Introduction to Health Psychology

MR. KOCH

AP PSYCHOLOGY

ANDOVER HIGH SCHOOL

Health Psychology

• Examine how biological, psychological, and social factors influence health and illness
• Use psychological science to promote health, prevent illness, and improve health care systems
• Identify risk factors, design interventions, research, educate, advise
• Examples: stress reduction, weight management, smoking cessation, improving nutrition, reducing risky sexual behaviors, hospice care, grief counseling, etc.

Stress

• Increases susceptibility to disorders and disease – linked to physiological issues like hypertension, headaches, and immune suppression

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• Stressors – can be experienced as traumatic or daily hassles
• Eustress: positive and motivating
• Distress: negative and debilitating

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)�(Hans Selye)

• Describes the general response to a stressful event as 3 stages:

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• Alarm Reaction – the body’s initial response to stress (fight-flight-freeze) – increased heart rate, dilated pupils, rapid breathing, etc.
• Resistance – body attempts to adapt to the stressor – release hormones to maintain readiness – body can deplete its resources if this stage lasts too long
• Exhaustion – stress subsides and physiological state returns to normal or resources are spent (increasing susceptibility to illness)

Coping with Stress

• Tend-and-Befriend Theory
• Some manage stress by tending to their own self-care needs and attending to needs of friends/family (meaningful social connections help reduce stress)
• Alternative response to “fight-or-flight” - seems to occur mostly in women
• Problem-Focused Coping
• Views stress as a problem to be solved – focusing on the cause of the problem to reduce or resolve it (primarily used when we feel problem is within our capacity to change)
• Emotion-Focused Coping
• Focuses on negative emotional responses to stressors, using stress management techniques like meditation/mindfulness exercises, breathing techniques, and/or combining with medication (primarily used when we feel stressor is beyond capacity to change)