Psychology notes: health psychology
Stress and stressors:
- Stressors are factors that are considered to be stressful to the person
- Stress response is how different people experience the stressor and whether the response is
psychological, biological or physiological)
- Sapolsky (1998) found that stressful events are only experienced with a stressful response when
they are considered to be stressful by the person. He therefore concludes that imagining a
stressful event can release a stress response
- Acute stressors are sudden stressful events that have occurred suddenly and recently (an
accidents, a death of a loved one, etc)
- Chronic stressors are events that occurred over a long period of time and the stress is not felt
suddenly, but rather it’s a build-up (poverty, unemployment)
- Work stressors is stress that is associated with the workplace which can involve no recognition in
the work environment, harassment, poor leadership, etc.
- Holmes and Rah (1967) found that a major changing life changing event could lead to illness. The
event could be either positive or negative and it just needs to be considered stressful by the
person. Depending on the stressor, it might take a longer or shorter time to adapt to the change
or to cope with the stress
Biopsychosocial:
- Steptoe and Marmot (2003) tested the “biopsychosocial” aspect of stress and found that if a
person scored a high ranking on one of the stressors, it did not necessarily mean that they would
score high on the others. The participants who have a mean high scores on all 7 stressors had
high cortisol in the blood samples and a higher risk of developing heart problems. Therefore,
each specific stressor must be dealt with in isolation in order to see focused results but
altogether in order to consider all possible aspects of stress
Physiological factors:
- Personal evaluation is crucial in determining the personal experience of the physiological factors
of stress
- Cannon (1914) found that the psychological changes of the sympathetic nervous system
prepared a person to either “fight or flight” in an immediate situation (acute stressors)
- Selye (1956) developed the theory of GAS (General Adaptation Syndrome) based on the theory of
fight and flight which has three stages of stress. Based on rat research, there is the “alarm stage”
which is the release of adrenalin and the activation of the sympathetic nervous system in order to
choose the appropriate response. The second stage is “resistance” which is the attempt to cope
with the situations. The final stage is “exhaustion” which is when the organism has no success at
overcoming the stress and therefore gives up. It explains what happens after the acute stressor
occurs as well. There is a link between exhaustion and physical illness which means that chronic
stress can lead to the body being physical exhausted which can cause increased cortisol levels
Stress and stressors:
- Stressors are factors that are considered to be stressful to the person
- Stress response is how different people experience the stressor and whether the response is
psychological, biological or physiological)
- Sapolsky (1998) found that stressful events are only experienced with a stressful response when
they are considered to be stressful by the person. He therefore concludes that imagining a
stressful event can release a stress response
- Acute stressors are sudden stressful events that have occurred suddenly and recently (an
accidents, a death of a loved one, etc)
- Chronic stressors are events that occurred over a long period of time and the stress is not felt
suddenly, but rather it’s a build-up (poverty, unemployment)
- Work stressors is stress that is associated with the workplace which can involve no recognition in
the work environment, harassment, poor leadership, etc.
- Holmes and Rah (1967) found that a major changing life changing event could lead to illness. The
event could be either positive or negative and it just needs to be considered stressful by the
person. Depending on the stressor, it might take a longer or shorter time to adapt to the change
or to cope with the stress
Biopsychosocial:
- Steptoe and Marmot (2003) tested the “biopsychosocial” aspect of stress and found that if a
person scored a high ranking on one of the stressors, it did not necessarily mean that they would
score high on the others. The participants who have a mean high scores on all 7 stressors had
high cortisol in the blood samples and a higher risk of developing heart problems. Therefore,
each specific stressor must be dealt with in isolation in order to see focused results but
altogether in order to consider all possible aspects of stress
Physiological factors:
- Personal evaluation is crucial in determining the personal experience of the physiological factors
of stress
- Cannon (1914) found that the psychological changes of the sympathetic nervous system
prepared a person to either “fight or flight” in an immediate situation (acute stressors)
- Selye (1956) developed the theory of GAS (General Adaptation Syndrome) based on the theory of
fight and flight which has three stages of stress. Based on rat research, there is the “alarm stage”
which is the release of adrenalin and the activation of the sympathetic nervous system in order to
choose the appropriate response. The second stage is “resistance” which is the attempt to cope
with the situations. The final stage is “exhaustion” which is when the organism has no success at
overcoming the stress and therefore gives up. It explains what happens after the acute stressor
occurs as well. There is a link between exhaustion and physical illness which means that chronic
stress can lead to the body being physical exhausted which can cause increased cortisol levels
