★ Physical thriving is defined here as any physiological changes brought about as a result of facing stressors that leave one with greater physiological resilience than she or he had before facing adversity
-
Embodying Psychological Thriving: Physical Thriving in Response to Stress
In addition to the context of psychological health, thriving can be measured in the context of physical health. Moreover, thriving may be operationalized at a macro level (e.g., improved functional health status following acute illness or injury) or micro level (e.g., hormonal balance). The goal of this article is to examine physical thriving at the micro level, by investigating hormonal responses to stressful situations. In addition, we examine the role that psychological factors play in this relationship. Although stress-induced arousal has traditionally been viewed as negative, certain endocrine responses to stress can be health enhancing. Specifically, we propose that physical thriving results when there is a greater amount of growth promoting or anabolic hormones (e.g., growth hormone) than catabolic hormones (e.g., cortisol). Characteristics of the stressor (duration, frequency, and controllability) as well as psychological moderators such as one's cognitive appraisal of the stressor (threat versus challenge) play a role in determining the profile of response to stress. When an individual appraised intermittent stressors as controllable, she or he may display a resilient profile of stress hormone responding - rapid cortisol responses with quick recovery, and more importantly, cortisol adaptation when faced with similar stressors over time. This stress response is in turn related to better health. To substantiate some of these issues, we present data from a study examining women's cortisol reactivity in response to a repeated laboratory stressor and their self-reported growth from facing trauma. The results suggest that women who have grown psychologically from trauma may show quicker cortisol habituation to other stressors. Cortisol adaptation to stress may serve as one potential marker of resilient psychological and physical functioning.
A discussion of psychological thriving in response to stress would not be complete without a description of the physiological correlates of such experiences. Throughout time, societies have believed in the interdependence of mind and body, and research is beginning to demonstrate their interactions empirically. Most health psychology research explores how negative emotions, cognitive variables, and stressors influence disease. However, there has been limited focus on how psychological responses to adversity can lead to enhanced health or physical thriving.
*** Psychological thriving in response to a stressor is defined as the acquisition of greater self-confidence and skills or the effective mobilization of resources moving beyond homeostasis (O'Leary & Ickovics, 1995). Physical thriving can be similarly defined as changes that lead to enhanced health. As Carver (this issue) describes, psychological thriving occurs when it is least expected. Similarly, under conditions of stress, one would expect a physically weakened system, but positive physiological changes can occur - often in the context of psychological thriving. In physiological terms, this translates into greater restorative (i.e., anabolic) processes than destructive (i.e., catabolic) processes at work.
*** This article describes how psychological thriving can lead to physical thriving and reviews a neglected body of research suggesting that it is possible to improve physical health through the process of coping effectively with stressors. In fact, there are unique pathways of developing physical resilience that actually require exposure to stressors, which can be called a toughening-up process. Toughening is a term first applied to rats who became more hardy after being exposed to stressors (Miller, 1980). An analogy to this toughening-up process is building muscle, where one need to break down muscle initially to build a stronger muscle than before. As we describe in detail below, toughening up after a stressor may involve initial short-term catabolic processes, followed by greater anabolic processes, which can improve physical health.
We draw from psychoneuroendocrine research to show that in response to stressors, certain styles of cognitive appraisal and perceptions of control can transform the effects of stress arousal from potentially damaging to health enhancing. Thus, the chain of events from perception of stress to physiological response can shape one's current state of health. Finally, we present new data from a study of cortisol responses to a chronic laboratory stressor that begins to validate resilient profiles of stress reactivity as a micro-level index of enhanced health.
Defining Physical Thriving: Physical Thriving Is Not Merely the Opposite of Physical Decline
(...) We can also identify thriving as when the stressor is a disease or other health threat, and one remains more healthy than expected, given the physiological challenge. So physical thriving can refer both to enhanced health and to one's health status above the expected baseline in response to a stressor.
Stress can serve as a catalyst for physical changes, advancing one's physical state toward either health or disease. After facing stress, a healthy responding system may become more resilient, whereas a weakened system may be unable to grow following the stressor. It is important to identify measures of enhanced health and restorative activity (growth and repair) to better assess dynamic indices of health and identify psychological factors related to enhanced health.
Positive physical changes could be the result of behavior, such as increased exercise or other self-care behaviors, or changes in physiology mediated by stress-responsive hormones, which are the focus of this article. The most direct way psychological factors affect health is through the neuroendocrine response systems, which affect the functioning of nearly every physiological system at all stages of life. We review selective research on the psychoneuroendocrinology of stress, which offers some clues on how to identify and predict healthy physiological responses to stressors.
How Stress Leads to Thriving: Allostasis and the Balance Catabolic and Anabolic Processes
Enhanced health can result when the body has the physiological resources (and psychological resources (and psychological resources, as we later argue) to build, maintain, and repair itself. This type of restorative activity is governed by many factors such as nutrition, but also by hormones, especially the balance of hormones relative to each other. According to opponent process theory (Solomon, 1980), a strong negative state is followed by the opposite state, a positive state. Applying this to physical stress, once the body has mounted a protective response and adapted to stress (generally a catabolic process), the opponent process, which is restorative or anabolic, eventually takes over. Physical thriving depends partly on when and for how long the opponent process takes over.
The parasympathetic nervous system triggers release of more anabolic hormones (e.g., growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), insulin, and sex steroids) to counter arousal and increase relaxation, digestion and energy storage, and healing processes, such as promoting protein synthesis.
- by page 4 -
Comments
Post a Comment