14.3 Stress and Illness — How Chronic Stress Physically Breaks Your Body | Psychology 2e

• Learn how chronic psychological stress causes physical wear and tear on the body.
• Understand why the body's acute stress response is harmful when chronically activated.
• Explore how social and environmental factors contribute to chronic psychological stress.
• Learn how chronic stress directly suppresses the immune system, increasing vulnerability to illness.
• Discover how chronic psychological stress shortens telomeres, leading to premature cellular aging.
• Understand how chronic anger and hostility physically damage the cardiovascular system.
• Learn how a hostile disposition creates a self-reinforcing cycle of stress and physical damage.
• Understand how depression is a significant and measurable risk factor for heart attacks.
• Learn how emotional distress can trigger physical lung obstructions via the vagus nerve.
• Understand how chronic stress increases pain sensitivity, leading to conditions like tension headaches.
• Recognize the mind and body as a single system and the need for active self-regulation.
• Up next in “Psychology 2e — Full Course (OpenStax) | Intro Psychology Lectures”14.4 Regulation of Stress — Why Perceived Control Is the Master Variable of Stress | Psychology 2e

This lesson explores the biology behind psychophysiological disorders — real, measurable physical conditions produced or worsened by chronic psychological stress. Drawing from Section 14.3 of OpenStax Psychology 2e, the discussion maps exactly how a modern stressor like financial worry or relationship conflict can suppress the immune system, erode DNA, damage arteries, and obstruct airways. The central argument: your mind and body are a single continuous physical system, and the wear and tear is happening at the cellular level. In this video: • The evolutionary mismatch: why a stress response designed for a bear encounter becomes dangerous when activated for months over mortgages and emails • Psychoneuroimmunology and the Ader & Cohen (1975) rat experiment proving the brain can classically condition the immune system • Sheldon Cohen's 1998 rhinovirus study showing chronic work or relationship stress makes people significantly more likely to catch a cold • Telomere erosion: Elissa Epel's research on caregiving mothers whose chronic stress aged their cells by up to 9–17 years • Type A behavior, hostility, and the transactional cycle (Caitlin's loop) that mechanically scours artery linings and builds cardiovascular plaque • Depression as a cardiac risk factor: a 71% increased heart attack risk found in the Barefoot & Schrøll Denmark study • The Facebook asthma case study: how viewing an ex's profile triggered immediate airway constriction via the vagus nerve #OpenStax #Psychology #StressAndHealth #Psychoneuroimmunology #Psychophysiology OpenStax Content adapted from "OpenStax Psychology 2e", by OpenStax licensed under CC BY 4.0. Content based on Web Version: Apr 23, 2026. Read the textbook online https://openstax.org/details/books/psychology-2e Music first girl talking to me. by ikkun (ex. Barradeen) | https://soundcloud.com/ikkunwastaken Royalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US