Adaptation to Stress

Question 1

What is stress?

Answer 1

Interaction between person and environment that challenges how a person will cope.

Question 2

What is a stressor?

Answer 2

Anything in the environment that causes a person to have stress.

Question 3

What is the difference between distress and eustress?

Answer 3

Distress is damaging to the individual while eustress is an outcome of a positive event.

Question 4

What is the medulla oblongata responsible for?

Answer 4

Heart rate, Blood pressure and respiration rate

Question 5

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Answer 5

three-stage physical and physiologic reaction to stress

Question 6

3 Stages of General Adaptation Syndrome

Answer 6

Alarm
Resistance
Exhaustion

Question 7

Physiologic response to GAS: Alarm stage

Answer 7

When stressor is detected, ANS tells medulla oblongata to increase blood flow to organs which increases awareness and ability to think and respond to stressors.
Blood in brain has an increase in glucose, epinephrine, and norepinephrine to assist with individual’s reaction to stressor.
Reticular formation supports coordination between sensory and motor tract.
Brain will alert the limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.

Question 8

Limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis

Answer 8

Limbic area of the brain communicates with hypothalamus that stress is occurring
Hypothalamus secretes corticotropin-releasing factor which alerts pituitary gland.
Pituitary gland secretes adrenocorticotropic hormone that lets the adrenal cortex release cortisol.
Cortisol mobilizes energy response

Question 9

Resistance Stage

Answer 9

Body stabilizes and returns to normal.
Hormone levels return to normal
PNS activity
Adaptation to stressors.

Question 10

Exhaustion Stage

Answer 10

Individual’s body does not adapt to stress.

Continues in alarm-stage format until body becomes exhausted and cannot sustain the changes.

Question 11

Locus of control

Answer 11

Hypothesis based on how individual’s will respond to a task with regard to their own sense of goal attainment.
Includes thoughts, beliefs, aptitudes, culture and value.

Question 12

Internal control

Answer 12

Internal control is something they can contribute to their success.
Tend to have better outcomes, becomes more motivated and less likely to conform to social influences.

Question 13

External control

Answer 13

External control is a task completion beyond their control.

More likely to conform to social influences.

Question 14

Social Readjustment Rating Scale

Answer 14

consists of 43 stressors that are assigned a point value.

The greater the number of points, higher probability of developing illness

Question 15

Interventions to promote health in face of stress

Answer 15

Assess for causal factors and coping skills
Identify stress and type of stress
Humor
Compartmentalization
Exercise
Healthy diet
Sufficient sleep
Prevent isolation 
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
Stop, Divert and Reframe

Question 16

Compartmentalization

Answer 16

Patient leaves stressor in designated space.
It allows time for people to process before leaving it in space.
Most taught to patients

Question 17

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

Answer 17

Psychological problems are based on faulty or unhelpful ways of thinking and unhelpful behavior.
People can learn better ways of coping with them.

Question 18

Disorders that can benefit from CBT

Answer 18

Anxiety
Depression
Panic Attacks
Addictions
Eating Disorders
Anger
Phobias

Question 19

Interventions that can help the exhaustion stage of GAS

Answer 19

Exhaustion stage manifests itself in the forms of illnesses like infections, headaches, hypertension, asthma attacks, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, anxiety disorders and other chronic conditions. It can also cause death.
Assess the individual’s stress and the factors leading up to it.
Assess chronic conditions
Teach patients to conserve their energy and relaxing techniques.
Provide pain medications and reassess for headaches.
Ensure patients are compliant with their medications such as BP meds.
Ensure patients are getting the appropriate interventions for their infections, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, anxiety, etc.

Question 20

Stop Divert and Reframe

Answer 20

Stop- interrupt the negative train of thought
Divert- think about something that will rapidly decrease stress
Reframe- reinforce what you can do to reduce the stressor.

Question 21

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

Answer 21

helpful to teach individuals a generic method of relaxation by concentrating on breathing rhythm.

Question 22

CBT patient education

Thinking patterns.

Answer 22

Learning to recognize one’s distortion in thinking that causes problems
Gain better understanding of behavior and motivation of others.
Using problem-solving skills to cope with difficult situations.
Learning to develop a greater sense of confidence in one’s own abilities

Question 23

CBT patient education

Behavioral patterns.

Answer 23

Facing one’s fears instead of avoiding them.
Using role playing to prepare for potentially problematic interactions with others.
Learning to calm one’s mind and relax one’s body