PSY 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Emotional Expression, Cortisol, Catecholamine
Document Summary
Lecture 6 - coping with illness and social support. Refusing to be seen as a statistic. Focus on positive things in his life. He would fire doctors that were negative. Influencing a patient"s ability to keep getting back up. Positivity may not have helped him heal per say, but it reduced his stress and stress often makes illnesses worse. Stress, depressed mood, and decreased social support associated with greater cortisol output, disruptions of cortisol secretion and higher levels of urinary catecholamines. These stress hormones can impact cancer cells. Social support lower levels of growth factors, (ex. interleukin-6) that help tumors develop a viable blood supply (and grow) Distress higher levels of these growth factors. Optimism and finding benefits are associated with longer cancer survival. Research is discovering pathways by which these psychological factors can affect cancer progression. Emotional processing - people try to understand their feelings. Emotional expression - people share their emotions with others.
