease
• Health Psychology
• subfield of psychology that provides psychologys
  contribution to behavioral medicine

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Stressful Life Events

• Chronic Stress by Age

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Stressful Life Events

• Catastrophic Events
• earthquakes, combat stress, floods
• Life Changes
• death of a loved one, divorce, loss of job,
  promotion
• Daily Hassles
• rush hour traffic, long lines, job stress, burnout

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Perceived Control

• Equality and Longevity

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Stress and the Heart
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Stress and the Heart

• Coronary Heart Disease
• clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart
  muscle
• leading cause of death in many developed
  countries

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Stress and the Heart

• Type A
• Friedman and Rosenmans term for competitive,
  hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and
  anger-prone people
• Type B
• Friedman and Rosenmans term for easygoing,
  relaxed people

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Stress and Disease

• Psychophysiological Illness
• mind-body illness
• any stress-related physical illness
• some forms of hypertension
• some headaches
• distinct from hypochondriasis-- misinterpreting
  normal physical sensations as symptoms of a
  disease

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Stress and Disease

• Lymphocytes
• two types of white blood cells that are part of
  the bodys immune system
• B lymphocytes form in the bone marrow and release
  antibodies that fight bacterial infections
• T lymphocytes form in the thymus and, among other
  duties, attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign
  substances

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Stress and Disease

• Conditioning of immune suppression

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Stress and Disease

• Negative emotions and health-related consequences