Unit 6 – Adjustment and Breakdown

1. Unit 6 – Adjustment and Breakdown Stress and Health

2. Sources of Stress • What is stress? • Event, response, or perception of a situation that causes conflict • Person’s reaction to their inability to cope with a certain tense event or conflict

3. Sources of Stress • Components of stress: • Stress-causing event or situation = stressor • Stress reaction – often negative • From acute anxiety or pressure = distress ?? • (harassment, mugging, illness, breakup…) • Always bad? • From motivating challenges = eustress ?? • (precompetition nerves, stage jitters…)

4. Sources of Stress • Conflict situations: • Must choose between two or more options with conflicting motives…examples ?? • 4 different types: • Both good = approach-approach ?? • (accepted to 2 colleges, concert or ballgame, invited to 2 parties…) • Both bad = avoidance-avoidance ?? • (study physics or math, study or do chores, bad job or no job…)

5. Sources of Stress • One good one bad = approach-avoidance ?? • (ask for raise – get raise or get fired, ask for date – get date or get rejected, ask parents to go out – yes or no…) • Multiple options with good and bad = double approach-avoidance ?? • (2 vacation choices, aggressive or conservative golf shots…)

6. Sources of Stress • Why do some people view a situation as stressful but others don’t? • Level of stress you feel depends on how you appraise the situation • Immediate evaluation of a situation = primary appraisal • Deciding how to deal / cope with the situation = secondary appraisal

7. Sources of Stress • Environmental ?? • noise, crowding… • Life changes ?? • teenage issues… • SRRS

8. Male participants rated on scale of 1-100. Concerns: one stressor creates / compounds another scale doesn’t assess ongoing stressors (poverty, racism etc.)

9. Sources of Stress • Hassles - relatively minor, day-to-day events, gradually weaken body’s defense system ?? • slow traffic, lose keys, forget homework… • Uplifts – small, positive events • doing well on test, winning match, nice visit with a friend…

10. Reactions to Stress • How do people react? • (Physical, behavioral, psychological) • We are holistic organisms • Mind over matter • Will to live

11. Reactions to Stress • Hans Selye – identified 3 stages in the body’s stress reaction General Adaptation Syndrome • Alarm – fight or flight, heartrate & breathing faster, more alert, muscles tense, pupils dilate • Resistance – find means of coping with stressor, may develop psychosomatic symptoms (real physical symptoms caused by stress & tension) • Exhaustion – adrenaline depleted, disorientation, delusions

12. Reactions to Stress • Types of reactions?? • Emotional • Cognitive • Behavioral • Physical

13. Reactions to Stress • Emotional: • Anxiety – vague, generalized apprehension or feeling of danger (most common response to sudden & powerful stressor) • Anger – irate reaction to frustration • Fear – real or imagined danger • Overreacting to minor irritations, self doubt, tension, short temper

14. Reactions to Stress • Cognitive: • Difficulty concentrating, thinking • Recurring thoughts, worry • Poor decision making • Unjustified suspicion, distrust • Continued frustration - burnout

15. Reactions to Stress • Behavioral: • Nervous habits (pacing, trembling) • Gulp meals • Smoke, drink, take drugs • Become lethargic, aggressive • Lose interest in eating, grooming • Escape, unemployment • Not all bad - heroism, cooperation

16. Reactions to Stress • Physical: • Psychosomatic - real physical symptoms caused by stress and tension?? • (headaches, stomachaches, muscle pain, insomnia, migraines, sweating, dry mouth) • (urinary / bowel trouble, ulcers, hypertension, arthritis, asthma, heart disease) • (indirect contribution to illness - tampers with immune system)

17. Reactions to Stress • What factors influence individual reactions? • Personality • Type A – irritable, impatient, hostile, extremely competitive, eat/move fast – impact on health?? • (constant adrenaline flow, coronary artery disease, heart attacks) • Type B – relaxed, patient, better coronary health • Emotional expressiveness (don’t express – cancer risk) • Perceived control • Social support

18. Coping with Stress • How do we decide how to cope with stressors? • (cognitive appraisal-> interpretation of event -> stress impact)

19. Coping with Stress • If threatened, how might we cope? • Defensive coping strategies ?? • 3 groups see gruesome film, one told nothing • one told events not real – denial = decide event isn’t a stressor • one told film is educational, importance of safety – intellectualization = emotionally detached viewpoint, block out feelings • control group had higher stress levels

20. Coping with Stress • If challenged, how might we cope? • Active coping strategies ?? • hardiness = belief we can control out situation, commitment to establish and pursue goals, and view situation as a challenge • control – escape, withdraw, manage timing • problem solving – rational analysis • explanatory style – style of thinking: • Optimist = puts best face on any set of events • Pessimist = always sees the dark side

21. Coping with Stress • progressive relaxation • meditation • biofeedback • humor to release pent up feelings and maintain perspective • exercise • support groups, professional help • training • improving interpersonal skills

22. Stress in Your Life • Adjusting to college, work force • College shock – people from diverse backgrounds, challenges high school identity • Autonomy = taking care of yourself & making decisions • Developmental friendships = close relationships that force friends to reexamine ideas and beliefs (Madison – this & student culture have more impact than professors) • Resynthesis = combining old ideas with new ones, reorganizing feelings, renew identity • Comparable worth = concept that men & women should receive equal pay for jobs with comparable skill and responsibility • Work satisfaction – coworker relationships, challenge, comfort