Health Psychology and Stress
Introduced| English |
|---|
| Health psychology/helθ saɪˈkɒlədʒi/ |
| Eustress/ˈjuːstrəs/ |
| distress/dɪˈstres/ |
| acute/əˈkjuːt/ |
| chronic/ˈkrɒnɪk/ |
| General adaptation syndrome/ˈdʒenərəl ˌædæpˈteɪʃn ˈsɪndrəʊm/ |
| Alarm/əˈlɑːm/ |
| resistance/rɪˈzɪstəns/ |
| exhaustion/eɡˈzɔːstʃn/ |
| Problem-focused coping/ˈprɒbləm ˈfəʊkəst ˈkəʊpɪŋ/ |
| Emotion-focused coping/ɪˈməʊʃn ˈfəʊkəst ˈkəʊpɪŋ/ |
| Tend-and-befriend theory/tend ænd bɪˈfrend ˈθɪəri/ |
A psychological state with a physical bill
- Stress is felt in the mind and paid for in the body.
- It raises susceptibility to illness through measurable physiological routes.
- Health psychology 健康心理学 studies exactly that crossing point.
Two kinds of stress
- Eustress 良性压力 is motivating; distress 消极压力 is debilitating.
- The same event can be either, depending on how it is appraised.
- Stressors can also be acute 急性 (short) or chronic 慢性 (sustained), and chronic stress does the greater physical damage.
Stress experienced as motivating rather than debilitating is called ____.
Eustress motivates; distress debilitates. The same event can be either.
Select all that are true of chronic stress.
Chronic stress is the kind that reaches exhaustion; eustress is a separate distinction.
The general adaptation syndrome
- General adaptation syndrome 一般适应综合征 (GAS) describes stress in three stages.
- Alarm 警觉期 mobilises the body; resistance 抵抗期 sustains the response; exhaustion 衰竭期 arrives when resources run out.
- The damage happens in the third stage, which is why chronic stress is the dangerous kind.
Follow the stress response to its cost
The damage is done by stage two, not stage one: a short alarm is adaptive, and prolonged resistance is not.
Put the stages of the general adaptation syndrome in order.
Damage occurs at exhaustion, which is why chronic stress is the dangerous kind.
Neither coping style is "the right one". Problem-focused coping suits a stressor you can change; emotion-focused coping suits one you cannot. An answer that ranks them without naming the stressor's controllability has missed the criterion.
Tend-and-befriend is an alternative to the fight-or-flight account of stress response.
It describes responses that involve tending to needs and seeking social contact.
Tend-and-befriend
- Tend-and-befriend theory 照料-结盟理论 proposes an alternative to fight-or-flight.
- Some people respond to stress by tending to their own and others' needs, and by seeking social contact.
- The CED includes it because fight-or-flight does not describe every stress response observed.
Problem-focused coping is the better fit when the stressor is...
A stressor you can change calls for solving it; one you cannot calls for managing the reaction.
Two ways to cope
- Problem-focused coping 问题聚焦应对 treats the stressor as a problem to be solved.
- Emotion-focused coping 情绪聚焦应对 manages the emotional reaction instead.
- Neither is better in general: problem-focused suits a controllable stressor, emotion-focused an uncontrollable one.
Two students face the same exam. One makes a revision plan — problem-focused, and the stressor is controllable. The other, facing a family illness she cannot change, uses emotion-focused coping instead. Different stressors, different correct strategies.
Health psychology links stress to physical illness. Eustress motivates and distress debilitates; stressors are acute or chronic. GAS runs alarm → resistance → exhaustion, tend-and-befriend is an alternative to fight-or-flight, and coping is problem-focused or emotion-focused depending on controllability.