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

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Stress can affect the body in a number of ways through various physiological systems.For example,stressors engage the body's autonomic nervous system,activating the HPA axis,causing the release of hormones into the bloodstream,and preparing the body to respond to the perceived attack.During stressful times,the immune system functioning is depressed which is problematic because the immune system is charged with surrounding and destroying attacking foreign bodies such as viruses or bacteria.Coping with stress can cause an imbalance of our immune systems.Also,chronically increased levels of cortisol,the body's primary stress hormone,are linked to cardiovascular decline in middle-aged and older adults.High levels of cortisol can also dysregulate immune functions and reduce the body's capacity to protect itself against disease.This process called immunosuppression explains why we are more likely to catch a cold or get sick during times of stress.This occurs because cortisol inhibits the proliferation or blunts the responses of certain types of cytokines.Cytokines are small protein molecules of many different varieties that are secreted by cells of the immune system and that help to regulate its functioning.Another immune system process,inflammation,is also affected by high levels of stress.Inflammatory processes,which take their marching orders from cortisol,can be destructive to the body unless their force is regulated.Common examples of unregulated inflammatory processes are related to diseases such as cardiovascular disease,allergies,rheumatoid arthritis,and other autoimmune disorders.Researchers and health professionals divide stress into two types: life events,which are discrete,typically traumatic,events that have a clear onset such as like a death or accident,and daily hassles,which are chronic,problematic situations such as chronic illness or balancing life's many roles.The cumulative physical effect of chronic stress hormones on the body is referred to as allostatic load.For example,the midlife adult raising several teenagers while also caring for elderly parents may cause stress and lack of sleep.Another useful construct is diathesis-stress transaction,which describes the developmental nature of stress and coping.Diatheses are premorbid conditions or predispositions that render individuals vulnerable to some disorder under certain circumstances.We know that people need to have the capacity to adapt to stress and challenge across the life span.Resilience refers to the presence of healthy coping and adaptation in spite of challenges and risks.To understand and build resilience,helping professionals and clients must consider the nature of the risks and protective factors that are part of people's lives and consider the ways that these might change as a function of age.How people handle stress is often synonymous with coping.One of the most widely known theories of coping was developed by Lazarus and Folkman 1984).They make the key distinction between efforts aimed at changing the situation problem-focused,problem-solving)and those directed toward emotion management emotion-focused,tension-reduction).One strategy for helping people cope is assist them in seeing that essentially all coping efforts involve cognitive decision making)as well as emotional anxiety management)aspects.It is also important to make sure people under there is not one right way of coping and that every possible way of coping can be appropriate,normative or right.