CHAPTER 13CHAPTER 13Stress!Stress!

Chapter OverviewChapter Overview

Phew!--Managing Stress•Modifying Your Environment•Altering Your Lifestyle•Using Stress for Personal Growth

Yikes!--Reactions to Stress•Physiological Stress Reactions•Psychological Stress Reactions•How Do You React to Stress?

Oh No!--Understanding Stress•Conceptualizing Stress•Stress and You

Stress!Stress!

Chapter SummaryChapter Summary

Oh, No! – Understanding Stress• Conceptualizing Stress• Stress and You

Yikes! – Reactions to Stress• Physiological Stress Reactions• Psychological Stress Reactions• How Do You React to Stress?

Chapter SummaryChapter Summary cont’d

Phew! - Managing Stress• Modifying Your Environment

• Altering Your Lifestyle

• Using Stress for Personal Growth

Oh, No! – Understanding Oh, No! – Understanding StressStress

Statistics on Stress:

• Over half of all Americans view job stress as a major problem.

• Three of every five doctors’ visits are stress-related.

• One-fourth of American workers think they are on the brink of a nervous breakdown.

Stress is taking a toll on us!

Conceptualizing Conceptualizing StressStressStress may be viewed in many ways.• Stimulus-based:

StressorsStressors--the variety of external and internal stimuli that evoke stress.

• Behavior-based:StressStress--the patterns of responses an individual makes to events that disturb his or her equilibrium or when stressors exceed our coping abilities.

Our perceptions of stress are important. One person’s stress is another’s challenge!

Oh, No! – Understanding Oh, No! – Understanding Stress Stress cont’d

Conceptualizing Conceptualizing StressStressTypes of StressTypes of Stress• Distress: When stressful events have a harmful

effect.• Eustress: Good stress (i.e., stress that

invigorates us).• Hyperstress: Excessive stress.• Hypostress: Insufficient stress (boredom sets

in).

Oh, No! – Understanding Oh, No! – Understanding Stress Stress cont’d

Conceptualizing Conceptualizing StressStressLife-Events Approach:• Major life events such as death of a family

member or divorce are stressors.• The more distressing the life events, the more

likely an individual is to develop a stress-related illness.

Problems with life-events approachProblems with life-events approach:• Does not take individual differences in coping

ability or in perceptions into account.• Does not take into account everyday stressors,

such as losing one’s keys.

Oh, No! – Understanding Oh, No! – Understanding Stress Stress cont’dWorld Trade Center

9/11/01

Conceptualizing Conceptualizing StressStressDaily Hassles Approach:• Multiple daily hassles (e. g., stuck in traffic) have a major

impact on our health and our moods.• College students: hassles about grades and tests;

middle-aged people: health and money.• People who suffer frequent or intense daily hassles also

experience negative physical and psychological consequences.

Oh, No! – Understanding Oh, No! – Understanding Stress Stress cont’d

Oh, No! – Understanding Oh, No! – Understanding Stress Stress cont’d

Conceptualizing Conceptualizing StressStressChronic vs. Acute Approach to Stress:• Chronic Stress: The perception of global or generalized

and pervasive stress.• Acute Stress: Stress that is momentary and a response

to imminent danger and which is relieved when the danger disappears.

• Most health experts consider chronic stress to be the most harmful and damaging to health.

Stress and YouStress and You• How you perceive a stressor (as more or less stressful)

plays a major role in your relationship to stress.• Women and young people report more stress….• Personality factors contribute to stress: neuroticism,

Type A personality (people who are competitive, argumentative, time-urgent, ambitious, and impatient as well as hostile).

• Minority group members who perceive themselves objects of discrimination may also experience distress.

Oh, No! – Understanding Oh, No! – Understanding Stress Stress cont’d

Oh, No! – Understanding Oh, No! – Understanding Stress Stress cont’d

Stress and YouStress and YouSituations (rather than personal characteristics)

also cause stress.

Situations that:• Place too many demands on us• Take control out of our hands• Are unpredictable• Are void of social support• Produce role conflicts (e.g. between home and work)• Are dangerous or unpleasant

Yikes! – Reactions to Yikes! – Reactions to StressStress

Physiological Stress Reactions:Physiological Stress Reactions:Hans Selye has identified three progressive stages of

stress reaction (the general adaptation syndrome):• Alarm: The initial stage of the emergency where the

body attempts to restore or maintain its normal functioning.

• Resistance: The second stage in which the body attempts to resist the stressor.

• Exhaustion: The final stage where the body is unable to continue resisting and breaks down.

Yikes! – Reactions to Yikes! – Reactions to StressStress cont’d

Physiological Stress Reactions:Physiological Stress Reactions:Some scientists speak of the fight or flight response:• Fight signifies confronting the stressor.• Flight means fleeing from the stressor.

Most physiologists believe that the parts of the body crucial to managing stress are:

• Amygdala: A part of the brain that directs signals and triggers alarms.

• Pituitary gland: The master gland of the endocrine or hormonal system.

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Physiological Stress Reactions:Physiological Stress Reactions:McEwen (2005) focuses on• allostasis allostasis – achieving stability through changes via a

process that maintains balance among physiological factors essential for life, AND

• allostatic load – the cumulative changes that reflect the cost to the body of adapting repeatedly to the demands placed upon it.

• In the short run, allostasis protects us; over the long run, excessive load can cause physiological damage!

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Psychological Stress Reactions:Psychological Stress Reactions:…are typically shaped by learning.

Most stressors evoke anxiety – the vague, unpleasant feeling that something bad is about to happen.

… we cope by using (ego) defense mechanisms-unconscious mechanisms for protecting us from awareness of anxiety in the face of threat.

For example:• Repression--where unacceptable thoughts are excluded

from consciousness, or• Projection--attributing our own unacceptable thoughts

or feelings to others.

How Do You React to Stress?How Do You React to Stress?Each of us reacts differently.

Some individuals use:• emotion-focused coping, where the individual

tries to alter his or her emotional reaction to stress; others utilize

• problem-focused coping, where the individual attempts to change the environment or find a solution.

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How Do You React to Stress?How Do You React to Stress?• Some are better able to cope with or manage

stress than others. They possess psychological hardiness–an attitude that allows certain people to make the most of a situation.

• Some possess resilience–positive growth or positive adaptation following brief periods of stress after some stressful disruption or extreme adversity (i.e., they bounce back from unfortunate circumstances).

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Phew! – Managing Phew! – Managing StressStress

Modifying the EnvironmentModifying the Environment::

Basic ways to modify what goes on around you include:• Assertiveness--directly expressing your feelings and

rights.• Withdrawal--removing yourself from the situation.• Compromise--adjusting or modifying opposing ideas or

behaviors. This may include conformity, negotiation, or substitution.

Different people are comfortable with different approaches; each approach may not work in all situations.

Altering Your Lifestyle:Altering Your Lifestyle:• Build up your stress tolerancestress tolerance – the degree of

stress you can handle or how long you can put up with a demanding task without acting in an irrational or disorganized way.

• Develop the ability to function well despite anxiety. For example, maintain your physical fitness.

• Change your pace of life. Our pace has become faster every generation.

Phew! – Managing StressPhew! – Managing Stress cont’d

Firefighters and others who confront stress daily

have learned to build stress tolerance!

Phew! – Managing Phew! – Managing Stress Stress cont’d

Altering Your Lifestyle:Altering Your Lifestyle:• Rearrange your life to prevent stress. For

example, get up early enough to avoid rushing. • Take time to relax every day.• Develop and maintain a good sense of humor.

Using Using StressStress for Personal Growth: for Personal Growth:• Stress management is a personal matter.

Only you know what you can tolerate and how best to manage stress.

• Stress and your reactions to it can provide opportunities for personal growth.

• Remember that failures and disappointments can be blessings in disguise.

Phew! – Managing Phew! – Managing Stress Stress cont’d

Make stress work for you; stress Make stress work for you; stress need not always be distressing!need not always be distressing!

Phew! – Managing Phew! – Managing Stress Stress cont’d