PSYB32H3 Study Guide - Final Guide: Coronary Artery Disease, Allostatic Load, Essential Hypertension
Document Summary
Psychophysiological disorders are physical diseases produced or influenced in part by psychological factors, including stress, social support, and negative emotions. Psychophysiological disorders no longer appear as a diagnostic category in the. Instead, the diagnostician can make a diagnosis of psychological factors affecting a medical condition and then note the condition on axis iii. This change reflects the growing realization that life stress is relevant to all diseases and is not limited to those previously considered psychosomatic. In attempting to understand the complex stress-illness relationship, researchers have focused on precisely defining what stress is, on assessing differences in how people cope with perceived stress, and on how social support impacts the stress- illness relationship. Theories of the etiology of psychophysiological disorders are diathesis-stress in nature but differ in whether the diathesis is described in psychological or biological terms. Theories positing a biological diathesis emphasize the effects of allostatic load or changes in the immune system that are caused by stress.
