Stress

Stress

Tension, discomfort, or physical symptoms that arise when a stressor strains our ability to cope effectively

Major Components:

  1. Emotional

  2. Physiological

  3. Behaviour (different behavioural methods to cope)

  4. Cognitive (inability to focus, problems w/ memory, decision making)

  • In response to perceived threats or challenges

Stress vs Trauma

Traumatic events are severe stress that can produce long-term psychological or health consequences

Two Types of Trauma:

  1. Individual Trauma

  2. Collective Trauma: Events that are experienced by society as a whole

Three Approaches to Stress

1. Stressors as stimuli

Identifying different types of stress events

  • Identifying different types of stressful events.

  • Looking at individual differences like who would experience stress as an outcome of the stimuli

  • Helps identify situations that cause more stress and persons that react more strongly.

Measuring stress via Questionnaires

Social Readjustment Rating Scale: Ranking the number of particularly stressful events.

  • Number of major life events over past year relate to physical and psychological health.

Hassles: minor ****annoyances that strain our ability to cope can impact us as well

  • More hassles → poorer physical health, depression, and anxiety

  • Hassles are better predictors of health problems because they are more consistent, have a cumulative effect, and less predictable

Hassles and Uplifts Scale: 53-item questionnaire that asks individuals to evaluate positive and negative experiences that occur in everyday life

Duration of Stress:

  1. Acute: Shorter duration with a clear endpoint

  2. Chronic: Long duration with no clear end point

2. Stress as a Transaction

Considers the myriad personal, social, and environmental factors that come into play in determining the nature, degree, and impact of the stress experience

  • People experience stress different depending on their personality and life events

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How to Cope

  1. Problem-Focused Coping: Strategy in which we problem solve and tackle life’s challenges head on

  2. Emotion-Focused Coping: Strategy that features a positive outlook on feelings or situations accompanied by behaviours that reduce painful emotions and engaging behaviour to make you feel better (self care, messages, etc)

3. Stress as a response

Assess psychological and physical reactions to stress

Psychological:

  1. Feelings of hopelessness

  2. Depression

  3. Worry

  4. Hostility

Physiological:

  1. Increased heart rate

  2. Rapid breathing

  3. Tense muscles

  4. Pupils dilate

  5. Galvanic skin response

  6. Cortisol release