stress psych

Yerkes Dodson Law of 1982

Where your equilibrium is for your stress and performance is is important

• You need a certain amount of stress, good stress = eustress

  • When surpassed it will impact their daily life

    • Heart disease, cancer, ulcers

    • Also impacts the people around you

“Stress is a concept which suffers from the mixed blessing of being too well known and too little understood” - Hans Seyle

• The former is an environmental stimuli like job stressor in the work place

• The latter is the individual response that can be seen physically, psychologically, and behaviorally

stressors cause…

stress is the…

strain, outcome

the three ways to classify stress

iv, dv, interactionist

stress as the dv

the response

• Sir william osler said that this approach could be used for human behavior and that disease results from stress and strain 

  • This condition was found among Jewish people

• Researchers focus on stress as a response to stimuli such as environment or situation

• Fight or flight (Cannon 1935) is rooted in stress

• General adaptation syndrome

GAS

• term used to say there are stress related illness 

  • Three phases - stage 1 is the alarm reaction (hr increases, bp increases, sweating, etc), stage 2 is resistance via fighting it off, if successful you go back to normal stage but if not then you go to stage 3 where you will get ill or die

  • Hans Seyle 1946

stress as the iv

• the stimulus AND STATIC

  • This definition links health and disease to certain conditions in the external environment

  • Taken from physical sciences and engineering

  • External environment provided the conditions and characteristics of health and disease

  • does not take the individual into account

  • stress is the disruptive agent

stress as the intervening variable

•  interactive model 

  • Incorporates the sources of stress and the individual perception/personality and the resulting response 

  • “lack of fit” between the individual and the environment

  • supported by Cooper 2979 and later Co as well

Not static but complex process with differing behavior that is impacted by environment

interactionist perspective by cooper

said that individuals try to keep their thoughts, emotions, and relationships in a “steady state” and that each factor of a persons emotions and physical state has a “range of stability” that the person will feel comfortable in. when forces disrupt one factor beyond the range of stability the individual must act or cope to store a feeling of comfort

• an individuals behavior aimed at maintaining a steady state makes up their adjustment process or coping strategies

Cooper quote about stress 1986

“A stress is any force that puts a psychological or physical factor beyond its range of stability, producing a strain within the individual. Knowledge that a stress is likely to occur constitutes a threat to the individual.  A threat can cause a strain because of what it signifies to the person”

stimulus based model of stress (Cox 1978)

says that the environment has stress as a stimulus that leads to a strain on the person as the response

professors definition of stress

four concepts: 1. You need a causal external/internal agent 2. An evaluation (done by mind or body) that will distinguish danger or not 3. A coping process by mind or body to deal with the stressful demands 4. A stress reaction which is the effect on mind or body

biggest stressors - life stress

LCU - life change units first studied by Holmes and Rahe 1967

Category 1: life events - vulnerability. How vulnerable we are to change

• #1 is health and death

  • Death of a family member goes highest 

• The change DOES NOT have to be negative. It can be positive

  • New partner or apartment 

• Stress levels go up if more things change in a short biological time frame

• How we perceive the change - Interactionist model by Sir Carry Cooper

biggest stressors - life stress

Category 2: daily hassles studied by lazarus

• The accumulation of little things - how many daily hassles has this person been exposed to

• The cumulative effects and the regular irritants, minor irritations, and they are completely different from major catastrophic events

  • Cohen 1980 - children were not doing well in their tests in school because they lived near the airport and had their sleep interrupted by the sound of the large jets coming in and out of the airport at night 

    • Brought in a legal on jets not being allowed to land or take off during the hours of 1am-5am

hypothalamus in stress

activates two stress reactivity pathways

• stressor → cortex → thalamus → here

  • posterior hypothalamus or anterior hypothalamus

  • autonomic nervous system: controls basic body processes

  • endocrine system: Consists of hormones that regulate physiological functions

PTSD

•Condition that develops in people who:

–Have experienced or witnessed an extreme psychological or physical event that is interpreted as distressing

•Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, and uncontrollable thoughts about the event

Categorized by: reliving the event, avoidance, and arousal

treatment for ptsd

talk therapy, medication, and exposure therapy

cortisol

provides energy for action, determine whether we fight/flight, and gives fuel

• walter canon 1935: fight/flight snydrome, converting amino acids to glycogen in the liver when it produces too much = decrease in lymphosytes (cancer)

pituitary gland hormones

•Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH): activates the autonomic nervous system

•Vasopressin (ADH): instructs the kidneys to retain water

Oxytocin: contracts the walls of the blood vessels

adrenal glands: cortex hormones

•Glucocorticoids (primarily cortisol): increases blood glucose for energy, prepares the body for flight or fight

•Mineralocorticoids (primarily aldosterone): increases blood pressure by increasing sodium retention and decreasing urine production

adrenal gland: medulla hormones

•Epinephrine (adrenaline): increases heart rate, muscle tension, and how hard the heart pumps blood

•Norepinephrine (noradrenaline): increases heart rate and constricts blood vessels, thereby increasing blood pressure

PTSD

•Condition that develops in people who:

–Have experienced or witnessed an extreme psychological or physical event that is interpreted as distressing

•Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, and uncontrollable thoughts about the event

Cerebral cortex

Upper part of the brain responsible for thinking functions

• has grey matter

• frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, temporal lobe

sub cortex

Lower part of the brain responsible for various physiological processes necessary to stay alive

• cerebellum, medulla oblongata, pons, diencephalon, thalamus, hypothalamus

reticular activating system RAS

•Network of nerves that connects the mind and the body

•Excessive arousal of the cortex results in stressful responses

•An under-aroused cortex results in difficulty in learning, poor memory, and little self-control

blood pressure in stress response

• Systolic: refers to the amount of pressure on the walls of your heart when the blood is being pumped away from your heart 

  • For a young adult it should be 120+ 

  • Above 140 is hypertension

• Diastolic: refers to the pressure of your blood on the walls of your heart when your heart is relaxed

  • Should be around 80

  • 90 or above is harmful

• For regular people its 120/80 considered healthy and for very fit people it can be between 90/60 to 110/70

ANS in stress response

 brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves 

• Sympathetic: responsible for expending energy

  • When constantly stressed: people brace (causes sore muscles), people grind their teeth, TMJ, 

• Parasympathetic: responsible for conserving energy

  • The brakes

hippocampus

•Part of the brain that signals the presence of stress

•Adrenal glands release glucocorticoids during stress

• glucocorticoids: regulate metabolism of glucose and are detected by hippocampal cells - stress damages those cels

the endocrine system

•Includes glands that secrete hormones which travel via the circulatory system

•Changes the function of other bodily tissues

•Four pathways: adrenal cortex, adrenal medulla, thyroid gland, pituitary gland

adrenal cortex - endocrine

•Influenced by the hypothalamus and pituitary gland

• secretes glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids

  • main glucocorticoid is cortisol which provides energy for action

  • main mineralocorticoid is aldosterone which increases bp to prep for action

adrenal medulla - endocrine

Activated through a direct nerve connection from the posterior portion of the hypothalamus

• secretes two catecholamines - epinephrine/adrenaline and norepinephrine/noradrenaline

changes caused by catecholamines

•Increase in heart rate

•Increase in stroke force

•Dilation of coronary arteries

•Dilation of bronchial tubes

•Increase in basal metabolic rate

•Constriction of the blood vessels in the muscles and skin of arms and legs

•Increase in oxygen consumption

hypertension

Excessive pressure of blood against the walls of the arteries

• can lead to cerebral hemorrhage (blood vessel rupture in brain) or myocardial infarction (Artery ruptures and a part of the heart dies because of lack of oxygen)

• normal blood pressire is 120/80 mmHg

thyroid gland

•Secretes thyroxin due to the influence of the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland

• important to metabolism

gastro system - in the stress response

• Responsible for digestion

• GI Tract - brain and body connect

• Reduces saliva production and increases hydrochloric acid production due to stress

  • Results in ulcers

    • Can break the barrier of your stomach walls and will lead to a bleeding ulcer which you cannot stop 

• Stress alters peristalsis, the rhythmic movement of food

  • Leads to bowel distress and disease 

• Stomach and bowel cancer increases and in career women ovarian cancer is increasing

muscles - in the stress response

• Stress results in bracing or tensing

• Bracing leads to: development in muscle pains and aches and contractions of smooth muscles that control the contraction of internal organs

• Persistent stress in the cardiac muscles: leads to the death of cardiac muscle cells and a loss of contractility of the heart

skin - in the stress response

• Temperature and electrical conduction abilities of the skin are affected by stress

  • Stress causes increased perspiration and vasoconstriction

    • Changes color of the skin

• Galvanic skin response: Electrical conductance of the skin used in a lie detector test 

walter canon

• First to describe the body’s reaction to stress

  • Fight or flight: body’s stress reaction that includes an increase in:

    • Heart rate

    • Respiration

    • blood pressure

    • Serum cholesterol

    • Brain waves

    • Effects are based on duration and degree of one’s physiological reaction

hans selye

the physiological responses to stress

• Proposed the general adaptation syndrome 

  • Includes the three stages of stress reaction: alarm, resistance, exhaustion 

other influential researchers in stress

• •Simeons - Related evolution to psychosomatic disease

• •Wolff, LeShan, and Engel - Studied illness, disease, and stress

• •Friedman and Rosenman - Identified the relationship between stress and coronary heart disease

•Simonton - Applied the visualization technique to cancer therapy

relaxation techniques

• Relaxation response: Series of bodily changes that are the opposite of the stress reaction

• Autogenic training: Involves a sensation of heaviness, warmth, and tingling in the limbs

• Progressive relaxation: Involves contracting and relaxing muscle groups throughout the body

  • Called neuromuscular relaxation

stress theories - life events theory

• Stress occurs when a situation requires more resources than are available

• Daily hassles are more stressful than major events

• Allostatic load: Cumulative biological wear and tear that results from:

• Responses to stress that seek to maintain body equilibrium

hardiness theory - stress theories

Focuses on one’s attitude toward stressful events

• Hardiness - Buffering between stress and the development of illness and disease

social support theory - stress theories

Stress occurs when there is not enough social support available to respond to the event effectively

stressors

Stimulus with the potential for triggering the fight-or-flight response

• Types - Environmental, psychological, sociological, and philosophical

• The human body has evolved to respond to stressors with an immediate action

• Alters the physiology for greater speed and strength

stress reactivity

• Term for fight-or-flight response

• Includes: 

  • Increased muscle tension, heart rate, blood pressure, and perspiration

  • Change in respiratory rate and brain waves

• Effects are based on duration and degree of one’s physiological reaction

stress

• Combination of a stressor, stress reactivity, and strain

• Ways in which the term is used

  • Stimulus

  • Response

  • Whole spectrum of interacting factors

  • Stimulus-response interaction

Psychosomatic disease

• conditions that has both mind and body components

• Referred to as psycho physiological 

• Can be diagnosed

• Manifested physically

• Psychogenic

• Somatogenic  

Psychogenic - psychosomatic disease

• Physical disease caused by emotional stress without a microorganism involved

• Ulcers and asthma

Somatogenic - psychosomatic disease

• Results from the mind increasing the body’s susceptibility to disease causing microbes of natural degenerative processes 

• Autoimmune diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer 

Psychosomatic illness

not all in the mind. Stress in the mind manifesting in the body 

Stress and serum cholesterol

• without any organic basis we can have high serum cholesterol - going up at highly stressful points in life 

• Friedman - certain times of the year with certain occupational groups 

  • Accountants when taxes are due 

  • Career women’s stress goes up with children at home after work

    • Takes 2 hours with young children for women’s stress to go back down but 20 minutes for men 

Stroke/apoplexy

is the of oxygen to the brain resulting from a blockage or rupture of a blood vessel

• Signs and symptoms: Impaired motor function and speech, paralysis, blurred vision, and headache 

• Has link to high blood pressure, diet, and stress 

Ulcers

fissures or cuts in the walls of the stomach, duodenum, or goner parts of the intestines

• During stress, norepinephrine causes capillaries in the stomach to constrict, thereby reducing mucosal productions 

• Stress results in an increase in hydrochloric acid in the intestinal tract and the stomach

• H pylori, a bacteria, inflamed the gastrointestinal lining and stimulates acid production, or both 

• Caused by the ingestion of aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drugs 

• Antibiotics rather than histamine blockers are prescribed for ulcers

Migraines

results from the constriction and dilation of the carotid articles of one side of the head 

• Prodrome: constriction phase of a migraine headache - the pre attack 

• When the dilation of the carotid arteries occurs, chemicals stimulate adjacent nerve endings causing pain 

• Involves one side of the head and usually lasts about 6 hours

• Caused due to emotional stress and tension 

• Relaxation techniques include biofeedback, meditation, and autogenic training 

• Most likely on a Monday morning

• Chocolate, cheese, red wine

stress in college life

• One of the biggest stressors is having to deal with stress as a student against a societal perception that college years are relaxation and fun years 

• College is rated one of the most stressful periods of the human life 

  • They are years of uncertainty 

    • Dont know who they will be or what they will do

  • Lack of autonomy

  • Expectations from society

stressors for younger

• lifestyle changes

• grades

• course overload

• finances

• friendships

• love relationships

• Pressure to be sexually active

• Fear of HIV/AIDS

• Shyness

• Eating disorders

stressors and stress for older college students

people who were in armed forces or were engaged in other activities that postponed their education. May have a family or career.

• Experience same stressors as younger college students as well additional stressors such as:

  • Blending career with college - which is the priority?

  • Guilt if they have a family - time constraint and how do they spend their time

  • Money 

  • Study skills 

  • Self doubt

  • Support 

advice regarding stress in college

1. Do not overload courses

2. Improve communication with those around you and get involved with other people

3. Coordinate family and college responsibilities - schedule them

4. Time management - use time wisely

5. Make timetable near exam times and leave room for revision and breaks

6. Write a schedule for responsibilities 

7. Use your resources - professors, advisors, student affairs etc

burnout

Adverse stress reaction to work with psychological, psychophysiological, and behavioral components

• includes: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishment

symptoms of burnout

•Diminished sense of humor

•Skipping rest and meals

•Increased overtime and physical complaints

•Social withdrawal

•Changed job performance

•Self-medication

•Internal changes

stages of burnout

•Stage 1 - Honeymoon → Worker is satisfied with the job

•Stage 2 - Fuel shortage → Fatigue sets in at work

•Stage 3 - Chronic symptom → Work leads to constant exhaustion

•Stage 4 - Crisis → Worker stops attending work due to illness

•Stage 5 - Hitting the wall → Physical and psychological problems cause life-threatening illnesses

spillover theory - explains work-family balance issues

Change in one domain affects other domains

compensation theory - explains work-family balance issues

When one domain is troubled, resources go to the other domain

wbc - stress and the immunological system

•Phagocytes

–Macrophages: surround and engulf invading substances and summon helper T cells

stress decreases this quantity

lymphocytes

–T cells: identify the invading substance and destroy it

–Helper T cells: stimulate the production of killer T cells and B cells

–Killer T cells: puncture membrane of invaded body cells; kill cells and the invader

–B cells: produce antibodies that neutralize the invading substance or tag it for attack by other cells

–Suppressor T cells: halt the immune response when the invasion becomes contained

–Memory T and Memory B cells: remain in the bloodstream and lymphatic system to respond quickly to future attacks by the invading substance

hot reactors

•People who react to stress with an all-out physiological reaction:

–Suffer from chronic anger or anxiety

–Have high blood pressure

–Are susceptible to heart attacks

resource drain theory - explains work-family balance issues

–Resources devoted to one domain become unavailable in the other domains

nutrition and stress - pseudo stressors

food substances that produce a stress response

• known as sympathommetic - stimulate the sympathetic nervous system

lifestyle changes - stressors for young college students

• Acute stress 

• Moving away from stability 

• Generally has an effect on the immune system 

• Behavioral manifestation of lower motivation

grades - stressors for young college students

• Martinez 

• Maintenance of gpa for scholarship - chronological stress

• Correlated with poorer physical health - when obsession picks up students will over study and sacrifice their physical wellbeing 

  • Flight or flight - flight to social isolation

friendship - stressors for young college students

• Change in friends goes along with changing institutions 

• Element of self doubt - want to know how much you can disclose to the person next to you. How willing are you to share

  • Friendship requires a testing period. You don't know who your friends are going to be 

  • Trust 

• Delicate 

• We need social support

• Jealousy 

  • Making new friends is ego threatening - because it is a risk and it takes time 

  • Definition: fear of losing property - here it is the fear of losing that person 

  • Has feeling that your pride has been threatened

  • Feeling your property rights have been violated - your friendship has been violated

love relationships - stressors for young college students

• Erotic: passionate

• Ludic: flirtation type without commitment

• Storgic: calm and compassionate type of love

• Manic: combination of passionate and filtration love characterized by jealousy

eating disorders - stressors for young college students

• it is a process of trying to achieve what people see as a perfect body. It is about control

  • Anorexia: cannot see they are thin. Fear of gaining weight. Unwillingness to maintain a normal or healthy weight

    • Treated by restoring healthy weight and treating the issues related to the eating disorder. Reducing or eliminating behaviors or thoughts that lead to disordered eating and preventing relapse. 

      • Psychotherapy (individual, group, and family based)

  • Bulimia: recurrent and frequent episodes of eating unusually large amounts of food and then follow this with purging behavior. Associated with feelings of shame and lack of control over the eating 

    • Treating bulimia: can be treated with nutritional counseling, psychotherapy (CBT), and antidepressants like fluoxetine (Prozac)

occupational stress - sources of stress

• Intrinsic to job - factors 

• Role in organization 

• Career development 

• Relationships at work

• Organizational structure and climate

• Extraorganizational sources of stress

sources of stress - intrinsic to the job

job factors - researched by Cooper and Marshall

• Poor physical working conditions

• Work overload (qualitative or quantitative) OR too little work

• Time pressures and deadlines 

• Physical danger 

• Mistakes

• Too many decisions 

• Shiftwork

Poor physical working conditions as an iv source of stress at work interactional

• 1965 Kornhauser - unpleasant working conditions and having to work fast to produce a lot is correlated with poor mental illness

• 1984 - Meese - temperature is correlated with productivity 

  • There is a gender divide in this - women want it 2 degrees warmer for equilibrium and job performance than men 

• Tafalla - uncontrollable noise makes it more difficult to do mental tasks because it impacts your neuroendocrine system

shiftwork as a work stressor intrinsic to the job

• Fotinatos - shiftwork among medical profession in the UK and found that with midwives 

  • Chernobyl - occupational hazards of shiftwork

  • Variable and high workloads along with shift work 

  • Disturbs biological rhythms - 25 hours circadian 

    • Affects blood temperature, blood sugar level, metabolism

    • This is when accidents occur because your body is not programmed to work in shifts 

  • What kind of work it is is very important  

    • Different shifts will produce different stress

      • If you only do late shifts your body will adjust but 

      • Rotating shifts do not let your body adjust 

        • “If I have a late shift I have trouble getting to sleep because my mind is so active with things that have been going on in the ward”

        • “If the shifts could be arranged so that someone could do just mornings, afternoons, or just late but not rotating you could have a better social life”

        • “I think you would perform better if you only did one shift” 

role in organization as cause of work stress - iv

• Role ambiguity - Margolist and Quinn 

  • Caplan and Jones

• Role conflict - different type of conflict 

  • One person has conflicting roles to do 

    • Cooper and Karr - Dentists have a job that has high anxiety associated with it due to: having multiple roles, having to cope with difficult patients, being seen as someone that inflicts pain on others, and has lots of spillover to family life

• Responsibility for people and things

• Lack of managerial support 

• Too little responsibility

• Conflicts reorganizational boundaries (internal and external, etc)

• Train crashes - role ambiguity leading to accidents - two people on post and one left

career development as a source of occupational stress - iv

• considered invalid by professor and today 

  • Overpromotion

  • Underpromotion

  • Lack of job security - decreased post COVID. There are no “more jobs for life”

  • Thwarted ambition 

  • Fear of redundancy or early retirement - retirement age will go up

    • Many people go into retirement because of mental or physical issues

      • Mental, musculoskeletal, cancer, circulation

  • People post COVID now are not as unhappy about not having as much career development, they are just happy to have a job

relationships at work as a source of occupational stress - iv

• key correlating variables with burnout 

  • Poor relations with boss, subordinates, or colleagues

    • W colleagues: French and Caplan - nurses in England had 10x more stress interacting with them than patients 

      • Affects cortisol levels, blood pressure, and glucose level

    • Leads to lots of absent days - bullying/harassment, physical violence in and out of the workplace, and threats of physical violence

  • Difficulties in delegating responsibilities, etc

  • Personality conflicts 

  • In student population: Seltzer UK study students were studying for their MBA and the number one reason for dropping out when their supervisor showed a lack of consideration

Organizational structure and climate as a source of occupational stress - iv

• difficult scale to structure and scientifically interpret due to cultural differences and vagueness 

  • Little or no participation in decision making

  • Restriction on behavior (Budget, etc)

  • Office politics

  • Lack of effective consultation or communication 

  • Uncertainty 

  • Loss of identity 

  • APA discussion - hybrid work and working from home will have consequences because you cannot benchmark it to health and wellbeing 

Extraorganizational sources of stress as a source of occupational stress - iv

• Family problems

• Life crises

• Financial difficulties

stats about employement stress

• Employee satisfaction: high in Austria and Switzerland but low in the UK

• Highest percentage of respondents cited this reason for causing long term absences across the board: stress - highest in public and in non profit 

• In the UK they lost 8.4 billion UK pounds to absenteeism every year  - total they lost almost 26 billion from absenteeism, presenteeism (not fit for the job or not feeling well) and turnover 

• Stress is the highest health problem affecting employees in parts of the UK 

• Women work more noncontractual hours than men

symptoms of stress - dv - the individual

• Level of anxiety

• Level of neuroticism

• Tolerance for ambiguity

• Type a behavioral pattern

• Depressive mood

• Excessive drinking 

• Irritability

• Chest pains

• High blood pressure - diastolic

• Smoking

• Escapist drinking 

• Job dissatisfaction

• Reduced aspiration

• Heart rated 

Greece facts

• Not a smooth transition in relation to stress (researched in 2015 by her)

  • Led to upheavals in the country, in jobs, and in stress

• Greece relies on a few industries such as tourism and shipping to generate income which makes its economy vulnerable 

  • These factors along with the global economic crisis, refugee crisis, and COVID crisis makes Greece a forerunner of misfortune in European Economic issues 

  • High vulnerability and causes major disruption with market fragility 

    • Results: intensity and severity of of organizational stress with its manifestations of strain and poor wellbeing became evident 

• Greece is not considered a collectivist country but “in transit” toward a highly individualistic country 

  • This has lead to a mixture of societal and organizational problems that require assessment and evaluation

Data from the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions work levels vary across countries and ages

• Cyprus had high levels of stress related problems 

• Czech Republic showed work related stress increases with age

• Germany showed that people between 30-39 were most affected by stress and said work stress was the main source

• For greece stress levels fall after age 54 - which can be related to cultural and contextual factors 

• OSHA report: stress report was highest in Greece (55%)

  • Can be attributed to the economic crisis 

Restructuring of organizations and its effects on the wellbeing of workers:

• Greece must restructure the economy and organizational 

  • Includes private and public companies as well as blue and white collar occupational groups 

    • Trying to help the Kallikratis reform in 2010 cut down public spending but that in one year cut down so many jobs and thus higher level of work intensity which increased levels of stress

      • Increased emotional exhaustion related to job demand, job insecurity, and unfair treatment during the change

intervention

activities to prevent a stressor from resulting in negative consequences such as psychological discomfort, anxiety, illness, and disease

coping with stress

 engaging in a behavior or thought to respond to a demand

• will vary because of perceived differently - leads to different appraisals because of cognitive processes and then emotional responses will vary

categories of appraisal

• Primary: judging how much of a threat is involved and how important is the outcome

• Secondary: determining whether resources needed to meet the demands are available

• Reappraisal: evaluating whether the response made to a demand/threat was effective 

5 phases of the stress model

1. Life situation 

2. Perceived as stressful

3. Emotional arousal

4. Physiological arousal

5. Consequences

road blocks and model of stress with eustress

• Road map with road blocks to stop or minimize the stressor

  • No one filter or road block will stop the stressor - you want as many as possible  

  • Cognitive restructuring or medication

  • Relaxation techniques keep emotional reactions from leading to prolonged physiological arousal

  • Physical activity can effectively block toe continuation of stress after physiological arousal has occurred

  • “Eustress is good in the right moments - like right before and exam 

    • Yerkes and Dodson 

In appraisal stages: you should say to yourself

“I am in much more control than I ever realized”

taking control of stress

• Managing stress means exercising control not giving it up

• Individuals can decide to control or not control the stress responses 

• Practicing specific techniques - means of taking control and assuming responsibility

• Employing stress management techniques in a stressful way is dysfunction 

• Goal is not to eliminate all stress but to limit harmful effects and use stress to motivate oneself

healthy diets are low in:

• saturated fat or trans fat 

  • We want monounsaturated oils not poly or trans fats 

• cholesterol

• sodium

• sugar  - we should keep amount eaten in a short period of time limited

We believe an unhealthy diet is related to risks of cancer

• Low fiber diets and high in trans fat

food to limit

• Foods high in fat or added sugar

• Processed and fried foods

• High fat milk products

• Baked products and snack foods

• Drinks with high fructose corn syrup

Foods that create a stress response - which we want to avoid

• Coffee

• Tea - theobromine 

• Chocolate

American Cancer Society recommendations for diet:

• Five or more servings of a variety of vegetables and fruits a day 

• Choosing whole grains over processed grains

• Limiting the intake of processed and red meats

• Carrying a limited amount of body fat

Cortisol uses these two vitamins

vitamins B12 and C

• leads to: stress turning into anxiety, depression, insomnia, muscular weakness, and stomach upset

also takes calcium