Stress, gezondheid en ziekte
Lecture 1
Stress lijkt het slechtst gedefinieerde woord in psychologisch onderzoek
Stress response: negatieve emotionele psychobiologische respons.
Vage gevoelens definiëren stress:
Psychologisch: verwarring, paniek, waakzaamheid, onzekerheid, tense
Lichamelijk: hartkloppingen, zweten, kippenvel, spieren samentrekken, snel ademen, droge
mond, trillen, misselijkheid, buikpijn, diarree, zelfs flauwvallen etc.
De wereld gezondheidsorganisatie noemt stress een wereldwijde epidemie.
Alle ziektes worden veroorzaakt door meerdere dingen, hiervan kan stress ook een oorzaak
zijn, soms zelfs de meest directe oorzaak, echter is er vrijwel nooit maar 1 oorzaak.
Acute stress response (like someone driving very close behind you) -> Chronic stress
response -> disregulation, tissue damage, lowered defense (like the acid in your stomach) ->
organic disease > psychological complaints, subjective somatic complaints, i.e. illness. (geen
duidelijke lichamelijke oorzaak)
This negative effect that the acute stress response causes can be avoided if there is a good
coping mechanism.
Lowered defense will not make you sick if you don’t have any disease agents in your body.
In a healthy body those disease agents will be detected and fought against, if your body is
not healthy It can be more difficult, and you can become sick.
These are environmental theories of stress, psychological theories of stress and biological
theories of stress.
There are also direct and indirect effects of stress on disease risk.
Indirect via health behavior -> smoking, too much coffee, alcohol, unbalanced diets, poor
sleep habits. Or: accidents, delay seeking care, not taking meds.
Cannon (1932): if you psychologically threaten mice, you can see a higher amount of
adrenaline in their blood and with this research, he created the flight or fight response.
Stress response is functional
But is stress response still functional now? For example, in your work environment.
,Main message 1: brief stress: emergency -> mostly ok, GOOD
Prolonged / frequent stress: hardly ever ok, BAD
“Chronic stress is a recent invention of mankind” we see it less with animals.
Selye invented the word stress like we know it, non-specific response (cortisol) stress
response to physical AND psychological threat.
➔ Uit zijn onderzoek is de non specificiteit het meest belangrijk voor ons nu.
Main message 2: stress response is phylogenetically old: generally, the same for all animals
including humans.
Stress response is functional reaction to any conceivable threat: from physical to
psychological and on any conceivable level from molecular to macro social.
3 consequences of old phylogenetic age of the stress response.
1. Function is still to remove threat or escape
2. Effect on the body via biological routes shared with other animals
3. Effect on body also via old basal psychological factors
What are these basal psychological factors that determine effect of stress on the body?
Stressors dimension: adversity (nature of threat), uncontrollability & unpredictability,
duration (main message)
Response patterns: fight, flight, give up/withdraw
Adversity: types of threat
Physical: physical integrity by e.g. cold, heat, toxins etc.
Psychological: perceived threat of: physical integrity by physical adversity, psychological
integrity: security/safety, belongingness/intimacy, autonomy/prestige – humans only: self-
actualization.
- Roughly based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory.
NB: for humans there’s often also a social threat: expulsion/social exclusion. Do you belong
to the group or don’t you?
Main message 3: psychological core of stressor = uncontrollability or unpredictability
Stress experiment on mice: 2 mice got the same number of electric shocks but one has the
control to turn off the shocks and one does not.
Adversity: constant
Effects:
The animal that has no control gets stomach ulcers, stress hormones are much higher,
depleted storage of neurotransmitters in brain, suppression of immune responses.
Unpredictability of adversity: similar negative effects,
Uncontrollability or unpredictability of reward is also stressful
- Food given to rats in predictable and unpredictable intervals. Food is really
important, the chance that you get food is not under control. Getting the food at
an unpredictable interval has the same effect on the mice as did the lack of control
on the shocks given to them in the other research.
,Because animals are always fighting for their food in the wild, they don’t know when they
will get food and they are always in starving mode
Fight flight action need physiological response.
- Preparation for action
- Maintenance of action
Stress response is the same as exercise response. Als je een kwartier rent gaat je cortisol ook
omhoog.
You are preparing for heavy intense action.
Stress response = exercise plus perceived adversity + decreased control -> negative emotions
(this is the difference with just purely the exercise response)
Het effect van piekeren is niet zo intens als de directe stress respons maar het is langdurig en
daarom kunnen mensen er zo ziek van worden.
Als de stressor is verdwenen zou je zeggen dat de stress respons ook verdwijnt, echter heeft
het piekeren en onbewust piekeren een groot effect op het aanhouden van die stress
respons.
Adversity: alles wat negatief is en alles wat je lichaam schade toebrengt, mensen en dieren
willen hier van weg blijven.
Somatische zenuwstelsel: reguleert alles waar je nog controle over hebt.
, Lecture 2
Terugblik lecture : biologische kant van stress
Basic psychology of stress response
Some typical SAM actions and function (direct innervation & via noradrenalin):
(inspanning en stressrespons)
- Increased heart rate and blood pressure, local constriction of peripheral
blood vessels: more blood to muscles, less to viscera (guts) -> prep. For action
- More glucose in blood: ‘fuel’ -> prep for action
- More sweating: ‘cooling’ & ‘better grip’ during fight/flight (maybe)
Some typical HPAC actions and function (mainly via cortisol)
- Sustaining SAM-effects
- Suppressing immune activity and other non-essential activity (digestion, growth
etc.): save energy! (fuel: glucose & simple proteins/fats) to support fight/flight
action.
- Buffering against SAM induced tissue damage
- Suppressing pain – via endorphins: no interference of pain experience with action.
Onderdrukt ook menselijke emoties. Negatieve gevoelens.
- Returning to steady state (homeostatis)
Main message 4:
Function of biological stress response (fight flight)
1. Oxygen and fuel to muscles – by heart & breathing faster/higher blood pressure
2. Save fuel and building material – by suppressing other bodily activity
(immune response)
3. Limiting damage and negative sensations
(pain) NB: nearly all organs/tissues are affected!
Difference with exercise response:
Stress response is extra strong and extra long (because human stress is often only
preparation for fight/flight
- More adrenaline, cortisol
Main message 5:
Stress in humans is preparation without action.
Als stressresponse chronisch wordt wat gebeurt er dan?
- Stress response wordt langer
- Weerstand verlaagd
Final steps to disease
Most important consequences of chronic high SAM activity
- Blood pressure regulation (hypertension)
- Heart rhythm (heart attack)
- More lipids/fee fatty acids in blood (heart attack)
- Cellular immunity (infections, allergies)
Lecture 1
Stress lijkt het slechtst gedefinieerde woord in psychologisch onderzoek
Stress response: negatieve emotionele psychobiologische respons.
Vage gevoelens definiëren stress:
Psychologisch: verwarring, paniek, waakzaamheid, onzekerheid, tense
Lichamelijk: hartkloppingen, zweten, kippenvel, spieren samentrekken, snel ademen, droge
mond, trillen, misselijkheid, buikpijn, diarree, zelfs flauwvallen etc.
De wereld gezondheidsorganisatie noemt stress een wereldwijde epidemie.
Alle ziektes worden veroorzaakt door meerdere dingen, hiervan kan stress ook een oorzaak
zijn, soms zelfs de meest directe oorzaak, echter is er vrijwel nooit maar 1 oorzaak.
Acute stress response (like someone driving very close behind you) -> Chronic stress
response -> disregulation, tissue damage, lowered defense (like the acid in your stomach) ->
organic disease > psychological complaints, subjective somatic complaints, i.e. illness. (geen
duidelijke lichamelijke oorzaak)
This negative effect that the acute stress response causes can be avoided if there is a good
coping mechanism.
Lowered defense will not make you sick if you don’t have any disease agents in your body.
In a healthy body those disease agents will be detected and fought against, if your body is
not healthy It can be more difficult, and you can become sick.
These are environmental theories of stress, psychological theories of stress and biological
theories of stress.
There are also direct and indirect effects of stress on disease risk.
Indirect via health behavior -> smoking, too much coffee, alcohol, unbalanced diets, poor
sleep habits. Or: accidents, delay seeking care, not taking meds.
Cannon (1932): if you psychologically threaten mice, you can see a higher amount of
adrenaline in their blood and with this research, he created the flight or fight response.
Stress response is functional
But is stress response still functional now? For example, in your work environment.
,Main message 1: brief stress: emergency -> mostly ok, GOOD
Prolonged / frequent stress: hardly ever ok, BAD
“Chronic stress is a recent invention of mankind” we see it less with animals.
Selye invented the word stress like we know it, non-specific response (cortisol) stress
response to physical AND psychological threat.
➔ Uit zijn onderzoek is de non specificiteit het meest belangrijk voor ons nu.
Main message 2: stress response is phylogenetically old: generally, the same for all animals
including humans.
Stress response is functional reaction to any conceivable threat: from physical to
psychological and on any conceivable level from molecular to macro social.
3 consequences of old phylogenetic age of the stress response.
1. Function is still to remove threat or escape
2. Effect on the body via biological routes shared with other animals
3. Effect on body also via old basal psychological factors
What are these basal psychological factors that determine effect of stress on the body?
Stressors dimension: adversity (nature of threat), uncontrollability & unpredictability,
duration (main message)
Response patterns: fight, flight, give up/withdraw
Adversity: types of threat
Physical: physical integrity by e.g. cold, heat, toxins etc.
Psychological: perceived threat of: physical integrity by physical adversity, psychological
integrity: security/safety, belongingness/intimacy, autonomy/prestige – humans only: self-
actualization.
- Roughly based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory.
NB: for humans there’s often also a social threat: expulsion/social exclusion. Do you belong
to the group or don’t you?
Main message 3: psychological core of stressor = uncontrollability or unpredictability
Stress experiment on mice: 2 mice got the same number of electric shocks but one has the
control to turn off the shocks and one does not.
Adversity: constant
Effects:
The animal that has no control gets stomach ulcers, stress hormones are much higher,
depleted storage of neurotransmitters in brain, suppression of immune responses.
Unpredictability of adversity: similar negative effects,
Uncontrollability or unpredictability of reward is also stressful
- Food given to rats in predictable and unpredictable intervals. Food is really
important, the chance that you get food is not under control. Getting the food at
an unpredictable interval has the same effect on the mice as did the lack of control
on the shocks given to them in the other research.
,Because animals are always fighting for their food in the wild, they don’t know when they
will get food and they are always in starving mode
Fight flight action need physiological response.
- Preparation for action
- Maintenance of action
Stress response is the same as exercise response. Als je een kwartier rent gaat je cortisol ook
omhoog.
You are preparing for heavy intense action.
Stress response = exercise plus perceived adversity + decreased control -> negative emotions
(this is the difference with just purely the exercise response)
Het effect van piekeren is niet zo intens als de directe stress respons maar het is langdurig en
daarom kunnen mensen er zo ziek van worden.
Als de stressor is verdwenen zou je zeggen dat de stress respons ook verdwijnt, echter heeft
het piekeren en onbewust piekeren een groot effect op het aanhouden van die stress
respons.
Adversity: alles wat negatief is en alles wat je lichaam schade toebrengt, mensen en dieren
willen hier van weg blijven.
Somatische zenuwstelsel: reguleert alles waar je nog controle over hebt.
, Lecture 2
Terugblik lecture : biologische kant van stress
Basic psychology of stress response
Some typical SAM actions and function (direct innervation & via noradrenalin):
(inspanning en stressrespons)
- Increased heart rate and blood pressure, local constriction of peripheral
blood vessels: more blood to muscles, less to viscera (guts) -> prep. For action
- More glucose in blood: ‘fuel’ -> prep for action
- More sweating: ‘cooling’ & ‘better grip’ during fight/flight (maybe)
Some typical HPAC actions and function (mainly via cortisol)
- Sustaining SAM-effects
- Suppressing immune activity and other non-essential activity (digestion, growth
etc.): save energy! (fuel: glucose & simple proteins/fats) to support fight/flight
action.
- Buffering against SAM induced tissue damage
- Suppressing pain – via endorphins: no interference of pain experience with action.
Onderdrukt ook menselijke emoties. Negatieve gevoelens.
- Returning to steady state (homeostatis)
Main message 4:
Function of biological stress response (fight flight)
1. Oxygen and fuel to muscles – by heart & breathing faster/higher blood pressure
2. Save fuel and building material – by suppressing other bodily activity
(immune response)
3. Limiting damage and negative sensations
(pain) NB: nearly all organs/tissues are affected!
Difference with exercise response:
Stress response is extra strong and extra long (because human stress is often only
preparation for fight/flight
- More adrenaline, cortisol
Main message 5:
Stress in humans is preparation without action.
Als stressresponse chronisch wordt wat gebeurt er dan?
- Stress response wordt langer
- Weerstand verlaagd
Final steps to disease
Most important consequences of chronic high SAM activity
- Blood pressure regulation (hypertension)
- Heart rhythm (heart attack)
- More lipids/fee fatty acids in blood (heart attack)
- Cellular immunity (infections, allergies)
