Stress Flashcards
What is stress defined by Selye?
The non-specific response of the body to and demand for change
What are the 2 types of stress?
- Distress: Negative cognitive appraisals, negatively affects you, taking away energy
- Eustress: Positive cognitive appraisals, positively affects you giving you energy
What are stressors?
Stimuli that place demands on us that require us to adapt our behaviour. They may threaten our wellbeing and physical safety (they make us stressed)
What are 4 types of stressors? Explain them
- Environmental: Aspects of our surroundings that increase stress (work, noise etc)
- Psychological: Aspects of our mental state that increases stress (low self-esteem)
- Social: Aspects of relationships wwith others that incease stress (relationship issues)
- Cultural: Aspects of family backgrounds & beliefs that increse stress (discrimination)
What are 3 characteristics of stressors?
- Nature: Describes whether the stressor has a positive or negative effect based on perception (eustress or distress)
- Duration: The length of time the stressor affects you
- Strength: The impact a stressor has on you, too little no response, too much may lead to meltdowns
What 4 health-related problems can short-term stress cause?
- High HR & BR
- Increased muscle tone
- Digestive issues
- Anxious feeling
(anything in the sympathetic nervous system)
What are 4 health-related problems can long-term stress cause?
- Increased chance of heart attack and stroke
- Increased risk of type 2 diabetes
- Mental health problems
- Fertility issues and sexual dysfunction
What are 2 coping strategies when dealing with stress?
- Maladaptive coping strategies: When a person attempts to reduce their stress in an ineffective or unhealthy way (eg. procrastination, avoidance)
- Adaptive coping strategies: Have a positive effect on a person’s health and help build up emotional resilience while reducing stress (eg meditation)
Explain the General adaption syndrome (GAS) model of stress
- Describes how our bodies respond to stress over time in a predictable way
- Found that regardless of the type of stress, similar short and long-term effects are experienced, and regardless of whether the stress was positive/negative or internal/external
Name the 3 stages of the GAS model
- Alarm
- Resistance
- Exhaustion
Explain stage 1 of the GAS model
Alarm stage
- When we first perceive a stressor the body falls into a state of “shock”, momentarily feel overwhelmed
- Body temp & blood pressure drop
- Ability to deal with stress is reduced
- Body enters “countershock” state, releasing adrenaline and cortisol increasing HR and resistance to stressor
Explain stage 2 of the GAS model
Resistance
- If stressor remains body enters resistance stage
- Physiological changes remain above average, lower than alarm stage
- Increased levels of cortisol maintain resistance suppressing immune system causing more wear and tear on the body
- Body uses lots of resources to maintain resistance, reducing ability to resist other stressors
- Energy levels remain high but body can’h hold it forever
Explain stage 3 of the GAS model
Exhaustion
- Stressor continues past the point where the body can keep up
- Body’s resources are drained, cortisol levels depleted
- People experience fatigue and are at a high risk of physical and mental illness
What are 3 strengths of the GAS model of stress?
- First model to highlight major impacts of stress on the immune system
- Supported by lots of research and empirical evidence
- Identifies the biological processes involved in stress
What are 4 limitations of the GAS model?
- Too much emphasis on the biology of the stress response, not psychological factors
- Doesn’t acknowledge unique individual factors that would impact someones stress response
- Research mostly on animals, can’t be generalised to humans
- Different regions of the brain activate during different stressors according to new research, may not be ‘non-specific’
