Health Psych Exam 2

Fight or Flight Response

Walter Cannon 1932Physiological response mobilizes the organism to attack the threat or flee

General Adaptive Syndrome

Selye's concept of the body's adaptive response to stress in three stages: alarm, resistance, exhaustion

Exhaustion

Organism dies or suffers irreversible damage

Sympathetic Nervous System

Branch of the autonomic nervous system that produces rapid physical arousal in response to perceived emergencies or threats.

Seyle

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) - alarm, resistance, exhaustion

HPA Activation

The hypothalamus releases corticotrophin-releasing hormone which stimulates the pituitary gland to secrete hormone. This stimluates the glucocoritcoids

Cortisol

A steroid hormone released into the bloodstream by the adrenal cortex in response to stress. Cortisol helpd the body cope with stressors by raisin blood glucose levels (by diverting glucose, fat, and protein metabolism from building tissues to supply energy for dealing with stress), and also inhibits the immune response

Endogenous Opiods

Class of peptides secreated by the brain that act like opiates

Tangible Support

Social support focused on practical or material needs

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Branch of the autonomic nervous system that maintains normal bodily functions and conserves the body's physical resources.

Epinephrine

A hormone produced and secreted by the adrenal medulla that prolongs and increases the effects of the sympathetic nervous system.

Chronic Strain

A stressful experience that is a usual but continually stressful aspect of life.

Autonomic Nervous System

A subdivision of the peripheral nervous system. Controls involuntary activity of visceral muscles and internal organs and glands.

Holmes and Rahe

Developed social readjustment rating scale- measures numerically life crises events. showed correlation between amount of crises one experiences and likelihhood of experiencing more crises (illness/injury) within a year

Norepinephrine

A neurotransmitter involved in arousal, as well as in learning and mood regulation

Histamine

A chemical released by the body during an inflammatory response that causes the blood vessels to dilate

Glucocorticoids

ADRENAL CORTEX. Regulate metabolis, reduce inflammation, fights stress. {controlled by pituitary}

Optimists

People who expect positive outcomes

Active Coping Strategies

Hardiness, control, commitment, challenge, plan, problem solve, relaxation, biofeedback, humor, exercise, support groups, professional help, train, confidence

ACTH

A hormone produced by the anterior pituitary gland that stimulates the adrenal cortex

Social Support

Emotional, material, or informational assistance provided by other people

Sheldon Cohen

conducted study where healthy volunteers were given nasal drops containing a cold and participants with a positive emotional style were less likely to develop an illness after exposure to either virus

Appraisal

An evaluation of the emotion-relevant aspects of a stimulus

Emotion-Focused

Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one's stress reaction

Hobfoll

People try to conserve all of their recourses by piling up a surplus againts times when they might be stressed becasue of possible losses

High Self-Esteem

happiness & improved coping skills

Cognitive Behavioral Stress Management

Action therapy in which the goal is to help clients overcome problems by learning to think more rationally and logically

Informational Support

information provided about how to cope with the stressful event

Somaticizers

people who express distress and conflict through bodily symptoms.

Alameda County Study

social isolation predicts higher mortality rate; the more social connections you have, the less likely you are to DIE, compared to those who are isolated

Cyclic Model

cyclic model used to understand the infection process

Relaxation Training

A treatment procedure that teaches clients to relax at will so they can calm themselves in stressful situations

Medical Delay

A delay in treating symptoms, which results from problems within the medical system, such as faulty diagnoses or lost test results.

Medical Student's Disease

start learning about a disease and then think they have the disease

Mass Psychogenic Illness

the occurrence, in a group of people, of similar physical symptoms with no known physical cause

Symptom Recognition

Attention to one's body and situational factors

Health Belief Model

A model to explain health related behaviors that suggests that an individual's decision to adopt healthy behaviors is based laregely upon his or her perception of susceptibility to an illness and the probable severity of the illness.

Beecher (1959)

psychologist who checked rate of pain for similar wounds between soldiers and civilians, concluding that top-down processing can greatly alter the perception of pain

Cross Cultural Differences in Pain

how the content of culture (meanings, values, norms) differs among different cultures

Gate Control Theory

Peripheral nerve fibers can have their input modified at the spinal cord level before transmission to the brain. This is the basis of many pain intervention strategies, especially nonpharmacologic interventions.

McGill Pain Questionnaire

Qualitative and quantitative aspects of pain, pain rating by word category, pain intensity rating and scoring in five areas.

A-Delta Fibers

Nerves that transmit sensations of sharp pain.

Endorphins

morphine within"--natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure.

Polymodal Nociception

general category referring to pain that triggers chemical reactions from tissue damage

TENS

Amount of pressure applied when combing and holding section, created by stretching or pulling the section

C-Fibers

These are slow, unmyelinated fibers on skin/epidermis/viscera and sense pain and temperature.

Acute Pain

Pain that has sudden onset, an identifiable cause, and a limited duration. triggers physiological changes and improves in time even if not treated. Described as sharp, stabbing, prickling, or electric

Migraines

A severe recurring headache, usually affecting only one side of the head, that is characterized by sharp pain and is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and visual disturbances.

Hypochondriasis

A somatoform disorder characterized by excessive preoccupation with health concerns and incessant worry about developing physical illnesses.

Alarm Reaction

ANS activated by stress

Resistance

Damage occurs or organism adapts to stress