Health Psychology

Text at the top reads, stress has been linked to a variety of negative health outcomes. The biopsychosocial perspective helps us understand how the interaction among biological, psychological, and social factors contributes to our vulnerability. The stress factors with different measurements are as follows,

Biology: A leftward arrow labeled more stress points to a silhouette of a woman affected by disease and the corresponding callout reads, viruses, bacteria and other disease-causing organisms invade the body, triggering an immune response and putting a strain on the body’s resources. A rightward arrow labeled less stress points to a silhouette of a woman playing and the corresponding callout reads, exercise is one of the best ways to buffer against stress and its negative effects. (Alex, 2019, June 21: Milani and Lavie, 2009).

Psychology: A leftward arrow labeled more stress points to a silhouette of a man with exclamation mark with a thought bubble that reads, Oh No! The callout from the arrow reads, a perceived lack of control, even in mundane aspects of life, profoundly impacts our ability to manage stress (Pagani, Bercovitz, and Langer, 2016; Rodin, 1986). A rightward arrow labeled less stress points to a silhouette of a man with a thought bubble that reads, Om. A callout from the arrow reads, research has shown that mindfulness meditation helps ease anxiety and depression (Goyal et al, 2014).

Social interaction: A leftward arrow labeled more stress points to a silhouette of a man sitting alone on a chair with an empty chair in front of him and the corresponding callout reads, research has shown that feeling judged on one’s race, gender, income level, and other factors has a negative impact on physical health and well-being (Clark, Des Meules, Luo, Duncan, and Wielgosz, 2009; Williams and Mohammed, 2009). A rightward arrow labeled less stress points to a silhouette of a man sitting on a chair with a dog in front of him and the corresponding callout reads, as a species, human beings are social and benefit from interaction with other humans and even animals (Allen, 2003; John-Henderson, Stellar, Mendoza-Denton, and Francis, 2015).