AOS 2;STRESS

Question 1

Define stress

Answer 1

Stress refers to the automatic physiological and physical arousal(or tension) a person feels in response to a change in their internal or external environment, that challenges them or causes them to feel that they don’t have the resources to cope

Question 2

Define stressor

Answer 2

A stressor is any person, object or event that challenges or threatens the person. There are two types internal and external

Question 3

What is an internal stressor?

Answer 3

Pain or disturbing thoughts

Question 4

What is an external stressor?

Answer 4

Loud noice, breakup

Question 5

What is eustress?

Answer 5

Eustress is when we engage in stressors which we enjoy our sympathetic nervous system is activated and releases a cascade of hormones into our blood stream that cause the same response as stress due to our positive perception it becomes a motivator as well as an energiser

Question 6

What is distress?

Answer 6

Distress is when we perceive a stress to be a threat or view in. Negative manner. Due to distress we experience a negative stress response, characterised by anxiety, depression and fear

Question 7

What is meant by daily pressures?

Answer 7

Daily pressures refer to frequently experienced stressors consisting of relatively minor events which require adjustments in behaviour

Question 8

What is meant by life events?

Answer 8

Life events are stressors that consist of significant but relatively rare events that require adjustments in behaviour within a relatively short time

Question 9

Use one word to describe stress

Answer 9

psychobiological

Question 10

What effects the type of stress we experience?

Answer 10

the type of stress we experience depend on each individuals evaluation of the stressor. The perception of a stressor is influences by past experiences, personality, culture and genetic factors

Question 11

Define chronic stress

Answer 11

a state of prolonged physiological arousal in response to a persistent stressor that negatively effects an individuals health and wellbeing

Question 12

Define acute stress

Answer 12

A state of brief but intense physiological arousal in response to an immediate perceived stressor that normally has no negative effects on health and wellbeing

Question 13

How can eustress effect our ability to perform?

Answer 13

Eustress can motivate individuals to perform at their optimal level

Question 14

How can distress effect our ability to perform?

Answer 14

Depletes and energy and reduces performance

Question 15

What is the Yerkes Dodson curve?

Answer 15

Is a graph which demonstrates the relationship between arousal and performance levels. It states that when low level stress occurs it does not motivate, at slightly higher levels than normal we are motivated and energised and at excessive levels our performance is impaired

Question 16

What is the relationship between stress and illness?

Answer 16

stress does not cause stress, but if we are exposed for a prolonged amount of time to a stressor, our immune system becomes weaker due to the hormones being released due to stress making it more likely to become ill

Question 17

What is the fight,flight or freeze response?

Answer 17

It occurs due to the arousal of our sympathetic nervous system when we are exposed to a stressor. it is an adaptive response to increase chances of survival

Question 18

What is the simplified biological response of stress?

Answer 18

initially our flight, fight or freeze response is activated by the instantaneous release of hormones. Then the HPA axis step occurs. This is the second wave response where slower longer lasting release of cortisol occurs

Question 19

What is the role of cortisol?

Answer 19

Cortisol aims to energise the body by increasing the availability of blood glucose and enhance metabolism

Question 20

What happens to the body wen cortisol remains at high levels for a long period of time?

Answer 20

Our immune system becomes impaired therefor we have an increased vulnerability to disease

Question 21

What does HPA stand for?

Answer 21

Hypothalamus, Pituitary gland, and adrenal gland

Question 22

How does the HPA axis work?

Answer 22

the hypothalamus stimulates the pituitary gland which then releases ACTH into the blood stream which then prompts the adrenal glands to release the cortisol a feedback look occurs between the cortisol levels and hypothalamus

Question 23

What is Selye’s GAS model?

Answer 23

it stands for general adaption syndrome. according to selye the models the typical pattern in terms of resistance to stress over time. There are three major stages some of which are broken up, alarm reacting, resistance ad exhaustion

Question 24

The first stage of GAS has to sub section what are they?

Answer 24

The first stage; alarm reaction is broken into shock and counter shock

Question 25

What occurs during the shock stage of the GAS model?

Answer 25

this is when the individual first perceives a threat, when this happens our resistance levels go below normal and our body its as if its injured. our body temp decreases, blood pressure drops ad muscles lose tone

Question 26

What occurs during counter shock?

Answer 26

counter shock is characterised by the activation of the sympathetic nervous system and a higher than normal arousal level which increases our resistance to stress. a flood of hormones such as adrenaline , noradrenalin and cortisone is released into the blood stream. speeding up our bodily processes and slowing down others to conserve energy for elsewhere. hr increases, respiration increases and glucose supply to muscle increases

Question 27

What occurs during the resistance stage?

Answer 27

after the alarm reaction stage the body enters the resistance stage in attempt to stabilise internal systems and fight the stressor. the body is able to cope normally as the physiological arousal remains higher than normal although lower than the countercheck stage. Cortisol levels will remain high which will compromise immune system. This is because our body is putting al resources into fighting stressor therefor unable to withhold other pressures.

Question 28

What occurs in the exhaustion stage?

Answer 28

Is what occurs when we cannot defeat the stressor in the resistance stage.It wen our bodies resources have all been drained and all the hormones which cause our fight, flight or freeze have depleted. Because of this our immune system becomes weakened due to the prolonged release of hormones such as cortisol and adrenalin therefor we are more susceptible to infection and disease

Question 29

What are some strengths of The GAS Model?

Answer 29

• it measures a predictable pattern which can be measured in individuals
• If stress is not prolonged stages are still experienced therefor it tracks the biological pattern of different types of stress
• it found that the greater the intensity of the stressor the greater the physiological response

Question 30

What are daily uplifts?

Answer 30

daily uplifts counteract daily pressures and are minor positive experiences

Question 31

What is Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional model of coping and stress?

Answer 31

It is a model which proposes that stressful experiences are a transaction between a person and their environment . If demands exceed resources than stress is the likely result.

Question 32

What is involved in the primary appraisal of Lazarus and Folkman’s model of comping and stress?

Answer 32

In the initial stage the person evaluates the severity of the stressors impact on their situation and if it poses a threat. An individual may judge it to be insignificant, benign (positive) or stressful ( threat, challenge, him/loss)

Question 33

According to Lazarus and Folkman, what happens if in the first appraisal stressful is the chosen evaluation?

Answer 33

If the event is considered stressful then we go through a secondary appraisal where we assess what internal and external resources we have available to help us cope. If we believe we don’t have the resources to cope we will make a negative secondary appraisal. Alternatively, if we believe we have the necessary coping resources we will make a positive secondary appraisal. we will not feel overwhelmed and may re-apprasise the stressor as less significant.

Question 34

Define acculturative stress

Answer 34

reduction in health status caused by the stress of attempting to adapt to the demands and values of a foreign culture psychologically and socially

Question 35

What can prolonged acculturative stress lead to?

Answer 35

long term psychological and behavioural problems such as anxiety, low self esteem, depression, confusion of identity, subside abuse and alienation

Question 36

Define catastrophe?

Answer 36

a Suden, unpredictable, uncontrollable intense event that is out of control of an individual and causes intense and prolonged suffering

Question 37

Natural catastrophe vs Man made catastrophe

Answer 37

n- cyclone, tsunami, earthquake

m-war car crash

Question 38

Define PTSD

Answer 38

PTSD is a pattern of symptoms following exposure to a stressful life event that sets of clinically significant distress or impairment of human functioning.

Question 39

symptoms of PTSD?

Answer 39

• re experiencing the event via vivid flashbacks
• avoiding specific places
• sleeping difficulties
• long periods of increased autonomic arousal

Question 40

What are some weaknesses on the GAS model?

Answer 40

• research was not conducted on humans

- does not take into account individuals differences an psychological factors

Question 41

Define coping strategy

Answer 41

is a specific method, behavioural or psychological, that people use to manage or reduce stress.

Question 42

What is emotion focused coping?

Answer 42

Refers to how the individual can change there mind set or evaluation to see the stressors in a more positive way

Question 43

What is problem focused coping?

Answer 43

refers to the strategies we can use to fix the problem or manage the stressor

Question 44

Strengths of Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional model

Answer 44

• it distinguishes between eustress and distress

- it acknowledges that stress is a subjective experience

Question 45

Weaknesses ofof Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional model

Answer 45

• does not consider automatic physical responses the body has to stress it is deemed to simplistic
• difficult to conduct experimental research on as it is subjective

Question 46

Define coping flexibility

Answer 46

refers to an individual ability to be able to evaluate their coping process and implement an alternative coping strategy if the first is ineffective

Question 47

Define coping effectiveness

Answer 47

refers. to the degree which a coping strategy or multiple is successfully alleviating stress

Question 48

Define avoidant coping strategy

Answer 48

effort to evade the stressor and deal indirectly with the effects e.g drug and alcohol abuse, over sleeping

Question 49

Define approach coping strategy

Answer 49

effort to confront the stressor and deal directly with it

Question 50

Benefits of physical exercise

Answer 50

-depletes the body of excess stress hormones
-promotes the release of serotonin and endorphins
-improves alertness and fatigue
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