Bernstein et al., Psychology, 6/e Keyterms

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Psychology, Sixth Edition
Douglas A. Bernstein - University of South Florida and University of Southampton
Louis A. Penner - University of South Florida
Alison Clarke-Stewart - University of California, Irvine
Edward J. Roy - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Keyterms
Chapter 13: Health, Stress, and Coping

Health psychology is a field within psychology that does research to understand the psychological and behavioral processes associated with achieving and maintaining health, treating illness, and preventing it. (see introductory section)
Stress is the process of adjusting to circumstances that disrupt, or threaten to disrupt, a person's physical or psychological functioning. (see Stress and Stressors)
Example: Marcus is five years old. He has just started day care and has been exposed to many childhood diseases. He is under stress because his body must adjust to fighting off these diseases.
Stressors are events and situations to which people must adjust. Almost any event or situation that causes change is a stressor. Other common factors that are considered stressors include trauma, conflict, and daily hassles. (see Stress and Stressors)
Example: Sharon has just been offered a new job. After graduation, she will move from a small town to a large city, have new responsibilities, and want to make new friends. Although these events are positive, they will involve big changes and therefore will be stressors.
The general adaptation syndrome (GAS) is Hans Selye's name for a series of physical reactions to stress. There are three stages: the alarm reaction, the resistance stage, and the exhaustion stage. (see The General Adaptation Syndrome)
Example: To satisfy his intellectual curiosity, Bill is taking a full load of classes, teaching undergraduates, writing a book, and doing research for a professor in his department. At the beginning of the semester, Bill can feel his heart race as he hurries to make an appointment here or there on campus (alarm). During midterm exams, he is in a constant state of arousal but does not notice it. He is used to being busy all day (resistance). By the end of the semester, he has a constant cold, feels tired, and has high blood pressure (exhaustion). Bill's doctor tells him that he needs to take time to relax over term break. His body must have time to recuperate from trying to adjust to such an extraordinary level of stress.
Diseases of adaptation are illnesses promoted or caused by stressors. These can include colds and flu, arthritis, coronary disease, and high blood pressure. (see The General Adaptation Syndrome)
REMEMBER: Diseases of adaptation are due to the body's efforts to adapt to stress.
Burnout (also called gradual mental stress) occurs in some people as a response to a continual series of stressors. Burnout is characterized by an intensifying pattern of physical, psychological, and behavioral problems that are severe enough to interfere with normal day-to-day functioning. (see Linkages: Stress and Psychological Disorders)
Example: After years as an emergency room doctor, Coralette seems detached from her friends. She is increasingly irritable, depressed, and impulsive. Although Coralette has always been reliable, she now often oversleeps and misses the beginning of her shift.
Posttraumatic stress disorder is a stress response to a traumatic experience characterized by anxiety, irritability, jumpiness, inability to concentrate or work productively, sexual dysfunction, emotional numbness, and difficulty getting along with others. (see Linkages: Stress and Psychological Disorders)
Example: After witnessing the murder of a close friend, Charles has recurring nightmares and trouble sleeping. Charles is uncharacteristically rude, nervous, and distracted at work.
A social support network is a group of friends or other social contacts who can be relied upon to help during stressful situations. (see Social Support)
Example: Ginetta and Tina are sisters and best friends. Whenever they have a problem, they know they can count on each other or other family members to lend an ear or help in any way they can.
Psychoneuroimmunology is a field that studies the interaction between psychological and physiological processes that affect the body's ability to defend itself against disease. (see Stress, Illness, and the Immune System)
Health promotion is the process of learning healthy behavior patterns and eliminating behaviors that increase the risk of illness. (see Promoting Healthy Behavior)
Progressive relaxation training, a physical coping strategy, teaches an individual to relax voluntary muscles. This leads to heart rate and blood pressure reduction and creates mental and emotional calmness. (see Developing Coping Strategies)





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