DOES STRESS CAUSE ILLNESS?
The relationship between stress and illness is not straightforward, and there is a lot of evidence to suggest that several factors mediate the stress–illness link, including exercise, coping styles, life events, personality type, social support and actual or perceived control.
Stress can affect health through a behavioural pathway or through a physiological pathway. Behaviours that may change as a result of stress include sleep, food intake and alcohol consumption. Stress can also induce changes in the body’s biochemicals, such as catecholamines and corticosteroids, and changes in activity, such as heart rate. Stress and behaviour Recent research has examined the effect of stress on specific health-related behaviours, such as exercise, smoking, diet and alcohol consumption, in terms of initiation, maintenance and relapse. It has also highlighted the impact of stress on generalbehavioural change. For example, research suggests that individuals who experience high levels of stress show a greater tendency to perform behaviours that increase their chances of becoming ill or injured (Wiebe & McCallum, 1986) and of having accidents at home, work and in the car ( Johnson, 1986). For example, when under stress a person may smoke more, sleep less, drive faster and be less able to focus on the task in hand, which, in turn, may result in heart disease, cancer or accidents.Richard Lazarus (1922–2002) was Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. His original work explored theories of emotion, which led him to focus on stress and coping. In particular, he introduced and developed the role of psychological factors in stress and emphasized the importance of appraisal. He established the UC Berkeley Stress and Coping Project, in which he extended his ideas on the importance of appraisal to explain exactly what stress is and what coping involves. This project culminated in the publication in 1984 of Stress, Appraisal, and Coping, one of the most widely cited and read books in psychophysiology and health psychology.
The relationship between stress and illness is not straightforward, and there is a lot of evidence to suggest that several factors mediate the stress–illness link, including exercise, coping styles, life events, personality type, social support and actual or perceived control.
Stress can affect health through a behavioural pathway or through a physiological pathway. Behaviours that may change as a result of stress include sleep, food intake and alcohol consumption. Stress can also induce changes in the body’s biochemicals, such as catecholamines and corticosteroids, and changes in activity, such as heart rate. Stress and behaviour Recent research has examined the effect of stress on specific health-related behaviours, such as exercise, smoking, diet and alcohol consumption, in terms of initiation, maintenance and relapse. It has also highlighted the impact of stress on generalbehavioural change. For example, research suggests that individuals who experience high levels of stress show a greater tendency to perform behaviours that increase their chances of becoming ill or injured (Wiebe & McCallum, 1986) and of having accidents at home, work and in the car ( Johnson, 1986). For example, when under stress a person may smoke more, sleep less, drive faster and be less able to focus on the task in hand, which, in turn, may result in heart disease, cancer or accidents.Richard Lazarus (1922–2002) was Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. His original work explored theories of emotion, which led him to focus on stress and coping. In particular, he introduced and developed the role of psychological factors in stress and emphasized the importance of appraisal. He established the UC Berkeley Stress and Coping Project, in which he extended his ideas on the importance of appraisal to explain exactly what stress is and what coping involves. This project culminated in the publication in 1984 of Stress, Appraisal, and Coping, one of the most widely cited and read books in psychophysiology and health psychology.
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