Aeromedical: Stress Flashcards
Define: STRESS
Stress is the nonspecific response of the body to any demand placed upon it.
Stress is a physiological phenomenon involving actual changes in the body’s chemistry & function, and involves some perceived or actual demand for action.
Any event which requires you to adjust or adapt in some way is a source of stress, also called a stressor.
TYPES OF STRESSORS: Psychosocial.
These stressors may trigger adaptation or change in one’s lifestyle, career, and/or interaction with others. May be positive or negative.
Job stress: low morale/unit cohesion/boredom/fatigue/over-tasking/poorly defined responsibilities
Illness: organic diseases/fatigue
Family issues: family commitments/spousal relationships.
TYPES OF STRESSORS: Environmental.
Altitude: altitudes below 5000’/ trapped gas causing ear or sinus problems.
Speed: associated with speeds > than those experienced in every day life cause a higher degree of alertness & concentration over long periods.
Hot or Cold: use proper clothing or equipment. Aircraft Design: cockpit illumination/instrument location/seat comfort/heating & ventilating systems/visibility/noise level.
IMC conditions: increased vigilance & accuracy reading, following, monitoring flt instruments are very stressful.
TYPES OF STRESSORS: Physiological.
Self-imposed stressors or maladaptive behaviors that are potentially debilitating & threaten aviation safety.
Acronym DEATH.
- Drugs. Self-medication: may incur unwanted side-effects. Caffeine most commonly ingested. Limit or avoid drugs unless prescribed by a flt surgeon.
- Exhaustion. Lack of rest and poor sleep. Lack of exercise impairs circulatory efficiency, reduces endurance, & increases likelihood of illness.
- Alcohol. Affects of alcohol depend on: the amount of alcohol consumed/the rate of absorption from the stomach & small intestines/the body’s rate of metabolism, 1 oz every 3 hrs.
- Tobacco. Use of any tobacco product is detrimental.
- Hypoglycemia. maintain a well-balanced diet to avoid low blood sugar, which could cause weakness or fainting, & fatigue.
TYPES OF STRESSORS: Cognitive.
How one perceives a given situation or problem is a potentially significant & frequently overlooked source of stress. Pessimism, obsession, failure to focus on the present, and/or low self-confidence can create a self-fulfilling prophecy that will ensure a negative outcome.
Musts & Shoulds: lack of flexibility in thinking causes problems when reality does not accommodate one’s wishes. Failure to accept the possibility that things may happen contrary to one’s wishes leaves one unprepared, frustrated, & dysfunctional.
Failure to Focus on the Here & Now: living in the past or future & overemphasizing what should have been or what could be, can increase one’s overall stress.
STRESS RESPONSE: Emotional Response
Ranges from increased anxiety, irritability, or hostility to depressed mood, loss of ones self-esteem, hopelessness, & inability to enjoy life.
STRESS RESPONSE: Behavioral Responses.
High stress can adversely affect one’s work performance, decrease motivation, & increase the likelihood of conflict, insubordination, & violence in the workplace.
Some individuals become socially isolated.
Others may abuse drugs or alcohol.
STRESS RESPONSE: Cognitive Responses.
Stress can significantly affect one’s thought processes.
It can decrease attention & concentration, interfere with judgment & problem solving, & impair memory.
STRESS RESPONSE: Simplification Heuristic:
Under high stress conditions, people tend to oversimplify problem solving & ignore important relevant information, taking the easy way out.
STRESS RESPONSE: Stress-Related Regression:
Individuals under high-stress conditions will forget learned procedures & skills & revert to bad habits.
STRESS RESPONSE: Perceptual Tunneling:
individual or an entire crew under high stress becomes focused on one stimulus, & neglects to attend to other important task/information such as flying the aircraft.
A similar situation may occur when an aviator realizes during flight that he or she overlooked some aspect of flight such as missing a radio call.
The stressed aviator may then overattend to rectifying this problem/become emotionally & mentally fixated on the error & fall “behind the aircraft.”
STRESS RESPONSE: Physical Responses.
- involves overall heightened arousal of the body.
- Increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, more rapid breathing, tensing of the muscles, & the release of sugars & fats into circulation to provide fuel for “fight or flight.”
- Prolonged stress & its continuous effects: muscle tension & pain, headaches, high blood pressure, decreased immunity to infectious diseases.
STRESS RESPONSE: Stress Underload.
- Too little stress may be dysfunctional as having too much stress.
- A lack of challenges: complacency, boredom, & impulsive risk taking.
STRESS & PERFORMANCE: Physical Characteristics of the Individual.
Differences in strength, endurance, & physical health effects stress performance.
STRESS & PERFORMANCE: Psychological Makeup of the Individual.
Individuals with good coping, problem solving, & social skills will cope more efficiently.
