Exam 14: Living Well: Stress, coping, and Life Satisfaction in Adulthood

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A psychological model that has been useful in explaining how cumulative stressors create vulnerability is called kindling-behavioral sensitization.This model has contributed to understanding mechanisms of drug addiction,epilepsy,and affective disorders (Post,1985,2007,2016).Think of 'sensitization' as increasing reactivity such that,after multiple,intermittent doses of something like a drug,a stressor,or some emotional experience,a chemical memory of the exposure remains.Chronic exposure is more likely to produce tolerance or lower sensitivity.Intermittent exposure,however,results in sensitization,a gradual increases in sensitivity to stressful triggers resulting in progressive illness severity or illness incidence,even in the absence of a trigger.
Research has now advanced beyond theoretical formulations to clarify what these processes look like at the cellular level.We now know that there are multiple pathways for epigenetic modifications.Certain experiences,like substandard early caregiving,can alter genes related to stress system functioning by silencing or dampening genes' expression (See Chapter 2).Many genetic markers can be affected,and various types of genetic modifications are presently being studied.One process,methylation,has been associated with development of depression and PTSD after trauma (Zovkic & Sweatt,2013).An initial episode of depression may be triggered by stressful life events (Dohrenwend & Dohrenwend,1974),which leaves residual neurological changes in neurotransmitters,receptors,etc.that render him more reactive to stressors.Following this experience of sensitization,subsequent episodes of depression can occur spontaneously or with very little external provocation (Kendler,Thornton & Gardner,2001).