Slideshow 8 - Stress, Coping, Resilience

Stress

• less about the event itself and more about how we react to what is happening

• we get really stressed out when we believe the situation we are encountering requires more skill or ability than what we have in order to be able to complete the task successfully

Types of stressors

• daily hassels 

  • ex. micro-stressors, losing your keys, phone dies, work conflict, relationship problems 

• change 

  • ex. moving away, breakup, illness, death, meeting new people 

• traumatic events 

  • ex. war, accidents, sexual assault, violence 

• chronic negative situations

  • ex. poverty, chronic illness, negative home environment 

• socio-cultural conditions 

  • ex. immigrating, learning a new language, balancing cultures

Forms of Coping

• emotion-focused - regulate emotional distress by addressing the emotional response, which may not address teh actual stressor

• problem-focused - attempt to control stressors by defining and interpreting them, planning solutions, choosing a course of action

• avoidance-focused - avoiding the stressor by engaging in other activities

• adaptive coping - coping strategies that are aligned with the stressor and aim to reduce stress

• maladaptive coping - behaviours that are avoidance based and do not lead to long term benefits

Emotion-focused coping

• focus primarily on emotional reactions to the stressor; involves moving toward the emotion

• emotional processing - understanding one’s reactions to the stressor

• emotional expression - expression of one’s emotions related to stress

• supportive - social support, religious and spiritual coping, catharsis, crying, positive reinterpretation, benefit finding, meaning in life, post-trauamatic growth, self-forgiveness, humour, self-soothing, exercise

• less supportive - destructive relationships, seeking meaningless spiritual support, blaming, wishful thinking, aggression, self-harm, substance abuse

Problem-focused coping

• focus is primarily on attempting to change the situation that caused a stress 

• behavioural - take action to fix a real-world situation

• cognitive - change one’s thinking to resolve a problem 

• supportive - taking responsibility for solving the problem, seeking accurate info, advice seeking, action planning and follow through, postponing competing activities, maintaining optimism

• less supportive - taking little responsibility, seeking inaccurate information or questionable advice, creating unrealistic

Avoidance-focused coping

• invovles trying to escape or avoid stressors, challenges, or unpleasant situations rather than directly confronting them or dealing with them

• behavioural - physically avoiding situations, people, or activities that trigger stress or discomfort 

• cognitive - trying to ignore or suppress thougths and emotions related to the stressor 

• supportive - strategies like physical avoidance, distraction, denila, or avoiding thinking about the stressor for a short time 

• less supportive - the same strategies but when we engage in them for a long or indefinite period of time 

Dimensions of self-care

• invovles taking care of yourselfi n more ways than one, more days than not 

• 8 dimensions of self care 

  • emotional 

  • spiritual 

  • financial

  • physical

  • environmental

  • cognitive 

  • relational

  • aptitudinal

Building resilience

• identify and strengthen those strengths

  • gratitude, kindness, hope, bravery have been shown to act as protective factors against adversity

  • intellectual and restraint-related strengths are predictors of resilience

  • hope, bravery, zest are strongly related to positive adaptation

• perspective taking 

  • place your individual situation into a bigger context and grasp on its real severity, or lack thereof 

• reappraisal 

  • developing a challenge perspective over a hindrance perspective

• faster positive emotions 

  • people who frequently experience positive emotions are more satisfied with their lives and develop resilience resources that help address challenges

What causes positive emotions - genetic factors 

• about 50%

• genetic factosr set an upper limit on how much positive emotion we generally experience 

• happiness set-point

• personality traits based on the big 5

  • openess - imagination, feelings, actions, ideas 

  • conscientiousness - competence, self-discipline, thoughtfulness, goal-driven

  • extroversion - sociability, assertiveness, emotional expression 

  • agreeableness - cooperative, trustworthy, good-natured 

  • neuroticism - tendency toward unstable emotions 

• extraversion is most strongly associated with genetic factors

• emotional stability (neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreeable are also related)

What causes positive emotions - circumstances

• about 10% 

• supportive relationships

• financial resources, employment, education

• religious practice

• leisure 

• absence of severe illness

• freedom

• pleasant living environment

• being female and not middle-aged 

What causes positive emotions - intentional actions

• about 40% 

• engage in purposeful activities that help to prevent or slow down adaptation 

  • build strong relationships 

  • practice gratitude

  • engage in mindfulness

  • practice self-care

  • limit materialistic pursuits

  • Pursue highly valued goals

  • Practice self reflection

  • Pursue growth and learning

  • Practice kindness to self and others

  • Savour the moment

How are you really feeling circle

• six basic émotions

• Disgust

• Fear

• Happiness

• Sadness

• Surprise

• Emotions are much more than that; wheel is split into many many emotions

• Feeling and emotions wheel

A critical lense of resilience and self care 

People put too much on the individual when it comes to where resilience comes from. It’s actually in large part affected by society and one’s environment. Problem is more systemic than we might think.