PSYB10H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Allostatic Load, Psychological Stress, Cortisol
Document Summary
Stress: stressors can be psychological or physiological the response to a demanding situation. Psychological stress: degree of which people have to change and readjust their lives in response to an external event. Both good and bad things can cause significant stress (marriage, graduation, death in the family) Physiological stress: host of physiological responses in the body caused by physical or psychological stressors. Tight allostatic system: one the moves from high to low levels of arousal flexibly and fluidly depending on demands all for the purpose of adapting to the current environment an making you live healthfully. Allostatic load: a chronically elevated state of arousal which damages the body and makes it less able to flexibly adapt to the environment. Occurs when you don"t have time to recover in b/w the stressors. Where the system maintains a high level of physiological stress for a long period of time body is les able to flexibly adapt to new stressors in the environment.
