PSYC 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Coronary Artery Disease, Telomerase, Cortisol

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 102
• Professor: Sherri Atwood

Document Summary

Stress and stressors have both immediate and cumulative effects that can influence health. Stress: physical and psychological response to internal or external stressors. Stressors: specific events/chronic pressures that place demands on person or threaten person"s well-being. Health psychology: subfield of psychology concerned with ways psychological factors influence causes and treatment of physical illness and maintenance of health. Major life events (ex. someone passing away, getting very sick, etc. ) Catastrophic events (ex. traffic, long lineups, etc. ) Chronic hassles, some can be traced to particular environment (ex. daily traffic/commute, tests, etc. ) Degree of life change is significant indicator of person"s future illness. Chronic stressors: sources of stress that occur continuously or repeatedly: effects can be accumulate and long-lasting, chronic stressors shown to be linked to environments through environmental psychology. Good events can also be stressful (ex. weddings, childbirth, going to university, etc. ) Environmental factors can be stressful (ex. pollution, etc. )