Modulators of the stress responses

7 important questions on Modulators of the stress responses

What is a modulator for psychological stress?

Psychological variables can ‘modulate’ the effect of stressors on disease

What are the modulators of the stress responses?

- Social support
- appraisal:
perceived uncontrollability & predictability
outlet, abreaction

What happens if the precieved control is taken away?

In the research of rats -->
shocks
I has controle --> is ok
II no controle --> gets stomach problems and higher stress hormones

when you take away the controle of I -->
higher chance of ulceration or tumor growth

and then
if you give back the lever, but its not stopping the shocks --> it still helps!

its all about the perception --> perceived control back --> no physiological effects
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Does expressing your negative emotion (stress) help?

No, it makes your response stronger.

Dr. Carol Tavris, author of `Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion’: ”The biggest, fattest cultural myth, the elephant in our living room (. . .) is that catharsis is good for you,'' she says. ”What yelling and punching pillows does is let a person `rehearse’ anger, she says, which only encourages more anger.”

Does bodily exercise help as anti stress?

- Strong distractor
- Some general cognitive effects: ‘it helps thinking’?
- Some peripheral physiological ‘buffer’ stress
effects: e.g. it dilates (expands) blood vessels
during stress-induced
increase in blood pressure


For the rest- at best temporalily: the threat remains until the signal from your brain is ‘no threat’!

What are the personality traits that increases stress response to stressors?


Increase stress response to stressors - Increase disease risk


-  Type A/ Hostility
- 'trait' anxiety / neuroticism
- long-term hopelessness / trait depression

What is type a personality?


most influential in stress science
“Extreme striving behaviour”
- always under time pressure
- extremely competitive
- aggressive / hostile


…. often called: ‘Coronary prone personality’

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