What is behavioral Medicine?

o   Behavioral Medicine is an interdisciplinary field that integrates behavioral and medical knowledge and applies that knowledge to health and disease.

What is health psychology?

   is a subfield of psychology that provides psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine

What is stress?

the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threating or challenging.

Who is a Cannon?

Cannon is … the first researcher to work with stress

He found serious physiological change when stress is present (epinephrine/norepinephrine)  

Coined fight or flight

What are stressful Life events?

Catastrophes (unpredictable large scale events), significant life changes (death of loved one, loss of job, leaving home, marriage/divorce)

o   Daily hassles (everyday annoyance; can add up and take effect; impoverished areas see high hypertension rates). Perceived control

What is a Coronary Heart Disease?

 Coronary Heart Disease … is clogging of heart vessels that nourish the heart muscle, leading cause of death in many developed countries since the 50’s.

Pessimists twice as likely to have a heart attack; depression also increases risk

Explain the Friedman and Rosenman?

o   Type A; competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, anger prone

o   Type B; easygoing relaxed people

o   More heart attacks in type A; no pure type B heart attacks

Who are Type A’s?

o   Unhealthy smokers that sleep less, higher temperament, blood pressures, stress hormones

o   Toxic core of negative emotions; more cholesterol/fat in blood; consistently stressed sends blood away from vital organs (SNS); increase development of plaque on artery walls.

What is psychophysiological illnesses?

o   Literally a mind-body illness

o   Any stress related physical illness, such as hypertension and some headaches.

What is psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)?

o   Study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine process together effect the immune system and resulting in health issues.

o   Immune system can make errors; attack its own tissues, causing arthritis and allergic reactions (over reaction or lack of reactions).

What is Lymphocytes?

o   There are two types of white blood cells that are of the body’s immune system

1.      B lymphocytes

2.      T lymphocytes

o   B-L form in the bone marrow and release antibodies that fight bacterial infections. While T-L, form in the thymus and other lymphatic tissues and attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances.

o   Consider macrophage (big eaters) that identify and pursues/digests invaders, worn out cells. Also, the natural killer cells, which pursue diseased cells.

o   Women have stronger immune systems. Stress hormones lessen lymphocytes and long term stress results in less active immune systems; surgical wounds heal faster if unstressed; easier to get a cold if stressed.

What do AIDS and stress have in common?

o   AIDS is a type of STD

o   Acquire immune deficiency syndrome; caused by human immunodeficiency virus

o   Stress and negative emotions correlate with progression of HIV and AIDS

What does Cancer and Stress have in common?

o   Stress allows for quicker tumor development, faster spreading.

What is meant by coping?

o   Alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods

o   Reappraise the problem. Learn from the experience, make social comparisons (look at those above/below), develop a sense of humor.

What is problem focused coping?

o   Attempting to alleviate stress directly by changing the stressor or the way we interact with the stressor

What is emotion focused coping?

o   Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one’s stress reactions.

What is perceived control?

o   Out of control of shocks is more susceptible to ulcers and lower immunity to disease; elderly out of control die sooner

o   Less overcrowding leads to longevity; high economic status predicts lower risk of heart problem; wealthy have healthy kids.

o   Losing control causes large release of stress hormones, effects immune.

What is the relation between Stress and optimism?

o   Perceive more control, cope better with stress, enjoy better health, less increase in BP to stress

o   Elderly optimists less likely to die (true for 1 in 2 people (1/2))

o   Those that appreciate humor also likely to live longer

What is Social support?

o   The more social ties you have = the less likely you are to die prematurely

o   Married people live longer and happier (positive marriages of course)

o   May be due to common health of single people

o   Companion pets offer stress relief. Environments that foster need to belong increase immune functioning, less likely to catch a cold/produce mucus

o   Bearing grief alone = more health problems than open expression

o   Keep pain to yourself = head or stomach aches; diaries or journals can aid

What is Aerobic Exercise and its relation to stress?

o   Sustained exercise that increases heart/lung fitness; may also alleviate depression/anxiety.

o   Those that do this handle stress better/more self confident and less depressed/fatigued.

o   Caused by releasing NTs that boost mood (serotonin, endorphins), better sleep afterwards/sense of accomplishment; dopamine too

o   Exercise boosts mood, strengthens heart, increases blood flow, keeps vessels open, lowers BP; half as many heart attacks

o   Active=more proteins, adds an additional 2 years.

What is biofeedback?

o   A system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as BP or muscle tension; mirrors persons’ efforts allowing them to control physiological responses; overblown.

What does Relaxation/Mediation have in relation with stress?

 Relaxation and Mediation alleviates headaches, hypertension, anxiety, and insomnia

Less likely to have 2^nd heart attack with relaxation by 0.5

     Meditation can decrease BP or muscle tension; mirrors person’s efforts allowing them to control physiological responses; overblown

What does spirituality have in relation with stress?

       Those in religious groups are half as likely to die; women are more spiritually active, and they live longer already

            Ideas is that religious people have healthier lifestyle; smoke less eat less fats, have greater social circle and a coherent world view and sense of hope/feelings of ultimate acceptance.