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Health Psychology focuses on understanding how behavior, mental processes, and social factors influence physical health and wellness. This field bridges psychology and medicine, emphasizing the connection between the mind and body to promote healthier lifestyles, prevent illness, and improve overall well-being.
Health psychologists study how psychological factors such as stress, emotions, and cognition impact physical health. For example, chronic stress can weaken the immune system, increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, and exacerbate existing health conditions. Health psychology also examines behaviors that contribute to health risks, such as smoking, poor diet, lack of exercise, or substance abuse, and develops interventions to change these behaviors.
Lifestyles That Endanger Health
People’s lifestyles can endanger their health. Three features of problematic lifestyle include smoking, not exercising, and eating poorly.
Smoking increases the risk of many cardiovascular and lung diseases, including heart disease, hypertension, stroke, bronchitis, and emphysema. Smoking also increases the risk of cancers of the lung, mouth, bladder, kidney, larynx, esophagus, and pancreas. Although formal smoking cessation programs don’t help most people quit, many people eventually do stop smoking. Research shows that many people quit only after several unsuccessful attempts.
Lack of exercise can also have strong negative effects. Regular exercise leads to longer life expectancy, promotes cardiovascular health, decreases obesity-related problems such as diabetes and respiratory problems, and decreases the risk of colon, breast, and reproductive system cancers.
Research shows that bad eating habits contribute to health problems. Chronic overeating increases the risk of heart disease, hypertension, stroke, respiratory problems, arthritis, and back problems. Low-fiber diets and diets that increase serum cholesterol levels are linked to heart disease. Eating too much salt may contribute to high blood pressure. High-fat, low-fiber diets are linked to cancers of the colon, prostate, and breast. A low-calcium diet may contribute to osteoporosis.
Stress
Stress refers to the body’s response and the mind’s response to perceived threats or challenges (i.e., stressors). Eustress is positive stress that motivates individuals to perform tasks and meet goals, such as preparing for an important exam or athletic competition. In contrast, distress is negative stress that hinders functioning and can lead to burnout, emotional exhaustion, and health problems, especially when it becomes chronic or overwhelming.
Researchers agree that stress is subjective. People don’t have the same response to the same circumstances. Instead, stress depends on how people appraise or evaluate environmental events. An experience that produces eustress in one person may cause distress in another person. If people believe that a challenge will severely tax or exceed their resources, they experience distress.
Stressors are psychologically or physically demanding events or circumstances. Research links stressors to increased incidences of physical illnesses such as heart disease, hypertension, headaches, and immune suppression. Stressors can also lead to psychological problems such as anxiety or depression. Stressors don’t always increase the risk of illness. They tend to affect health more when they are chronic, highly disruptive, or perceived as uncontrollable.
Stress and Immune Function
Stress affects the functioning of the immune system, as do age, nutrition, and genetic factors. The immune system is the body’s defense against harmful agents such as bacteria, viruses, and other foreign substances. It communicates constantly with the brain and the endocrine system. The immune system has many different kinds of disease-fighting cells, including the following:
B lymphocytes are formed in the bone marrow and release antibodies. Antibodies are protein molecules that travel through the blood and lymph and defend the body against bacteria and cancer cells.
T lymphocytes are formed in the thymus gland and defend the body against cancer cells, viruses, and other foreign substances.
Macrophages destroy foreign substances by absorbing them.
Stress affects the immune system in many ways. For instance, hormones that are released in response to stress can inhibit the activity of lymphocytes. In general, researchers have linked negative emotional states to disease. For instance, recent research suggests that depression makes people more vulnerable to heart disease.
Types of Stressors
Stressors differ according to severity and duration.
Acute Stressors: These are isolated events that cause immediate stress, such as a job interview, an exam, or narrowly avoiding a traffic accident.
Chronic Stressors: These are ongoing situations that continue over a longer period, such as financial difficulties, a demanding job, or a strained relationship.
Traumatic Stressors: These involve extreme events that pose a threat to physical or emotional well-being, such as natural disasters, serious accidents, or experiences of violence.
Daily Hassles: These are minor, everyday challenges, such as running late for an appointment, being stuck in traffic, or minor disagreements with a family member. While individually unimportant, collectively they can contribute significantly to stress.
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): These are significant stressors during childhood, such as abuse, neglect, or exposure to domestic violence, which can have long-term impacts on mental and physical health. ACEs have been shown to significantly affect mental and physical health throughout a person’s lifespan, increasing the risk for chronic diseases, substance abuse, and mental health disorders. Early exposure to stress can alter brain development and stress-response systems, making individuals more vulnerable to stress-related problems later in life.
General Adaptation Syndrome
Stress triggers a range of physiological and psychological responses that significantly influence behavior and mental processes. How individuals react to stress can determine their ability to cope, adapt, or recover. One key model explaining the process of stress response is Hans Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), which describes the three stages of the body’s reaction to prolonged stress: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.
1. Alarm Reaction Stage: When a stressor is encountered, the body initiates the fight-flight-freeze response, an automatic reaction controlled by the sympathetic nervous system. The fight-flight-freeze model expands upon the original fight-or-flight concept by incorporating an additional response: freeze. During this stage, adrenaline and cortisol are released, increasing heart rate, respiration, and alertness to prepare the body to confront the stressor, to flee, or remain immobile but attentive. Digestive processes slow down, blood pressure and heart rate increase, adrenal hormones are released, and blood is drawn away from the skin to the skeletal muscles. For example, encountering a dangerous animal might cause someone to reach for a weapon, to remain perfectly still, or to run away. This stage marks the body’s immediate response to stress.
2. Resistance Stage: If the stressor persists, the body enters the resistance stage, where it actively confronts the challenge while maintaining heightened physiological activity. Physiological arousal stabilizes at a point that is higher than normal. Energy is directed toward coping with the stressor, and stress hormones continue to be produced. During this stage, individuals may show resilience and problem-solving behavior to manage the situation. However, prolonged resistance can deplete resources, making the individual more vulnerable to additional stressors.
3. Exhaustion Stage: If the stress continues for too long and resources are depleted, the body enters the exhaustion stage. In this phase, the stress response diminishes, leaving the individual physically and emotionally drained. Chronic stress can weaken the immune system, increasing susceptibility to illness and physical ailments, such as hypertension or ulcers. Mental health issues like anxiety or depression may also emerge during this phase.
Reactions to stress impact behavior and mental processes in various ways. In the short term, stress can enhance focus and motivation, helping individuals overcome challenges. However, chronic or poorly managed stress often leads to burnout, reduced cognitive function, and emotional dysregulation. Behavioral changes, such as avoidance, aggression, or unhealthy coping mechanisms (e.g., overeating or substance use), may also arise.
Tend-and-Befriend Theory
The tend-and-befriend theory describes a stress response that emphasizes caregiving and social connection as a way to cope with stress. Unlike the fight-flight-freeze response, the tend-and-befriend response involves behaviors that protect oneself and others, especially vulnerable individuals like children, and fosters relationships for support. This adaptive strategy is thought to promote survival in stressful situations by leveraging social bonds.
Tending refers to nurturing behaviors aimed at protecting oneself or others, such as caregiving or creating a safe environment. Befriending involves seeking social support and forming alliances to reduce stress and increase a sense of security. For example, a person experiencing stress might comfort his or her children while also reaching out to friends or family for emotional support.
Research suggests that this response is more common in women, potentially due to the influence of the hormone oxytocin, which is associated with bonding and stress regulation. Evolutionarily, women may have developed this stress response as a way to ensure the safety of offspring in threatening situations, encouraging cooperative behaviors that enhance group survival.
Coping With Stress
Coping refers to efforts to manage stress. Coping can be adaptive or maladaptive. Adaptive coping involves direct confrontation of problems, realistic appraisals, recognizing and modifying unhealthy emotional reactions, and protecting bodily health. Maladaptive coping includes behaviors such as using alcohol and drugs to escape problems. There are many different coping strategies. Coping strategies are generally categorized into two types: problem-focused and emotion-focused.
Problem-focused coping involves addressing the source of stress directly by viewing it as a problem to be solved. This method emphasizes taking active steps to eliminate or reduce the stressor. For example, a student who is stressed about an upcoming exam might engage in problem-focused coping by creating a study schedule, reviewing material, or seeking help from a tutor. By focusing on solutions, this approach reduces the stressor’s impact and promotes a sense of control.
Problem-focused coping is particularly effective for stressors that are within an individual’s control. It encourages proactive behavior, enhances problem-solving skills, and builds confidence in managing future stressors. However, it may be less effective for situations where the stressor cannot be easily changed, such as chronic illness or uncontrollable external events.
Emotion-focused coping involves managing the emotional reactions associated with stress rather than directly addressing the stressor itself. This method is used when a person perceives the stressor as unchangeable or when immediate emotional relief is needed. Common emotion-focused strategies include deep breathing, meditation, exercise, journaling, and antianxiety medications.
For instance, someone dealing with grief might practice mindfulness meditation or seek social support to process their emotions. While emotion-focused coping does not resolve the underlying stressor, it can reduce emotional distress and improve resilience. This approach is especially useful for stressors that cannot be solved directly, such as a past trauma or a global crisis.
Problem-focused and emotion-focused coping each have their advantages, and many people use a combination of the two to manage stress effectively. For example, someone facing job-related stress might first engage in problem-focused coping by seeking a solution, such as speaking with his or her manager, and then use emotion-focused techniques, such as exercise or journaling, to manage residual stress.
