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Describe a stressor currently impacting you
Describe a stressor currently impacting you
The mind-body connection is a topic we’ve been reading and talking about. I’d appreciate it if you could each provide a written response to the two questions below. For formatting requirements, please consult the course outline. In addition to general knowledge, your most up-to-date course material should inform your critical thinking responses. To back up your claims, use examples from your own life or the lives of others if they are applicable. A two-page response is required. Please explain a source of stress in your life right now.
(1) Explain the effects of a current source of stress in your life. Please explain where you think the stress is coming from (2 POINTS), what seems to exacerbate it (including things in your natural, work, school, family, or social environment), and how it affects your everyday life (2 POINTS).
(2) Explain any changes in your body that you’ve seen since experiencing the stress. Specify which of your body’s systems (immunity, muscle tension, hunger, etc.) you think is being negatively affected. Three points. Give some examples of what you could do to reduce the stress’s physical effects (3 POINTS).
Stress Management for Life Describe a stressor currently impacting you
Chapter 4
The Mind/Body Connection
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Opening Questions
How do my thoughts and feelings change my physical condition?
Why do I get sick after I go through a stressful time?
What is the placebo effect and does it really work?
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Student Objectives
Describe the role of stress in disease
Discuss how stress can affect body systems including cardiovascular, nervous, digestive, and immune systems
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Student Objectives Describe a stressor currently impacting you
Explain the concept of psychoneuroimmunology APA Format
Explain the placebo effect as an example of the power of the mind over the body
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
What is going on in your mind determines what is happening in your body
The Mind/Body Connection
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Encompasses both our emotional and mental health
Psychologically healthy people develop awareness and control over their thoughts and feelings
Psychological Health
H180: Stress Prevention & Management Describe a stressor currently impacting you
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
A complex physiological process, the stress response, always starts with a single thought!
Psychological Health
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
FYI
– 70-80% of all visits to healthcare providers are for stress-related and stress induced illnesses
– Stress contributes to 50% of all illnesses in the U.S.
– The cost of job stress in the U.S. is estimated to be $200 billion annually
Impact of Stress
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy People 2000 (Hyattsville, MD: Public Health Service).
H180: Stress Prevention & Management Describe a stressor currently impacting you
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
“Healthy People 2010” reports the continuing trend that health problems related to stress are among the most pressing concerns in public health
The Role of Chronic Stress in Disease
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Stress can impact health either directly by way of physiological changes in the body, or indirectly through a change in the person’s behavior
Direct and Indirect Effects of Chronic Stress Describe a stressor currently impacting you
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
The cumulative physiological wear and tear on the body that results from ongoing adaptive efforts to maintain homeostasis in response to stressors
Allostatic Load
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Medium Chronic Stress
Muscle tension and pain
Headaches
Fatigue
Upset Stomach
Difficulty Sleeping
Cold or Sore Throat
Effects of Medium-Term Chronic Stress Describe a stressor currently impacting you
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Research Highlight
The Cold, Hard Facts
Psychologist Sheldon Cohen’s research found:
– Happy, relaxed people are more resistant to illness than those who tend to be unhappy or tense
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Research Highlight
– Serious work-related/personal stress that lasts at least a month increases the chances of catching a cold
– Rates of respiratory infection/colds increased with the extent of psychological stress the person had experienced in the previous year
Source: “Psychological Stress and Susceptibility to the Common Cold,” by S. Cohen, D. Tyrrell, and A. Smith, New England Journal of Medicine, 325 (1991): 606–612. Describe a stressor currently impacting you
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
FYI
Stressful events that cause the release of certain hormones can make you forget things you know you should know
H180: Stress Prevention & Management Describe a stressor currently impacting you
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
More antibodies to fight infection on positive days, less antibodies to fight infection on rough days
Role of the Immune System
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Long-Term Chronic Stress
Mental stress increases oxygen demand because of elevated blood pressure and heart rate
Vascular resistance and coronary artery constriction decrease blood supply
Stress and the Heart
H180: Stress Prevention & Management Describe a stressor currently impacting you
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Long-Term Chronic Stress
Blood tends to clot more easily
Chronically high levels of cortisol may affect cardiac health by promoting inflammation that causes heart attacks
Stress and the Heart
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Long-Term Chronic Stress
Stress hinders the immune system’s ability to produce and maintain lymphocytes and natural killer cells
Stress and the Immune System
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Long-Term Chronic Stress
Prolonged stress can age people prematurely Describe a stressor currently impacting you
Cells of people under high stress aged to equivalent of 9 to 17 years more than the cells of people under little stress
Stress and Aging
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Research Highlight
Chronic Stress and Immunity
119 men and women who were dealing with the stress of caring for a spouse with dementia compared with 106 men and women of similar age and health status who did not serve as caregivers
H180: Stress Prevention & Management Describe a stressor currently impacting you
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Research Highlight
Results:
Blood tests showed a dramatic increase of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the caregivers compared to the non-caregivers
Overproduction of IL-6 has been associated with the development or progression of a number of medical conditions
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Research Highlight
Results:
Increased levels of IL-6 persisted for several years even after spouse of caregivers had died Describe a stressor currently impacting you
Suggests that stress may increase the risk of many typical age-associated diseases by altering immune response
Source: Chronic Stress and Age-related Increases in the Proinflammatory Cytokine IL-6, by J. Kiecolt-Glaser, K. Preacher, R. MacCallum, C. Atkinson, W. Malarkey, and R. Glaser, Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (USA), July 2, 2003.
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Long-Term Chronic Stress
Chronic inflammation plays a role in diseases from cancer to depression to Alzheimer’s
Stress is proving to be a key player
Stress and Inflammation
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Long-Term Chronic Stress
Fat cells that accumulate near organs in the abdominal cavity respond to stress hormones you produce when you’re frazzle or overtired by producing their own chemicals Describe a stressor currently impacting you
Stress and Inflammation
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Long-Term Chronic Stress
Cortisol binds to receptors on these fat cells, setting off a process that promotes the storage of fat and increases the number of fat cells
These extra cells then produce more chemicals that increase inflammation
Stress and Inflammation
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014 Describe a stressor currently impacting you
Psychosomatic Illness – conditions that have a mind and body component
How the Mind and Body Communicate
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Placebo effect – a phenomenon created by a person’s belief that he or she will benefit from an intervention
The Placebo Effect
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Seeks to understand the complex communications between and among the nervous system, the psyche, and the immune system, and their implications for health
Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) Describe a stressor currently impacting you
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
In Class Activity
Body Signals
With a Partner: Think about a health concern your or someone you know might be experiencing right now.
– What is the condition?
– How is stress related to the problem?
I will select a few groups from each row to present
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
Psychophysiological conditions have a mind and body component that is supported by science
Chronic stress is a contributing factor to many illnesses and diseases Describe a stressor currently impacting you
Key Points
Medium-term stress results in an array of unhealthy signs and symptoms
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
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Conditions that have a mind and body component are called psychosomatic or psychophysiological
Key Points
Long-term stress may result in serious health problems
The placebo effect demonstrates the power of the mind on the body Describe a stressor currently impacting you
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
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Key Points
Psychoneuroimmunology is the field of study that seeks to understand the complex communications between the nervous system, the psyche, and the immune system, and their implications for health
H180: Stress Prevention & Management
Wednesday, 9/11/2014
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Describe a stressor currently impacting you