Unit 8: Motivation, Emotion and Stress

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Unit 8 Motivation, Emotion and Stress

• Essential Task 8-2Identify the effects of stress
  on psychological/physical well-being and how to
  cope with stress.

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We are here
Explain complex motives (eating, aggression,
achievement and sex)
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Essential Task 8-2
Outline

• Effects of stress on pychological/physical
  well-being
• How to cope with stress

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Stress and Causes of Death

• Prolonged stress combined with unhealthy
  behaviors may increase our risk for one of
  today's four leading diseases.

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Health Psychology
Health psychology is a field of psychology that
contributes to behavioral medicine. The field
studies stress-related aspects of disease and
asks the following questions

1. How do emotions and personality factors influence
   the risk of disease?
2. What attitudes and behaviors prevent illness and
   promote health and well-being?
3. How do our perceptions determine stress?
4. How can we reduce or control stress?

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Stress and Illness

• Stress can be adaptive. In a fearful or stress-
  causing situation, we can run away and save our
  lives. Stress can be maladaptive. If it is
  prolonged (chronic stress), it increases our risk
  of illness and health problems.

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Stress and Heart Disease

• Frequent or chronic stress can cause damage to
  the heart and blood vessels
• Type A personality
• Competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally
  aggressive, and anger-prone people
• Respond to life events with impatience and
  hostility
• Correlated with development of heart disease
• Type B personality
• Relaxed and easygoing

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Correlation?

• FINDINGS Of the original sample of 3200, 257
  participants had developed coronary heart disease
  during the 81/2 years
• 70 of them had been classified as Type A.
• Type As were found to have higher levels of
  cholesterol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline than
  Type Bs.
• A significant but moderate correlation was found
  between personality type and coronary heart
  disease.
• CONCLUSIONS The research shows that Type A
  behaviour pattern is fairly strongly linked to
  CHD. Friedman and Rosenman concluded that the
  Type A behaviour pattern increases the
  individuals experience of stress, which
  increases physiological reactivity, and that in
  turn increases vulnerability to CHD.
• The high levels of the stress hormones suggest
  that they do experience more stress than Type Bs.
  The stress response inhibits digestion, which
  leads to the higher level of cholesterol in the
  blood, and this places Type As at risk of CHD.
  Implications include the need to reduce the
  harmful Type A characteristics.

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Stress and the Immune System

• B lymphocytes fight bacterial infections, T
  lymphocytes attack cancer cells and viruses, and
  microphages ingest foreign substances. During
  stress, energy is mobilized away from the immune
  system making it vulnerable.

Lennart Nilsson/ Boehringer Ingelhein
International GmbH
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Stress and Colds

• People with the highest life stress scores were
  also the most vulnerable when exposed to an
  experimental cold virus.

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Stress and AIDS

• Stress and negative emotions may accelerate the
  progression from human immunodeficiency virus
  (HIV) to acquired immune deficiency syndrome
  (AIDS).

UNAIDS/ G. Pirozzi
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Stress and Cancer

• Stress does not create cancer cells. Researchers
  disagree on whether stress influences the
  progression of cancer. However, they do agree
  that avoiding stress and having a hopeful
  attitude cannot reverse advanced cancer.

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Health-Related Consequences
Stress can have a variety of health-related
consequences.
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Coping With Stress

• Direct coping
• Intentional efforts to change an uncomfortable
  situation
• Confrontation
• Acknowledging stress directly and initiating a
  solution
• Compromise
• Choosing a more realistic goal when an ideal goal
  cannot be met
• Withdrawal
• Avoiding a situation when other options are not
  practical

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Coping With Stress

• Defensive coping
• Can occur when you cannot identify the source of
  stress or cannot do anything to change the
  situation
• Defense mechanisms may be adopted to cope with
  stress
• Denial
• Repression
• Projection
• Identification
• Regression
• Intellectualization
• Reaction formation
• Displacement
• Sublimation

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Coping with Stress

• Reducing stress by changing events that cause
  stress or by changing how we react to stress is
  called problem-focused coping.

OUR SENSE OF CONTOL IS THE DIFFERNCE!
Emotion-focused coping is when we cannot change a
stressful situation, and we respond by attending
to our own emotional needs.
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Perceived Control

• Research with rats and humans indicates that the
  absence of control over stressors is a predictor
  of health problems.

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Explanatory Style

• People with an optimistic (instead of
  pessimistic) explanatory style tend to have more
  control over stressors, cope better with
  stressful events, have better moods, and have a
  stronger immune system.

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Social Support

• Supportive family members, marriage partners, and
  close friends help people cope with stress. Their
  immune functioning calms the cardiovascular
  system and lowers blood pressure.

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Managing Stress

• Having a sense of control, an optimistic
  explanatory style, and social support can reduce
  stress and improve health.

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Aerobic Exercise

• Can aerobic exercise boost spirits? Many studies
  suggest that aerobic exercise can elevate mood
  and well-being because aerobic exercise raises
  energy, increases self-confidence, and lowers
  tension, depression, and anxiety.

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Biofeedback, Relaxation, and Meditation

• Biofeedback systems use electronic devices to
  inform people about their physiological responses
  and gives them the chance to bring their response
  to a healthier range. Relaxation and meditation
  have similar effects in reducing tension and
  anxiety.

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Life-Style

• Modifying a Type-A lifestyle may reduce the
  recurrence of heart attacks.

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Spirituality Faith Communities

• Regular religious attendance has been a reliable
  predictor of a longer life span with a reduced
  risk of dying.

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Intervening Factors
Investigators suggest there are three factors
that connect religious involvement and better
health.
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Managing Stress Summary
How can stress be managed?
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Methods of Reducing Stress

• Calm down
• Exercise
• Relaxation training
• Reach out
• Social support network
• Religion
• Studies have shown an association between
  religion and lower stress
• May be related to social support
• Altruism
• Giving to others because is gives you pleasure
• Shown to be a good way to reduce stress

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Methods of Reducing Stress

• Learn to cope effectively
• Proactive coping
• Anticipate stressful events and take steps to
  avoid them
• Positive reappraisal
• Alter the way you think about a stressful
  situation
• Making the best of a tense or stressful event
• Humor
• Finding the funny things in a situation

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Coping With Stress at College

• Plan ahead
• Prioritize
• Exercise
• Listen to music, watch TV, or go out as a study
  break
• Talk to others
• Meditate or use other relaxation techniques

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Adopt a Healthy Lifestyle

• Eat a well-balanced diet
• Exercise
• Quit smoking
• Avoid high risk behaviors

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Sources of Extreme Stress

• Unemployment
• Stages of relief, optimism, doubt, malaise,
  cynicism
• Divorce and separation
• Ambivalence, feelings of failure, sadness, and
  fear
• Bereavement

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Sources of Extreme Stress

• Catastrophes
• Shock stage
• Suggestible stage
• Recovery stage
• Combat and other threatening personal attacks
• Effects can linger
• Can lead to depression and other disorders

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

• Characterized by episodes of anxiety,
  sleeplessness, and nightmares from a disturbing
  event in the past
• Victims may withdraw from social life or job and
  family responsibilities

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The Well-Adjusted Person

• Psychologists may judge the adjustment value of
  an action by the following criteria
• Does the action realistically meet the demands of
  the situation or just postpone the resolution of
  the problem?
• Does the action meet the individual's needs?
• Is the action compatible with the well-being of
  others?