Stress Flashcards
Stress: A Definition
the outcome or response to a variety of negative feelings and reactions that accompany threatening, challenging or simply everyday situations
The Transactional Model of Stress
- focuses on the interaction between the individual and the environment.
- People are said to experience psychological stress when they perceive that their environmental demands exceed their capacity to cope
- In other words, people respond to stress by developing cognitive appraisals of the stress.
in how many stages does cognitive appraisal occur?
Cognitive appraisal occurs over two stages:
- Primary appraisal
- Secondary appraisal
In the primary appraisal
The event/situation/stimulus is evaluated stressful or not stressful.
If the event is assessed to be stressful, thereafter the person must then evaluate if it is a harm, a loss, a threat or a challenge.
If the event is evaluated as harmful or having incurred a kind of loss, then the injury or damage has already occurred.
On the other hand, a threat would be an event that could lead to harm or loss.
Whilst a challenge provides the opportunity for development or mastery.
the secondary appraisal
This stage of appraisal occurs after the stressful event has been evaluated as a threat or challenge.
During this stage, the person considers his/her coping resources and resources.
An event will only be appraised as a stressor if it is personally relevant, and the person perceives that the demands of the situation exceed his/her resources to cope with it.
The Bio-psychosocial Model of Stress
The bio-psychosocial model is consider an integrative framework that draws on multiple approaches for conceptualising stress.
This model was a response to some of the criticisms aimed at biomedical models, which argued that it was important to include the psychosocial aspects of disturbances to health such as stress.
how many elements are there in the bio-psychosocial model
involves three elements:
- The external component i.e. the social
- The internal component i.e. the biological and psychological
- The interaction between these two components.
The External Component
Pertains to all the events in the person’s environment that can lead to a stressful response
These events include a variety of psychosocial stimuli, which are commonly referred to as stressors.
Examples include: your family circle, relationship with peers and friends, work relations, studying, social media presence or lack thereof, recreation, hobbies etc.
The internal component
Involves the person’s psycho-physiological responses and cognitive reactions to stress.
For example, heart palpitations, stomach cramps, headaches, bodily pain, intrusive thoughts, particular ruminations or obsessions, catastrophic thinking, overgeneralisations etc.
The interaction between the external and internal components.
A combination of the social, psycho-physiological and cognitive dimensions related to a stressful event.
For example, the ‘liking’ culture on social media such as instagram and facebook coerces people to like all their friends pictures or posts for fear that they will be perceived as jealous, envious, a bad friend, a ‘hater’, which may lead to excessive worrying, and psychosomatic symptoms that are a direct consequence of feeling compelled to ‘like’.
six constructs in the Health belief model
used to assess the health risks associated with the situation:
- The susceptibility of becoming stressed.
- The severity of the stress.
- The benefits associated with the stress.
- The protective barriers from stress.
- The confidence in performing a stressful behaviour.
- The cues in which we take towards the necessary actions.
distress
leads to ill health, poor performance, and dysfunctional behaviour.
eustress
healthy, positive stress associated with happy events, which can provide a sense of fulfilment.
The Psychophysiology of Stress
- Fight or flight responses
- There are several systems and subsystems within our body i.e. physiological responses that are activated, in order to deal with the threat.
The systems implicated on this process are:
- The autonomic nervous system
- The endocrine system
The Autonomic Nervous System
The autonomic system is divided into 2 separate but interdependent systems i.e. the sympathetic and the parasympathetic systems.
The sympathetic system is responsible for activating and arousing the body to an alert state, in order to dope or deal with a threat.
Conversely, the parasympathetic system is responsible for restoring the body to its original and rested state before the threat/activation/arousal.
In many ways, the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems work together in order to regulate how the body waxes and wanes in response to a threat.
As an analogy, we can liken our bodies to a sort of security system that responds to attacks.
The Sympathetic System
The sympathetic system is responsible for arousing neural and glandular functions.
In other words, there are particular neural pathways and glands that are aroused or stimulated, which place the body on high alert.
How does this manifest exactly?
This arousal and stimulation takes the form of increased heart rate, the dilation of the arteries of the muscles, including the heart rate, the constriction of the arteries of the skin and digestive organs, and the activation of certain endocrine glands.
The Parasympathetic System
When there is no longer a need for the body to be aroused or alert, the parasympathetic system acts to reverse the body’s activation and arousal.
Thus, this system acts to conserve and protect the body’s resources.
Why is it important for parasympathetic system to reverse, converse and protect the body’s ability to be alert?
What are the implications of the failure of the parasympathetic to function properly?
Thyroxine
produced via the thyroid gland and it leads to symptoms such as:
- Increased sweating
- Nervousness
- Shakiness
- Insomnia
However, it is important to note that should these hormones be produced over a long period of time, the high level of hormones may harm internal organs, and render the organism vulnerable to disease..
Adrenalin (or epinephrine)
produced via the adrenal glands.
It interacts with organ receptor cells to increase the heart rate and blood pressure, and to instruct the liver to release extra insulin.
The General Adaptation Syndrome
The general adaptation syndrome describes a set of reactions that follow the body’s exposure to an impending threat.
For example, a person that is subject to prolonged stress goes through the following three phases: 1. The alarm reaction 2. The stage of resistance 3. The exhaustion stage
alarm reaction stage
body mobilizes its resources to respond to the threat.
In other words, the body is preparing itself to to respond to the stressor.
Symptoms may include sweating, increased heart rate, dizziness, cramps, nausea etc.
In this stage, the shock temporarily reduces the body’s resistance.
The resistance stage
involves a continued state of arousal as the body’s response gradually stabilises.
The body secretes high levels of hormones to assist in response to the stressor.
It is important to remember that this is the body’s way of coping with the stressor.
If the stressful situation is prolonged, the high level of hormones may damage internal organs, thus rendering the organism susceptible to disease.
The resistance stage seems to result in many of the diseases precipitated by or caused stress such as infections, headaches, insomnia, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
exhaustion stage
Ongoing stress
Put simply, it is during this stage that the body’s resources are finally exhausted.
This may be followed by a complete mental breakdown which could look like burnout, depression, anxiety, mania, psychosis etc.
Types of Stress
- Acute stress
- Intermittent stress
- Chronic stress
Acute stress
The type of stress that is immediate.
Its onset is quick, and results a fight or flight response.
It often involves a concrete threat that is readily identifiable as a stressor.
Put simply, this is short lived stressor.
Importantly, acute stressors may range from mild to severe.
Examples include: alarm clock not going off on time, a new assignment or test comes up, responding to text messages from your friend, being pulled over for a speeding fine, held at gunpoint, being robbed or getting into an argument with a friend.
Intermittent stress
This is the kind of stress that tends to be episodic.
In other words, stressful periods or people who tend to experience stress or worrying on a daily basis.
Examples include: semester courses, ruminating about whether you put off all electrical appliances once you have left the house, load-shedding etc.
Chronic stress
Is typical of modern day living, in which ongoing stressful situations emerge that are not short lived.
It is important to mention that in these situations fight-or-flight responses are not helpful.
Why not?
Chronic stress is insidious.
What is meant by this?
Common chronic life stressors include: high pressured work environment, long term relationships, persistent financial woes, loneliness, crime in South Africa.
Chronic stressors pose serious health risks due in large part to their prolonged activation of the bodies stress response.
Stressors
- Life changes or events
2. Daily hassles and uplifts
The Source of Stressors
- the frustration-aggression hypothesis
- conflict
- pressure
Stress and Illness
There is strong evidence which suggests that stress has an effect on our physical and psychological functioning.
Stress is commonly associated with illnesses such as heart disease, low/high blood pressure, depression, anxiety, psychosis, somatoform disorders etc.
Coping and Stress Reduction
- adaptive reaction
- problem-focused coping
- emotion-focused coping
- avoidance-withdrawal coping
Adaptive reaction
refers to behaviours designed to manage the daily hassles which people encounter through exercising, meditating, talking to others, crying, going on a holiday etc.
Problem-focused coping
when people typically identify what is causing them to feel stress, confront it, and plan the best way to manage their stress, which represents a very rational approach to dealing with stress.
Emotion-focused coping
directed at efforts to avert negative emotions and boost self-control.
Avoidance-withdrawal coping
involves either social withdrawal and isolation or psychological withdrawal.
The frustration-aggression hypothesis
our ability to tolerate frustration i.e. people who experience frustration will react with aggression and anger, which speaks to how people have learned to satisfy their needs.
Conflict
occurs when people want to satisfy many needs at the same time, and because they are unlikely to perform this they are faced with difficult choices that lead to choice anxiety. This can make people conflict avoidant.
Pressure
externally and internally imposed social expectations or cultural ideals.
