 Psychological states cause physical reactions.  One of these reactions is stress.  When we feel severe stress, our ability to cope with it is impaired.

 Prolonged stress that is combined with unhealthy behaviors can increase your risk in having one of today’s four leading diseases.

 Stress arises less from events themselves than how we appraise them.  When short-lived, or when perceived as challenges, stressors can have a positive effect.  Experiencing prolonged stress can harm us.

 Walter Cannon (1929) proposed that the stress response (fast) was a fight or flight response marked by the outpouring of epinephrine and norepinephrine from the inner adrenal glands, increasing heart & respiration rates, mobilizing sugar & fat, and dulling pain.  The hypothalamus and the pituitary gland also respond to stress (slow) by triggering the outer adrenal glands to secrete glucocorticoids (cortisol).

 According to Canadian scientist Hans Selye, a stress response to any kind of stimulation is similar. The stressed individual goes through three phases:

 Catastrophic Events: events like earthquakes, combat stress, and floods lead individuals to become depressed, sleepless, and anxious.

 Significant Life Changes: the death of a loved one, a divorce, a loss of job, or a promotion may leave individuals vulnerable to disease.

 Daily Hassles: rush hour traffic, long lines, job stress, and becoming burnt-out are the most significant sources of stress and can damage health.

 Stress that leads to elevated blood pressure can result in Coronary Heart Disease, a clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle.

 Personality Types: › Type A is a term used for competitive, hard- driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people. › Type B refers to easygoing, relaxed people. › This personality types come from a study done by Friedman & Rosenman in 1974). › Type A personalities are more likely to develop Coronary Heart Disease.

 Pessimism and Heart Disease: › Pessimistic adult men are twice as likely to develop heart disease over a 10 year period according to Kubzansky & others (2001).

 A psychophysical illness is any stress- related physical illness such as hypertension or headaches.  Hypochondriasis is a misinterpretation of normal physical sensations as symptoms of disease.

 This system includes two types of white blood cells, called lymphocytes. › B lymphocytes fight bacterial infections. › T lymphocytes attack cancer cells and viruses. › Microphages ingest foreign substances.  During stress, energy is mobilized away from the immune system making it vulnerable.

 Stress and negative emotions may accelerate the progression from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

 Stress does not create cancer cells.  Researchers disagree on whether stress influences the progression of cancer, however they do agree that avoiding stress and having a hopeful attitude cannot reverse advanced cancer.

 If the immune system can be suppressed through conditioning, researchers believe that immune-enhancing responses can be inculcated to combat viral diseases.

 Stress can have a variety of health- related consequences.

 Reducing stress by changing events that cause stress or by changing how we react to stress is called problem-focused coping.  Emotion-focused coping is when we cannot change a stressful situation, and we respond by attending to our own emotional needs.

 Research with rats and humans indicates that the absences of control over stressors is a predictor of health problems.

 People with an optimistic explanatory style tend to have more control over their stressors. They cope better with stressful events, have better moods, and a stronger immune system.  Those who manage to find humor in life’s daily events also benefit because laughter arouses us, massages muscles, and leaves us feeling relaxed.

 Having supportive family members, marriage partners, and close friends help people cope with stress.  Their immune functioning calms the cardiovascular system and lowers blood pressure.

 Having a sense of control, and optimistic explanatory style, and social support can reduce stress and improve health.  There are many ways to manage stress: › Aerobic Exercise › Exercise & Health › Biofeedback, Relaxation, & Meditation › Spirituality & Faith Communities

SStudies suggest that aerobic exercise can elevate mood and well-being because aerobic exercise raises energy, increases self- confidence, and lowers tension, depression, & anxiety.

 Other research reveals that exercise not only boosts our mood, but also strengthens the heart, increases blood flow, keeps blood vessels open, and lowers both blood pressure and the blood pressure reaction to stress.

 Biofeedback systems use electronic devices to inform people about their physiological responses and gives them the chance to bring their responses to a healthier range.  Relaxation and meditation have similar effects in reducing tension and anxiety.

 Regular religious attendance had been a reliable predictor of a longer life span with a reduced risk of dying.  Investigators suggest that there are 3 factors that connect religious involvement and better health.

 Researchers are persuaded that health- promotion programs would cost less than many countries now spend on treating diseases.

 “Evidence shows that smoking harms nearly every organ of the body.”  Even though 97% of Americans believe that smoking is harmful, people still do it.  Non-smokers live healthier AND happier lives.

 Smoking is a pediatric disease, which means it usually begins during early adolescence.  Adolescents are self-conscious and think the world is watching their every move; so if someone says “You’re not cool if you don’t smoke”, you’re more likely do it to fit in.

 Once addicted to nicotine we find it very hard to quit. Tobacco products are as addictive as heroin and cocaine.  A smoker becomes dependent and develops tolerance.  Nicotine also stimulates the central nervous system to release neurotransmitters that calm anxiety.

 Set a quit date.  Inform family and friends.  Throw away all cigarettes.  Review successful strategies.  Use a nicotine patch or gum.  Abstain from alcohol.  Exercise.  Avoid places where others are likely to smoke.  Smoking Abstinence Programs.  Make cigarettes more expensive.

 Fat is an ideal form of stored energy and is readily available.  Significant obesity, especially among children, increases the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, gallstones, arthritis, and certain types of cancer, thus shortening life expectancy.

 Obesity can be socially toxic, by affecting both how you are treated and how you feel about yourself.  Some studies show that weight discrimination is greater than race and gender discrimination.

 Fat Cells: there are million fat cells in the body. These cells can increase in size or number in an obese individual.  Set Points and Metabolism: Once one becomes fat, we require less food to maintain our weight. When weight drops below this set-point, the person’s hunger increases and metabolism decreases.

 Identical twin studies reveal that body weight has a genetic basis.  Despite shared family meals, adoptive siblings’ body weights are uncorrelated with one another or adoptive parents.  Given an obese parent, a boy is 3 times, a girl 6 times, more likely to be obese.

 Lack of exercise is a major contributor to obesity. Just watching TV for two hours resulted in a 23% increase of weight when other factors were controlled.  Over the past 40 years average weight gain has increased. Health professionals are telling US citizens to limit their food intake.

 In just the US, two-thirds of the women and half of the men say that they want to lose weight.  When you are motivated to lose weight, begin a weight-loss program, minimize your exposure to tempting foods, exercise, and forgive yourself for lapses.

 Behavioral Medicine : an interdisciplinary field that integrates behavioral & medical knowledge and applies that knowledge to health & disease.  Health Psychology : a subfield of psychology that provides psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine.  Stress : the process by which we perceive & respond to certain events.  General Adaptation Syndrome : Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in 3 stages – alarm, resistance, exhaustion.

 Coronary Heart Disease: the clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle.  Type A : Friedman & Rosenman’s term for competitive hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people.  Type B : Friedman & Rosenman’s term for easygoing, relaxed people.  Psychophysiological Illness : stress related illness; hypertension or headaches.  Lymphocytes : two types of white blood cells that are part of the body’s immune system.  Coping : alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods.

 Problem-Focused Coping : attempting to alleviate stress directly.  Emotion-Focused Coping : attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor.  Aerobic Exercise : sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness.  Biofeedback : a system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back info regarding a subtle physiological state.  Complementary & Alternative Medicine : unproven health care treatments not taught widely in medical schools.