Stress & Health
- Define stress and describe the body’s physiological response to it
- Explain the general adaptation syndrome and stress’s effect on health
- Compare coping strategies and their effectiveness
Stress and the body’s response
Stress is the process by which we appraise and respond to events (stressors) that we see as threatening or challenging — so appraisal matters as much as the event. Faced with a threat, the body launches the fight-or-flight response: the sympathetic nervous system and the release of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline raise heart rate, breathing, and blood sugar to mobilize energy. This response is adaptive in short bursts, but chronic activation wears the body down. Health psychology studies how such stress affects physical illness.
The general adaptation syndrome
Hans Selye’s general adaptation syndrome (GAS) describes the body’s response to prolonged stress in three phases. Alarm — the initial shock and mobilization of resources as fight-or-flight kicks in. Resistance — the body stays aroused and copes, with hormones like cortisol staying elevated as it holds the line. Exhaustion — if the stressor persists, reserves are depleted, leaving the person vulnerable to illness. Chronic stress is linked to weakened immune function, heart disease, and worsened health. Type A personalities (competitive, hostile) face higher heart-disease risk than easygoing Type B.
Coping with stress
How we cope shapes stress’s toll. Problem-focused coping tackles the stressor directly — changing the situation, as when a student who is failing makes a study plan and meets the professor. Emotion-focused coping manages the emotional reaction instead — useful when the stressor cannot be changed, as when grieving a loss with the support of friends. A sense of personal control and an internal locus of control, social support, optimism, exercise, and relaxation all buffer stress. Perceiving control over a stressor consistently reduces its harmful physiological effects.
Two roommates are stressed by a heavy course load. One makes a detailed schedule, forms a study group, and asks professors for help. The other cannot reduce the workload, so she uses meditation, exercise, and talks with friends to manage her anxiety. Classify each coping strategy and explain when each is most appropriate.
- 1.Analyze the first roommate: she acts directly on the stressor itself — scheduling, studying, seeking help — which is problem-focused coping.
- 2.Analyze the second roommate: she manages her emotional reaction (meditation, exercise, social support) rather than changing the workload — emotion-focused coping.
- 3.Judge appropriateness of problem-focused coping: it works best when the stressor is controllable and can be changed.
- 4.Judge appropriateness of emotion-focused coping: it is most useful when the stressor cannot be controlled or changed, so managing the reaction is the healthiest option.
A person facing an incurable chronic illness joins a support group and practices relaxation to handle the sadness and fear, since the illness itself cannot be cured. This best illustrates:
Match coping to controllability: problem-focused coping suits stressors you can change (act on the problem); emotion-focused coping suits stressors you cannot change (manage the feeling). Choosing problem-focused coping for an uncontrollable stressor often backfires.
A soldier under months of continuous combat stress first mobilized intense energy, then held steady in a prolonged state of high arousal, and finally became exhausted and physically ill. These three phases match:
For GAS, memorize the three phases in order — Alarm → Resistance → Exhaustion — and that the exhaustion phase is when the body’s depleted reserves leave it vulnerable to illness. Link chronic stress and cortisol to weakened immunity for FRQ health questions.
Answer the 2 checkpoints as you read.
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