HOW TO MANAGE STRESS? BENZOS/SIT/BIOFEEDBACK Flashcards
Name 3 ways to manage stress?
- Medication (benzodiazepine, beta-blockers).
- Stress Inoculation Therapy (Meichenaum)
- Biofeedback
- Relaxation and imagery
What is benzodiazepine?
A class of drugs used to treat anxiety.
How do they work? Reduce serotonin activity, thus having a inhibitory effect on the brain (slowing down brain activity), which reduces stress/anxiety and can also reduce physical symptoms of stress (muscle tension).
Benzodiazepines signficicantly reduce stess- supporying evidence?
Kahn et al (1986)- carried out research where one group of patients where given the drug and the other a placebo. 250 patients followed for 8 weeks.
What did Kahn et al (1986) find?
- Kahn et al (1986)- the patients recieving the drug, showed signficant reductions in stress leveles compared to the control.
Name 1 weakness and 1 strength of using benzodeiazepines as a treatment for stress?
Strength- work very quickly-producing an effect within 30 mins (providing relief of tension, racing thoughts, restlessness)
Weakness- pallative/ short-term effect- does not address root causes of stress such as underlying MH issues, dysfunctional thought patterns.
What is stress inoculation therapy?
- A form of CBT designed to gradually habituate individuals to increasing levels of stress in order to develop coping skills. there are 4 phrases: conceptualisation, skill acquistion, rehearsal, application.
What is conceptualisation? (stage 1)
- During this stage the therapist and client work together- to gain understanding of the clients- sources of stress, experinces, current stress managment techniques. Therapist suggests reframing thoughts + accepting (some aspects of stress can be changed/ some can’t)
What is skill acquisition? (stage 2)
- The patient is taught a range of cognitive + behavioral coping mechanisms tailored to their needs (mindfulness, relaxation, divertion)
- These skills are first used in therapy and then real-world.
What is application and follow-through? (stage 3)
- Clients begin to use their skills in increasingly stressful situations. They may be first asked to visualise stressful scenarious first and then eventually apply in real-situatios.
Name 1 strength and 1 weakness of Stress Inoculation Therapy?
strength- personalised treatment- providing tailored coping stategies to be used in a range of situation (life-long skills)
weaknesses- time consuming- the process of learning/ acquiring skills can be lengthy.
What is biofeedback?
- Stress managment tool that teaches patients how to control physiological functions (heart rate, muscle tension), by providing real-time feedback about those bodily functions. Goal= using biological info to control functions, minimising stress.
How does biofeedback work?
- Electrical sensors- communicate info about physiological processes (heartbeat) through beeping sounds, visual monitors.
- The patient is then instructed to make changes (slowing breathing to lower HR and reduce stress).
- If patients are able to make their body respond in a healthier way, the biofeedback system reinforces this by offering positive feedback (pleasant sound).
Which researchers conducted a study into biofeedback, forehead muscle tension and stress?
Budzynski et al (1969)
Budzynski et al (1969) aim?
- To investiagte whether using biofeedback tools (analogue monitor) to measure and reduce forehead muscle tension would then effectively reduce stress.
Budzynski et al (1969)- methods
- Analogue monitor- to measure forehead muscle tension (as it is a difficult muscle to relax- if it could work here- it could work for differnet muscles)
- Lab experiment
- Independent measures design as the ppts were randomly allocated to either Group A, B or C.
Budzynski et al (1969)- sample
15 ppts (included in the results) 18 participants who replied to an advertisement in a local paper in Colorado.
Summarise the procedure- Budzkynski et al (1969)?
- Ppts told to record headaches.
- Group A and B were given 16 training sessions for 8 weeks (20 mins)
- Feedback group (group a)- monitor would provide a low tone when they successfully relaxed muscle (pos reinforcement).
- Irrelavant feedback (group b)- monitor emitted a constant low tone regardless of whether they relaxed forehead. Told the sound would aid relaxation.
- No feedback group (group c)- no tone, no sound. Ppts simply told to relax.
Budzynski et al (1969)- results/ conclusions?
- Noticeable differences in muscle relaxation- showing feedback type affeted ability to relax.
- The biofeedback group reduced tension by 50%, the best result (kept improving)
- The no-feedback group reduced tension by 24%
- The irrelevant-feedback group increased tension by 28%
Budzynski et al (1969)- strengths/ weaknesses
Strengths- random assigment to different conditions (clear comparisons/ reduced ppts variabes)
Weakness- ecological validity- ppts knew they were being monitored- lab experiment- artifical setting could add unnatural stress.
