Stress and Health

1. What is Health Psychology?

Health psychology has evolved from a narrow view of health as merely the absence of disease to a comprehensive perspective that includes physical, mental, and social well-being. As interest in psychological factors affecting health has increased, health psychologists have begun to study the following areas:

- Improving Health Behaviors: Developing therapeutic interventions using psychological principles to improve health behaviors such as drinking, smoking, exercise, diet, and sleep.
- Disease Prevention: Identifying psychological factors influencing disease prevention and developing therapeutic interventions for high-risk groups.
- Chronic Disease Management: Creating psychological interventions to alleviate stress and improve quality of life and survival rates for chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
- Enhancing Disease Prognosis: Discovering psychological and behavioral factors that can improve disease prognosis.

2. What is Stress?

1) Stress and Stressors
- Stress: A multidimensional experience that brings physiological, behavioral, and emotional changes.
- Stressors: Events causing stress, such as exams, breakups, or job loss.

Three Main Perspectives on Studying Stress
1. Stress as a Stimulus: Focusing on stressful events.
2. Stress as a Response: Measuring psychological and physiological reactions to stress.
3. Stress as an Interaction: Studying individual differences in experiencing stress.

2) Measuring Stress
Stress is difficult to measure because it is not visible. From the perspective of stress as a stimulus, stressors are classified into three types:

- Traumatic Events: Large-scale, unpredictable events that cause stress for anyone, such as natural disasters or the Sewol ferry disaster.
- Major Life Events: Personal events that bring significant changes to life. The Social Readjustment Rating Scale is used to measure stress from such events.
- Daily Hassles: Small stress events experienced in daily life, such as arguments with a partner or traffic jams.

3. Stress Responses

1) Major Theories

(1) Fight-or-Flight Response (Walter Cannon)
The activation of the sympathetic nervous system prepares the body for immediate action.

- Autonomic Nervous System Activation: The hypothalamus activates the sympathetic nervous system, leading to the release of catecholamines such as epinephrine and norepinephrine.
- HPA Axis Activation: The hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal cortex are involved in releasing cortisol, the primary stress hormone. While cortisol helps in managing stress, prolonged stress can lead to excessive cortisol release, resulting in negative emotional responses and decreased immunity.

(2) General Adaptation Syndrome (Hans Selye)
The body's attempt to resist stress is divided into three stages.

- Alarm Stage: The sympathetic nervous system is activated, preparing for the fight-or-flight response.
- Resistance Stage: The body tries to cope with and adapt to the stressor.
- Exhaustion Stage: Resources are depleted, leading to decreased immune function and increased susceptibility to illness.

(3) Stress Appraisal (Lazarus & Folkman)
How an individual appraises a stressful situation affects their stress level.

- Primary Appraisal: Assessing whether an event is a threat to one's well-being.
- Secondary Appraisal: Evaluating one's ability to cope with the stressor.

(4) Tend-and-Befriend (Taylor et al.)
Women may respond to stress by seeking social support and caring for offspring, contrasting with the traditional fight-or-flight response.

2) Coping with Stress
Coping styles refer to how individuals manage stressful situations and regulate negative emotions.

- Problem-Focused Coping: Directly addressing the source of stress to resolve it.
- Emotion-Focused Coping: Managing negative emotions resulting from stress.
- Appraisal-Focused Coping: Reappraising the situation to reduce stress.

4. Stress and Chronic Illness

1) Health Behaviors
- Physical Activity: Regular physical activity benefits both physical and mental health.
- Smoking: Smoking is a major risk factor for chronic diseases. Psychological interventions can help individuals quit smoking.
- Sleep: Adequate sleep is crucial for stress management and disease prevention. Sleep disorders can lead to cognitive impairment, mental health issues, and increased risk of physical illnesses.

2) Stress and Chronic Illness
- Life Changes: Chronic illness diagnosis requires treatment and lifestyle changes, which can be stressful.
- Psychological Support: Integrated treatment that includes psychological interventions can improve patients' quality of life and disease outcomes.

5. Psychosocial Factors Affecting Stress

1) Personality
- Type A Personality: Competitive, impatient, and hostile individuals are at higher risk for cardiovascular disease.
- Type B Personality: Optimistic and relaxed individuals.
- Optimism: Optimistic people are better at coping with stress and tend to engage in health-promoting behaviors.

2) Social Support
- Definition: Material or emotional support obtained from others.
- Importance: High levels of social support can buffer the effects of stress and lead to better health outcomes. The quality of social support is crucial.

3) Personal Control
- Definition: The belief in one's ability to influence outcomes.
- Locus of Control: Individuals with an internal locus of control believe they can influence their life outcomes, leading to lower perceived stress.

Understanding the relationship between stress and health can help individuals manage stress effectively and engage in health-promoting behaviors, ultimately improving their quality of life.