EMOTIONS AND HEALTH Karen Kneisley Argosy University/Sarasota Spring 2009
Dec 01, 2014
EMOTIONS AND HEALTH
Karen KneisleyArgosy University/Sarasota
Spring 2009
Emotion or Feeling?
Emotions are body-based processes
Feelings are higher cortical functions
Primary Emotions
Happiness Surprise Disgust Fear Sadness Anger
What are Emotions?
Communicate information about relationships of the self and the world
Motivate withdrawal or approach Influence learning and memory May be universal Body-based and phylogenetically old
Conceptions of Emotions
Emotions
BehaviorThought
Subjectivity of Emotional Triggers
How much is external or universal?
How much is internal or personal?
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Causes and Functions of the Primary Emotions
Anger- perceived violation, injustice or frustration of wish/desire
Happiness- perception of expectation or gain
Anxiety/fear- perception of threat or danger and with difficulty coping
Sadness- perception that something of value has been or will be lost
Limbic System(Seat of Emotions)
Psychobiology of Fight or Flight
Physiological system adapted to threat or danger
Mobilizes bodily processes Down-regulates restorative
processes
Model for Fight or Flight Response
MentalStress
Fight or Flight
HPAaxis cortisol
SNS
Fear and Anxiety
Real or perceived threat Active Avoidance
Peripheral Activation
Locuscoeruleus
norepinephrine
ANS
Fear and Anxiety
PTSD- Physical & psychological threats Activate the HPA axis Enhanced memory (McNally, 1999)Immunological changes- Individuals with trait worry Fewer NK cells Naturalistic stress Acute laboratory stress (Segerstrom et al, 1998 &
1999)
Anger and Hostility
Relational theme of unfair
interference or harm
Emotional Response
Inflicting Harm
Anger-related Responses
Widely studied psychosocial risk factor
Strongly and independently associated
Effect sizes as large as smoking and diet (Kemeny & Shestyuk, 2008)
Hostility Affective trait and mood state Cognitive propensity towards
cynicism Devaluation of the worth or motives
of others Opposition towards others Desire to inflict harm or see others
harmed
Hostility Questionnaire
1. No one cares much what happens to you.
2. I have often met people who were supposed to be experts who were no better than I.
3. Some of my family have habits that annoy me very much.
4. People often disappoint me.5. It is often safer to trust nobody.
Long-term Constructs of Hostility
Predict cardiovascular outcomesI. High blood pressureII. AtherosclerosisIII. Coronary artery calcification IV. Mortality (Suinn, 2001) Inflammatory processes1. Decrements in cellular immunity2. Decreased ability of NK cells ( Kiecolt-Glaser et al,
2001)
Psychobiology of Disengagement
Uncontrollable physical or
psychosocial threat
Behavioral
disengagement
and withdra
wal
Negative
affect and
depression
Negative Affect/Depression
Insufficient availability of serotonin and dopamine (Phan et al, 2004)
Abnormal activation of cortical areas (Phan et al, 2004)
Functional and phenotype changes in the immune system (Kemeny &
Shestyuk, 2008)
Depression
PICs Released by immunological cells to facilitate
immune response Proteins act on brain to produce “sickness”
behavior Sleep disturbances Decreases in social, sexual, aggressive,
exploratory, or other behaviors Lack of appetite Motor retardation Weight loss (Kemeny & Shestyuk, 2008)
The “Three Downward Spirals” for Depression
Depressed mood alters thinking Depressed mood alters activity
levels Depressed mood alters social
contacts
Depression
NHANES Depression doubles the risk for HTN in
whites Triples the risk for HTN in African
Americans Increases the risk for CHD by 75% after
controlling for other risk factors
Shame and Submissiveness
Social self preservation theory
Threats to social connection- Rejection Stigmatization Discrimination
Shame and Submissiveness
CNS coordinated activation of the HPA (Dickerson & Kemeny, 2004)
SET and cortisol increase ( Lewis & Ramsey, 2002)
Increased production of PICs (Kemeny & Shestyuk, 2008)
Psychobiology of Positive Approach
Positive emotions are linked to approach behaviors
Psychological and physiological foundation for motivation and proactive behaviors
Affective baseline for healthy individuals
Positive Affect
Greater frontal left-hemisphere asymmetry ( Davidson, 1992)
Greater activation of the medial prefrontal regions (Parkinson, Cardinal, & Everett, 2000)
Greater levels of serotonin Greater levels of dopamine and
norepinephrine (Charney, 2004)
Positive Affect
Associated with changes in the immune system (Segerstrom & Miller, 2004)
Linked to heightened levels of the hormone oxytocin (Zak et al, 1994)
Reduce the duration of cardiovascular response induced by a stressor (Fredrickson et al, 2000)
Experience less pain and disability related to chronic health conditions (Gil et al, 2004)
Fight off illness and disease more successfully (Cohen & Pressman, 2006)
Coping and Stress Management
Stressor Primary andSecondaryAppraisal
Stress
ProblemFocusedCoping
EmotionFocusedCoping
Stress Management
Lowering of primary appraisals- upping the level of secondary appraisals
A healthy diet of activities Appropriate elicitation of social support Regular exercise Relaxation/mindfulness Developing chronic vs. acute responses (both cognitive and behavioral)
References
Charney, D. S. (2004). Psychobiological mechanisms of resilience and vulnerability: Implications for successful adaptation to extreme stress. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161, 195-216.
Cox, B. J. & Taylor, S. (1999). Anxiety disorders: Panics and phobias. In T. Millon, P. H. Blaney, & R. D. Davis (Eds.) Oxford textbook of psychopathology (pp. 81-113). New York: Oxford University Press.
Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1969). The repertoire of nonverbal behavior: Categories, origins, usage, and coding. Semiotica, 1, 49-98
Fredrickson, B. L. & Joiner, T. (2000). Positive emotions trigger upward spirals toward emotional well-being. Psychological Science, 13, 172-175
Huckleridge, F., Lambert, S., Clow, A., Warburton, D. M., Evans, P. D. & Sherwood, N. (2000). Modulation of seceretory immunoglobulin a in saliva: response to manipulation of mood. Biological Psychology, 53, 25-35.
Irwin, M., Daniels, M., Bloom, E. T., & Weiner, H. (1986). Life events, depression, and natural killer cell activity. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 22, 1093-1096.
Kemeny, M. E., & Shestyuk, A. (2008) Emotions, the neuroendocrine and immune systems, and health. In M. Lewis, J. M. Havilland-Jones, & L. Feldman Barrett (Eds.) Handbook of Emotions (pp. 661-675). New York: Guilford Press.
Kubzansky, L. D., Kawachi, I., Weiss, S. T. & Sparrow, D. (1998). Anxiety and coronary heart disease: A synthesis of epidemiological, psychological, and experiential evidence. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 20, 47-58.
ReferencesLazarus, R. S. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. London: Oxford University Press.McNally, R. J. (1999). Posttraumatic stress disorder. In T. Millon, P. H. Blaney, & R. D> Davis
(Eds.), Oxford textbook of psychopathology. (pp. 144-165). New York: Oxford University Press
Sapolsky, R. M. (1993). Endocrinology alfresco: Psychoendocrine studies of wild baboons. Recent Progress in Hormone Research, 48, 648-652.
Satterfield, J. Brain, Mind and Behavior: Emotions and Health. Retrieved on Jan. 21, 2009 from Utube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GogLWebO
Segerstrom, S. C. , Glover, D. A., Craske, M. G. & Fahey J. L. (1999). Worry affects the immune response to phobic fear. Brain, Behavior and Immunity, 13, 80-92.
Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Positive psychology, positive prevention, and positive therapy. In C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 3-9). New York: Oxford University Press.
Smith, T. W. (1994). Concepts and methods in the study of anger, hostility, and health . In A. W. Siegman & T. W. Smith (Eds.), Anger, hostility and the heart. (pp. 23-42). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
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Taylor, S. E., & Armor, D. A. (1996). Positive illusions and coping with adversity. Journal of Personality, 64, 873-898.
Zak,P. J., Kurzban, R. & Matzner, W. T. (2005). Oxtocin is associated with human trustworthiness. Hormones and Behavior, 48, 522-527.