acute pain
Pain that typically follows an injury and disappears once the injury heals or is effectively treated.
AIDS-related complex (ARC)
Group of minor health problems such as weight loss, fever, and night sweats that appears after HIV infection but before development of full-blown AIDS.
antigens
Foreign materials that enter the body, including bacteria and parasites.
autoimmune disease
Condition in which the body's immune system attacks healthy tissue rather than antigens.
behavioral medicine
Interdisciplinary approach applying behavioral science to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of medical problems.
biofeedback
Use of physiological monitoring equipment to make individuals aware of their own bodily functions, such as blood pressure or brain waves, that they cannot normally access, with the purpose of controlling these functions.
cancer
Category of often-fatal medical conditions involving abnormal cell growth and malignancy.
cardiovascular disease
Afflictions in the mechanisms, including the heart, blood vessels, and their controllers, responsible for transporting blood to the body's tissues and organs. Psychological factors may play important roles in such diseases and their treatments.
chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)
Incapacitating exhaustion following only minimal exertion, accompanied by fever, headaches, muscle and joint pain, depression, and anxiety.
extremely stressful environment, the changing role of women, and the rapid dissemination of new technology and info
chronic pain
Enduring pain that does not decrease over time; may occur in muscles, joints, and the lower back, and may be caused by enlarged blood vessels or degenerating or cancerous tissue. Other significant factors are social and psychological.
When pain crosses th
coronary heart disease (CHD)
Blockage of the arteries supplying blood to the heart muscle; a major cause of death in Western culture, with social and psychological factors involved.
stress, anxiety, and anger, combined with poor coping skills and low social support, are implicated in
endogenous opioids
Substances occurring naturally throughout the body that function like neurotransmitters to shut down pain sensation even in the presence of marked tissue damage. These may contribute to psychological problems such as eating disorders. Also known as endorp
essential hypertension
High blood pressure with no verifiable physical cause, which makes up the overwhelming majority of high blood pressure cases.
general adaptation syndrome (GAS)
Sequence of reactions to sustained stress described by Hans Selye. These stages are alarm, resistance, and exhaustion, which may lead to death.
health psychology
Subfield of behavioral medicine that studies psychological factors important in health promotion and maintenance.
hypertension
Major risk factor for stroke and heart and kidney disease that is intimately related to psychological factors. Also known as high blood pressure.
majority (close to 90%) have no specific verifiable physical cause and are considered essential hypertension-
immune system
Body's means of identifying and eliminating any foreign materials (for example, bacteria, parasites, and even transplanted organs) that enter.
psychoncology
Study of psychological factors involved in the course and treatment of cancer.
psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)
Study of psychological influences on the neurological responding involved in the body's immune response.
relaxation response
Active components of meditation methods, including repetitive thoughts of a sound to reduce distracting thoughts and closing the mind to other intruding thoughts, that decrease the flow of stress hormones and neurotransmitters and cause a feeling of calm.
rheumatoid arthritis
Painful, degenerative disease in which the immune system essentially attacks itself, resulting in stiffness, swelling, and even destruction of the joints. Cognitive-behavioral treatments can help relieve pain and stiffness.
self-efficacy
Perception of having the ability to cope with stress or challenges.
Bandura
stress
Body's physiological response to a stressor, which is any event or change that requires adaptation.
stroke/cerebral vascular accident (CVA)
Temporary blockage of blood vessels supplying the brain, or a rupture of vessels in the brain, resulting in temporary or permanent loss of brain functioning.
type A behavior pattern
Cluster of behaviors including excessive competitiveness, time-pressured impatience, accelerated speech, and anger, originally thought to promote high risk for heart disease.
type B behavior pattern
Cluster of behaviors including a relaxed attitude, indifference to time pressure, and less forceful ambition; originally thought to promote low risk for heart disease.
psychological and social factors
First, they can affect the basic biological processes that lead to illness and disease. Second, long-standing behavior patterns may put people at risk to develop certain physical disorders
Fully 50% of deaths from the 10 leading causes of death in the Uni
stress physiology
Hans Selye noticed that one group of rats he injected with a certain chemical extract developed ulcers and other physiological problems
Humans under stress show clearly increased rates of infectious diseases, including colds, herpes, and mononucleosis
dep
corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)
secreted into the blood by the hypothalamus. It stimulates the pituitary gland as part of a reaction chain called the stress response. It may be implicated in mood disorders, as well as physical problems.
cortisol
secreted by the cortex of the adrenal glands as part of the stress response.
the hippocampus helps to turn off the stress response, completing a feedback loop between the limbic system and the various parts of the HPA axis
chronic stress leading to chroni
stress hormones
Group of hormones, including corticosteroids, involved in the body's physiological stress response.
AIDS
33.4 million in 2008
Although intravenous drug use and homosexual activity remain the primary modes of acquiring HIV in the United States, in most of the world (and particularly the underdeveloped world) it is heterosexual activity that brings people in c
cancer
survival-enhancing potential of psychological treatments
psychological factors may contribute not only to the course but also to the development of cancer and other diseases
Perceived lack of control, inadequate coping responses, overwhelmingly stressful
chronic negative emotions
responsible for much of the type A-CHD relationship is anger
some components of the type A construct are important determinants of CHD, particularly a chronically high level of negative affect (such as anger) and the time urgency or impatience factor
ange
Psychological and Social Aspects of Pain
severity of the pain does not seem to predict the reaction to it- differences in psychology
Positive psychological factors are also associated with active attempts to cope, such as exercise and other regimens, as opposed to suffering passively
Preexisting
gate control theory of pain
View that psychological factors can enhance or diminish the sensation and perception of pain by influencing the transmission of pain impulses through the section of the spinal cord that acts as a "gate.