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Stress and Your Health: From Vulnerability to Resilience presents an evidence-based evaluation of the various effects of stress, along with methods to alleviate distress and stress-related illnesses.
* Examines myriad stressor effects and proven ways to alleviate stress in our lives
* Covers a wide range of stressor-related topics including therapeutic strategies to deal with stress and factors that hinder treatment of stress
* Makes difficult biochemical and immunological concepts accessible to a non-specialist audience
* Addresses many of the factors that cause individuals to be more vulnerable to the impact of stressors and at increased risk for pathology
List of contents
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvi
1 Stressors, Stress, and Distress 1
What this book is about 1
What do we mean when we talk about stressors? 3
The characteristics of stressors: comparing apples, oranges, and lemons 5
Chronic stressors and allostatic overload 10
Before you go... 11
2 Individual Differences in Relation to Stressors and Stress Responses 12
Vulnerability and resilience 13
Genetic influences 13
Age 17
Sex 18
Personality differences in relation to stress responses 18
Previous stressor experiences 19
Stress generation 19
Before you go... 20
3 Appraising Stressful Events 21
Appraising stressors 22
Guidance through primary and secondary appraisals 22
Thinking fast and slow 22
Guideposts and anchors 25
Appraisals based on what others think 27
Appraisals in relation to learning, memory, automaticity, expectation, and habit 28
Positive and negative emotions 30
Gauging stressors 31
Before you go... 33
4 Coping with Stressors 35
First responses to stressors 36
Coping methods 36
Personal growth and finding meaning 38
Social support 40
Loneliness 40
Unsupportive interactions 42
Social rejection 44
Forgiveness and trust 46
Empathy 48
Before you go... 48
5 Hormones and What They Do 50
What's a hormone? 51
Linking hormones and behaviors 51
The hormonal stress response 54
Hormones of the autonomic nervous system 54
The hypothalamic?]pituitary?]adrenal (HPA) axis and glucocorticoids 55
What cortisol (corticosterone) does for us 55
The cortisol/corticosterone response to an acute stressor 55
Cortisol variations in humans 56
Yesterday's stressors influence today's responses 59
A cacophony of hormones associated with stress, eating and energy regulation: leptin, ghrelin, CRH, and neuropeptide Y 60
Oxytocin and positive responses 62
Estrogen and testosterone 64
Before you go... 67
6 Neurotransmitter Processes and Growth Factors 69
Neuronal and glial processes in relation to challenges 70
Stressors influence neurotransmitter functioning 72
Acetylcholine (ACh) 72
Serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine 75
Corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH): beyond the HPA system 76
Glutamate 78
Gamma?]aminobutyric acid (GABA) 79
Cannabinoids 79
Neurotrophic factors 80
The past influences the future 82
Before you go... 83
7 Immunological Effects of Stressors 84
A brief look at how the immune system works 85
Cells of the immune system 86
Immune memories 87
Cytokines: messenger molecules of the immune system 88
Immune-hormone interactions 88
Stress, brain processes, and immunological changes 91
Cytokine changes in response to stressors 93
Before you go.... 93
8 Stress across the Life Span 95
Connections over time 96
Prenatal experiences 96
Biological correlates of prenatal stress in humans 98
Consequences of prenatal infection in animals and humans 99
Stress experienced early in life 101
Transitional periods 104
Older age 106
Before you go... 107
9 Cardiovascular Disease 108
Coronary artery disea
About the author
Hymie Anisman is a Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. He also holds a Canada Research Chair in Neuroscience and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Professor Anisman's research includes the influence of stressors on neurochemical and neuroendocrine systems, and how these influence psychological (anxiety, depression) and physical (immune-related) disorders. He is the author of
An Introduction to Stress and Health (2014) and co-editor of
Handbook of Psychoneuroimmunology (Wiley, 2014).
Summary
Stress and Your Health: From Vulnerability to Resilience presents an evidence-based evaluation of the various effects of stress, along with methods to alleviate distress and stress-related illnesses.
