The Biology of Stress



Stress, Health, and CopingHealth Psychology: the field of psychology concerned with the promotion of health and the prevention and treatment of illness as it relates to psychological factors. Stress is the body’s response (both physically and psychologically) to a stimulus, called a stressor, that changes the body’s equilibrium. If you break your toe by dropping something heavy on it, the break is a stressor because it changes the body’s comfort zone. The body’s reaction to stress is called the stress response. It’s also known as the fight-or-flight response. When your brain releases endorphins and the body sends white blood cells to the site of an injury, that’s considered a stress response. The list of possible stressors is very long and can be classified in terms of acute stress and chronic stress. Acute stressors are things such as being injured, being given an essay assignment that’s due the next day, being made fun of by peers at school, etc. Chronic stressors include job stress, not having enough to eat or enough money to pay bills, having chronic relationship problems or a seriously ill child, etc. Stressors can be further classified into physical, psychological, or social stressors. In general, people react similarly to certain physical stressors, such as hunger, but have different reactions to psychological and social stressors, depending on one’s interpretation of the event , personality, and specific coping styles. Stress is not always a bad thing. In many cases, it can lead to positive change and growth.The Biology of StressSelye’s General Adaptation Syndrome: Selye said that stress has three distinct phases: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. Alarm: This phase consists of perceiving a stressor, which then triggers the fight-or-flight response. The body’s response then consists of the following: A set of brain areas, known as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (the HPA axis) responds by starting the release of a group of hormones called the glucocorticoids. The most important of these hormones is cortisol, which increases the production of energy from glucose and has an anti-inflammatory effect that helps restore the body’s equilibrium after physical injury. Cortisol also affects neurotransmitter functioning and can affect cognition and emotion (namely, increased alertness and the ability to put emotions aside while confronting an acute and severe stressor). The HPA axis also activates the sympathetic nervous system, while simultaneously inhibiting the parasympathetic response.The sympathetic nervous system then releases certain neurotransmitters and hormones such as epinephrine and norepinepherine (otherwise known as adrenaline and noraderenaline).Epinepherine and norepinephrine then cause changes in the body that make strenuous physical activity easier. For instance, these chemicals help the body to fight the threat or flee from it by affecting heart rate and breathing (purpose of both is to get more blood and oxygen to the muscles), causing pupils to dilate (to let in more light), and cause the palms to sweat (for better gripping). The cascade of neurotransmitters and hormones affects immune system functioning as well. In general, the changes brought about by the stress response sharpen the senses and allow the body to either fight or flee. The speed of action and amount of each hormone produced differ depending on the type of stressor. This ancient evolutionary reaction to stress worked well for our ancestors who often met physical threats of danger, but it doesn’t work as well for our lifestyles today (taking exams), causing the stress response to actually interfere with our coping instead of helping with it. If the stressor is acute, the body quickly returns to normal. If it’s longer-lasting, we move into the second stage, resistance. Resistance: Also known as the adaptation phase. In this phase, various bodily functions are disrupted, including digestion, growth, sex drive, and reproductive processes. The menstrual cycle in women may become irregular or even stop. Sperm production and testosterone levels in men may drop. The reason for these changes is simply that we don’t want to waste energy on processes that are unnecessary to our immediate survival. Cortisol keeps being produced in the resistance stage, which helps the body return to a more normal state despite the stressor. If the stressor is acute, cortisol levels reach their peak within 20-40 minutes after the stressor and then return to normal within an hour after the stressor was first encountered. If cortisol levels do not return to normal (these levels remain elevated in cases of chronic stress), then the high levels can damage the brain during the final level of stress, exhaustion.Exhaustion: Eventually, the body becomes exhausted because of its limited resources are depleted. During this phase, the continued stress response begins to damage the body and leads to an increased risk of stress-related diseases such as high blood pressure, digestive problems, and even brain damage (specifically, the hippocampus is damaged, which impairs learning and memory). A better name for this stage may be the “damage” phase. Allostatic Load: Allostosis refers to the multiple biological changes that allow you to adapt to a stressor(s) in the short run so that your body functions in a comfortable range (stays in balance…homeostasis). It comes with a cost, though. The cumulative wear and tear on our bodies necessary to maintain homeostasis in the face of stress is called the allostatic load. The greater the number of stressors, regardless of how “in balance” you feel you are, the greater your allostatic load. Illness and disease can result. Interpreting StressorsIt’s your appraisal of the stressor (i.e., your perception of it) that determines the effect the stressor will have on you. Many psychological, social, and even some physical stressors are stressors only if you perceive them that way.Classic study by Speisman et al. (1964): Subjects saw a silent film in which Aborigonal teenage boys underwent a ritual involving crude genital incisions made with stones by tribal elders. One group heard a “trauma” soundtrack in which the narrator emphasized the pain experienced by the teens. Another group heard a “denial” soundtrack in which the narrator emphasized the positive aspects of the ritual and minimized the pain. A third group heard an “intellectualization” soundtrack in which the narrator described the procedure in a detached, clinical manner. Participants in the denial and intellectualization groups were less stressed and upset than those in the trauma group. Two-stage process of stress appraisal (referred to as cognitive appraisal):You assess a stimulus for the likelihood of danger. This is called the primary appraisal.You determine the resources you have for dealing with the stimulus. Callled the secondary appraisal. So basically, it’s “Am I in danger?” and “What can I do about it?” After the appraisal comes coping—taking action to address a stressor or to counteract the effects of a stressor. If you assess that you have enough resources to deal with the stressor, you’ll probably see the stressor as a challenge. If you don’t have enough resources, you’ll see it as a threat. Example: Planning a wedding, writing an essay, having a baby.Sometimes it’s the perception of how much control we have over the stressor that determines its threat (or challenge). If we feel like we have no control, we can experience learned helplessness, in which we simply give up trying to cope with it and let it overcome us. (Example of learned helplessness: People in domestic abuse situations.) Types of ConflictsInternal conflicts are emotional predicaments that we experience when making tough choices.Approach-approach conflict: arises when two or more alternatives are equally positive. This kind of conflict can be stressful but is not necessarily unpleasant. Example: Choosing between two equally appealing job opportunities or even trying to decide between two options at a restaurant.Avoidance-avoidance conflict: both choices are equally negative. Break up with significant other and be alone or stick with the relationship and be unhappy. Approach-avoidance conflict: A single choice has both positive and negative aspects. E.g., a job opportunity that you really like, but the commute is too long. Daily HasslesDaily hassles are the little daily stressors we all encounter. In general, they’re perceived as negative. Housework piling up, a sick child, sitting in traffic, a grocery line that doesn’t move, dog pooping in the floor, having too many things to do in a given day. All of these small stressors add up to increase our allostatic load. Daily hassles have been associated with more psychological problems, physical symptoms, higher cholesterol levels, and problems with immune system functioning. Effects of Stress on the BodyStress and the Cardiovascular SystemThere are two ways to evaluate CV activity: heart rate (number of beats per minute) and blood pressure (force of blood against the artery walls). When you’re under stress, your heart has to work harder. BP increases, and so does heart rate. Quite a few studies show this effect. Prolonged periods of high BP can produce a buildup of fatty acids and glucose on blood vessel walls, which makes the heart work even harder to pump blood through the narrowing arteries. This constant wear and tear leads to considerable damage to the heart and arteries over time. Depression, anxiety & fear Stress and the Immune SystemThe immune system is our line of defense against illness, infections, and foreign or “nonself” materials (including bacteria, viruses, etc.). The immune system consists of specialized white blood cells called lymphocytes, which include B cells and T cells.B cells originate in the bone marrow and control the humoral immune response system, which produce antibodies. T cells originate in the thymus and control the cell-mediated response system, in which the antibodies bind to foreign cells to kill them. Other immune cells include the natural killer (NK) cells, which detect and destroy damaged (such as precancerous) cells. Macrophages engulf and digest foreign material such as bacteria. Stress can indirectly lead to cancer by wearing down the NK cells. Without properly working NK cells, tumors can grow and spread. However, we must be cautious about overstating the link between stress and cancer. Psychological factors have relatively little impact on the growth of tumors, especially in the late stages of cancer. Stress has a number of negative effects on the immune system. Research shows that people who experience a variety of different stressors (including divorce, loneliness, unemployment, bereavement, marital conflict, and exams) have fewer B, T, and NK cells. Experimental research with animals shows that the ones who are exposed to stressors like noise, shock, or overcrowding, show less immune cell activity than those who aren’t exposed. One interesting study showed that dental students who allowed small wounds to be placed in their mouths showed 40% longer healing time during exams than in summer vacation. Cohen et al. (1991) looked at the influence of stress on illness by injecting 394 people with nasal drops containing a cold virus. People who were experiencing more stress in their lives had a greater rate of infection with the cold, even after controlling for age, gender, personality, and other factors. Psychoneuroimmunology is the field that examines the connections between psychosocial factors, such as stress, and the nervous, CV, endocrine, and immune systems. Personality & HealthType A Behavior.Initially studied by Friedman and Rosenman in the 1950s when they were looking at the association between diet and heart disease. They found 2 different personality types: A and B.Type A: three features—1) high levels of time urgency (irritated and impatient with time delays and constantly trying to do more than 1 thing at a time; 2) strong competitive drive at both work and play; 3) prone to experiencing anger and hostilityType B: mostly defined in terms of the absence of Type A features; these people are less driven, more easy-going and relaxedType A’s report experiencing more minor illnesses such as coughs, allergies, headaches, and asthma attacks. They have more digestive problems and migraines. Some studies have shown that they’re more likely to experience heart problems, but some recent studies contradict that. Some have even found that Type B’s have higher mortality than Type A’s from heart disease. The discrepancy may be due to the measurement of Type A behavior, whether by interview (the more accurate measure) or self-report. Also, remember that Type A behavior has 3 components, and only one of these (hostility/anger) has a relatively strong link with heart disease. Hostility/disagreeableness. Hostile people are often in bad moods and have negative expectations of their relationships. They believe that others are motivated by selfish concerns and expect that others will deliberately try to hurt them. They’re rude, uncooperative, and aggressive. Hostile people have poorer health, including higher rates of hypertension, CHD, and death. Specifically, hostile people are more likely to have artery blockage. They have higher heart rates and blood pressure throughout the day, no matter what their mood. In general, men are more hostile than women, and hostility has a greater affect on men’s blood pressure than on women’s. **Is it better for a hostile person to express his hostility or hold it in? Although you’d think that it would be better to “get it off your chest,” it’s actually LESS beneficial for your health if you express your anger. Expressing anger is significantly associated with declines in your immune system and cardiovascular problems.SleepSleep deprivation; Record for human staying awake: 11 days straight. Rats will die within 2 weeks from sleep deprivation. Adults need 7-9 hours to feel alert (college students need 9), but 60% get less than 6 hours. Can result in heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, lowered immune response, poorer concentration and learning ability, greater susceptibility to accidents, depression, and an elevated sympathetic nervous system response. A subset of the population needs 6 hours or less of sleep. A 2009 survey found that 70% of Americans aren’t getting enough sleep The averge number of sleep on work nights is 6 hours 40 minutes. Over 7 times as many people over age 65 (as opposed to under 65) report that they get enough sleep.Sleep deprivation negatively affects attention & performance, learning (through increased cortisol levels and the impact of REM and stage 4 sleep on learning), and the stress response. Sleep-deprived people experience more stress in their lives than non-sleep-deprived people do. The loss of even one night’s sleep can increase the amount of cortisol produced the next day. This becomes a vicious cycle because the more stress we’re under, the more cortisol is produced and the more keyed up we feel, making it hard to shut our brains off and go to sleep at night.Sleep restores the body, conserves energy, and facilitates learning. We spend 1/3 of our lives in sleep.Sleep CyclesIt takes about 90 minutes for one sleep cycle, which occur in the following order: Stage 1-2-3-4-3-2-1-REMAlert state: beta waves at 13 waves/secondRelaxed state: alpha waves (8-12 cycles)Stage 1: Theta waves; 4-7 cycles/second; lasts up to 5 minutes; person may be confused, reports of ghosts most common here; may experience hallucinations (hypnogogic imagery). Hypnogogic sleep is halfway between sleep & wakefulness. Myoclonic jerk: between stages 1 and 2, the muscles jerk (brain notices between stage 1 and 2 that breathing & heart rate are slowing, so it sends out a burst of electrical activity to the muscles).Stage 2: Lasts about 20 minutes; periodic appearance of sleep spindles and K complexes (rapidly rising and falling brain waves). No eye movement here; deep muscle relaxation, body temp lowers, heart rate slows. Person is clearly asleep but can still be fairly easily awakened.Stage 3: transitional stage between stages 2 and 4; consists of 20% delta wavesStage 4 50% delta waves; deepest stage of sleep. Stages 3 and 4 are called delta wave or slow wave sleep and last 30 minutes or so. Hard to awaken. Bedwetting, sleepwalking, night terrors occur here. REM sleep: occurs about an hour after falling asleep. For about 10 minutes, your brain waves become fast and saw-toothed (almost like stage 1). Heart rate rises, breathing becomes fast and irregular, genitals become aroused, eyes dart around every 30 seconds or so. Paradoxical sleep: aroused on inside but paralyzed on the inside. Brain stem blocks motor messages so you can’t act out your dreams. REM behavior disorder: an abnormal condition occurring mostly in men over age 50 in which there is something wrong with the locus coruleus (the structure that keeps us paralyzed); here you act out your dreams (not paralyzed). Occurs in 1 in 200 people. REM sleep gets longer and longer as the night wears on, accounting for 20-25% of night’s sleep. If deprived of sleep for a few nights, you have REM rebound and experience intense dreams, even nightmares.DreamsOccur mainly during REM sleep, but we can also dream in other stages. REM dreaming differs from non-REM dreaming. REM dreams are more intense, vivid, plot-like, emotional, and illogical. Non-REM dreams are shorter, repetitive, more thoughtful & mundane; concerned with topics that we’re worried about (test, grocery list, etc)Dreams can be recalled more than 80% of the time if you’re awakened during REM. Visual and auditory centers of the brain are active when we’re dreaming but not during other stages of sleep.Questions about dreams:Does everyone dream? Yes, although not everyone recalls their dreams.How long do dreams last? They run on real time, and some can last an hour or two. The longer they seem, the longer they really last.Can external events become part of the dream? Yes. Dement & Wolpert (1958) sprayed water on sleepers in the REM stage. Most reported water in their dreams.When people can’t remember their dreams, does it mean they’re purposely forgetting them (repressing them)? No. No evidence of this.Do dreams foretell the future? No evidence of this.Do dreams express unconscious wishes? No evidence for this.Do blind people dream? Yes, but if they were blinded before age 4, they have no visual imagery in their dreams. They do have heightened other sense, though. If they were blinded after age 7, they do have visual imagery. The age between 4 and 7 appears to be a sensitive period for visual imagery development.Lucid dreaming: The ability to know we’re dreaming. Sometimes you can alter the course of a dream or wake yourself up. This is a part of lucid dreaming. Most frequent dream themes: (Domhoff, 2003)Being chased or pursuedBeing lost, late, or trappedFallingFlyingLosing valuable possessionsSexual dreamsExperiencing great natural beautyBeing naked or dressed oddlyInjury or illnessTheories about DreamsFreud’s psychoanalytic view: There is a manifest content (literal content) and a latent content (hidden meaning) of dreams. Dreams represent unconscious desires of impulses and can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning. Most have some sort of sexual meaning. No evidence for this.Activation-Synthesis Theory:Hobson and McCarley (1960s-70s) developed a theory that links dreams to brain activity. They said that dreams are just the brain’s attempt to make sense of random neural signals during REM sleep. REM is turned on by surges of acetylcholine, which activates nerve cells in the pons (brain stem). The activated pons sends messages to the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus, which relays sensory information to the language and visual centers of the cortex. The cortex tries to weave a meaningful story from the random neural signals. The story is rarely coherent or logical because the neural signals are so random and chaotic. The amygdale is also ramped up, which adds emotion to the story (fear, anxiety, anger, sadness, and elation). The result is what we experience as a dream.Neurocognitive Theory:Proponents of neurocognitive views of dreaming argue that we can’t just look at dreams as a reflection of random neural activity. Instead, we must consider our cognitive capacities, which shape what we dream about. Children only recall 20-30% of their dreams before the age of 7 or 8. Their dreams are simple, lack movement, and are less emotional and bizarre than adult dreams are. Complex dreams are “cognitive achievements” that parallel the gradual development of visual imagination and other advanced cognitive activities. We begin to dream like adults when our brains develop the wiring to do so (Domhoff, 2001).Domhoff and others have found that many dreams are associated with emotional concerns and everyday preoccupations, and that dream content is surprisingly stable over long periods of time. There are cross-cultural similarities in what we dream. Virtually everyone experiences the following in dreams:More aggression than friendliness More negative than positive emotionsMore misfortune than good fortuneThe dreams of older adults resemble those of college students, but with age, negative emotions and aggression decrease.Women have more emotional content in their dreams, and their dream characters are more evenly divided between men and women.Men’s dream characters are more often men (by a 2:1 ratio; Hall, 1984).One cultural difference is that in technologically advanced societies, dreams feature fewer animals than in smaller, traditional societies.**Bottom line: Although dreams are often bizarre, they’re more consistent over time than we’d expect if they were just random neural impulses generated by the rmation-processing view: Dreams may help us sort out the day’s events by going over things we need to remember or think about. They may help fix our experiences in memory. Evidence: Babies spend 50% of their time in REM, compared to 20-25% of the time that older children and adults do. Babies have more to learn; everything is new to them. Babies who are brain damaged or developmentally delayed show less time in REM sleep, suggesting that REM sleep is a critical part of normal brain function.Function of dreamsThe function of dreams remains a puzzle because research evidence involving the role of learning and memory in dreams is mixed. Evidence from a variety of sources suggests the following:Dreams are involved in processing emotional memoriesIntegrating new experiencing with established memories to make sense of the worldLearning new strategies and ways of doing things (like playing pool or golf)Simulating threatening events so we can better cope with them in everyday lifeReorganizing and consolidating memoriesSleep disordersFatal familial insomnia: a rare brain disease in which patients lose the ability to fall asleep. It’s fatal within 6-30 months. Death results from multiple organ failure (thalamus degenerates, sympathetic nervous system becomes overactive, and person experiences weight loss, tremors, and endocrine system failure. May begin in late 30s but usually between the ages of 40-60. It runs in families. Four stages of FFI:Progressive insomnia, developing over about 4 months. Includes panic attacks and bizarre phobias.Second stage lasts 5 months or so and is marked by hallucinations, agitation, and sweating.3rd stage lasts 3 months—total insomnia and weight loss. Person looks like he’s aged significantly and may have incontinence.Last stage lasts 6 months and is characterized b y dementia. Patient becomes mute and dies.Insomnia:the most common sleep disorder, affecting 40% of adults occasionally and 10-15% chronically. Increases with age and is more common among women (maybe a hormonal or stress-related function). People with insomnia learn to fear their inability to fall asleep, and this gets them into a vicious cycle. Insomnia can involve the failure to fall asleep or stay asleep (or waking too early in the morning). Sometimes people who think they have insomnia actually don’t have it. They don’t know they’re asleep, or they simply don’t need as much sleep as others do. Two basic courses of treatment: medications (Ambien, Lunesta, Restoril, Sonata, Elavil, trazadone, etc.) and cognitive behavioral therapy. Medications are a good short-term fix but can cause dependence if used chronically. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is considered at least as effective as medication, probably more so. Basically, you have to learn not to fear insomnia and also replace your irrational thoughts about sleep with more rational ones. Gregg Jacobs, a national sleep expert, says the most important things to do are…Sleep restriction: don’t spend more than 7 hours in bed and don’t lie in bed on weekends for more than an hour past your normal wake-up time. Otherwise, you’ll mess up your sleep cycle. Also, avoid naps.Stimulus control: Don’t lie in bed more than 20 minutes trying to fall asleep. Get up and do something boring (read a textbook) in a quiet room until you feel sleepy. Otherwise, you’ll start associating your bed with the inability to get to sleep.Relaxation training: Rhythmic breathing, soothing visual imagery, etc. to help you get to sleep.These tips reduce falling asleep time from an average of 80 minutes to 19 minutes.Narcolepsy: a disorder in which sleep occurs at inappropriate and unexpected times. The person experiencing narcolepsy has sleep attacks lasting for a few minutes at random times; they fall immediately REM sleep. Cataplexy is a condition accompanying REM sleep in which the narcoleptic suddenly falls down as muscles become paralyzed (due to REM). Sometimes the person in a state of cataplexy is not actually asleep, just paralyzed. Narcolepsy seems to be related to the absence of a certain hormone called orexin, possibly as a result of damage from an overly-aggressive immune response. Narcoleptic attacks are often triggered by emotions, boredom, and heavy meals. Somnambulism: sleepwalking. Associated with slow-wave sleep and is most common in children (25% of all children experience it at least once).Night terrors: also occur in slow-wave sleep (usually the first stage 4 cycle of the night) and are common in children. It’s related to sleepwalking and seems to be an autonomic disturbance. In night terrors, people awaken from deep sleep with signs of intense arousal and powerful feelings of fear. They have no awareness of their surroundings and have no memory of it the next day. Nightmares, which are found in REM sleep only, are not associated with night terrors. Nightmares can be recalled, but night terrors cannot.Sleep apnea: an increasingly common condition affecting 1 in 25 people (usually overweight men, but it doesn’t have to be) in which one stops breathing during sleep. It causes multiple nighttime waking (several hundred times a day) as the person wakes and gasps for breath. It’s associated with a decrease in oxygen, which triggers waking. Caused either by the failure of the respiratory centers in the brain to maintain normal breathing or by the periodic collapse of the windpipe due to weight pressure. Can be treated with a CPAP machine or by surgery. Coping StrategiesThere are two basic categories of coping: Problem-focused coping: coping that is focused on changing the environment or the way the person interacts with the environment; attacking a problem or stressor and head-on and trying to come up with ways to solve or alleviate the stressor. This type of coping is more common when people believe they have control over the stressor (when their actions will help). Some types of problem-focused coping:Active coping—actively trying to remove or work around the stressor to weaken its effects (e.g., taking a sick dog to the vet)Planning—thinking about how to manage the stressor (researching treatment options for your cancer diagnosis)Instrumental social support—seeking concrete advice, assistance, or information (asking friends to help you move into a new apartment)Suppression of competing activities—puts other activities on hold in order to concentrate on and cope with the stressor (say “No” to this weekend’s party in order to get schoolwork done)Restraint coping—waiting to act until the appropriate time (holding yourself back from hitting a bully until you can better cope with the situation)Emotion-focused coping: coping that is focused on changing the person’s emotional response to the stressor. Done when you feel like you have no control over the stressor.Emotional social support—seeking encouragement, moral support, and understanding from others (getting help from girlfriends about latest relationship problem)Venting emotions—talking or writing about upsetting feelings (writing in a journal; talking about your problems with a therapist or significant other)Positive reinterpretation/growth—reinterpreting the stressor or situation in a positive way or challenge (deciding that being laid off is actually a good thing because it allows you time to focus on getting a better job)Behavioral disengagement—reducing efforts to deal with the stressor (as occurs with learned helplessness); e.g., giving up and letting the situation overcome you**Mental disengagement—turning to other activities to distract attention from the stressor (drinking or partying so you don’t have to think about what’s bothering you)****These are considered avoidant types of coping. It can be adaptive when absolutely nothing can be done about the stressor. The more stressors you face (the greater your allostatic load), the more you’ll turn to emotion-focused coping strategies that decrease the focus on the stressors and increase the focus on other things.Another avoidant type of emotion-focused coping is called thought suppression, in which we intentionally try not to think about what’s bothering us. This is very hard to do and not be very effective. When you’re actively trying to suppress a thought, it actually pops into consciousness more than if you’re not trying to suppress it. AggressionSometimes aggression is used to cope with stress. Aggression is behavior that is intended to harm another person or living being who does not wish to be harmed. Hostile aggression bias: the tendency to misread the intentions of others as negative. People with this bias tend to respond negatively in stressful situations. Narcissism: Narcissists are people who have an inflated self-esteem and think very highly of themselves. This view of themselves is not based on reality and may be unstable, changing significantly from day to day. Oddly, it’s not people with low self-esteem who tend to be bullies but people who have HIGH levels of self-esteem/narcissism. Their aggression is related to a perceived threat to their positive self-esteem. (Not everyone with high self-esteem is a narcissist or aggressive. Narcissists are a subset of the high-self-esteem group and are the only ones whose self-esteem is related to increased aggression.)Gender differences: Males are more aggressive than females. Some types of aggression aren’t physical but relational, meaning it’s designed to damage relationships or injure others psychologically, but still, women are less aggressive if they think the aggression will backfire, hurt someone else, or make them feel guilty. Background noise: This refers to factors that increase a person’s allostatic load (hot weather, noise, depression, pain, etc.). They tend to create a temporary hostile attribution bias, making people lash out at others. (A “last straw” effect)Drugs and AlcoholSometimes people turn to drugs or alcohol to cope with stress. This can lead to substance abuse, which is drug or alcohol use that causes distress or trouble with functioning in major areas of life. For more information about drugs and alcohol, see the “Psychoactive Drugs” and “Alcohol” notes in a separate file.Social SupportSocial support is the help and support gained through interacting with others. It buffers the adverse effects of stress. Just having people you can rely on increases life expectancy as much as being a nonsmoker or being physically active does. It’s associated with better immune functioningPerceived social support is the subjective sense that support is available should it be needed. It’s distinct from the actual size and variety of the person’s social support network.Enacted social support is the specific support provided to the person—bring meals, etc. Research shows that it’s perceived support, not enacted support, that provides the buffer against stress, even though perceived support is unrelated to the actual support you get. Mind-body interventionsThings like yoga, hypnosis, biofeedback, meditation, visual mental imagery, cognitive therapy, stress management/relaxation induction, prayer, and tai chi. These can relieve stress. Even the placebo effect (believing something will help you when it actually has no effect) is a form of mind-body intervention.Gender Differences in StressIn Western cultures, women experience more stress than men do. They juggle multiple roles and have conflict between those roles (work vs. being a mom). They more often have the “second job” of taking care of the house and children after they get home from work. Women tend to use emotion-focused strategies, and men use more problem-focused coping. ................
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