Stress

Selye - Stress is the nonspecific response of the body to any demand.

Distress - a negative response to a stressor that inhibits performance and leads to negative emotions.

Eustress - a positive response to a stressor that enhances performance and motivation.


Types of Stressors

Psychological - emotional and cognitive factors (buying a house, work pressures)

Environmental - conditions and physical surroundings of an individual (noise, heat, natural disaster)

Cultural - surrounding cultural identity, values and norms (discrimination based on beliefs and practices.

Social - relationship and interactions with society (pressure to be accepted, conflicts with others)


Characteristics of stressors

SOURCE

Internal stressors - factors originating withing a person, including:

  • Biological - related to physical wellbeing (illness, pain)

  • Psychological - stress inducing thoughts or behaviours that come from our own mindset and expectations (anxiety, negative self talk)

External stressors - factors originating outside of the body, coming from the environment around us. Can be social, cultural or physical, and are often forces out of our control (daily pressures, cultural changes, life events)

DURATION

Acute - the body’s immediate, short term response to stress. Typically caused by daily demands. Can be intense, but disappears over a short period of time, usually under three months.

Chronic - the body’s response to a persistent, long term stressor. Involves ongoing pressures we feel we don’t have control over. Depletes our body’s natural resources, exhausts us, and leaves us vulnerable to physical and mental health issues. Lasts over three months.

INTENSITY

The severity or intensity of stressors can range from being mildly to severely distressing. The ability to cope with the stressor is affected by its severity.


Selye’s General Adaption Syndrome (1936, 1983) - Stress as a Response

The GAS is a set of physical defences that react to harmful physical and psychological stimuli.

Selye’s theory was that stress is not just an environmental stressor, but a set of processes that act as a response.


1) Alarm Stage

The body’s initial response to a stressor, typically occurring 6-48 hours after the initial stressor is detected. Divided into two phases.

SHOCK PHASE

Occurs immediately after the stressor is introduced. Physiological activity temporarily falls below normal levels, with blood pressure and body temperature potentially decreasing as the body is ‘shocked’ by the stressor and its defences are temporarily lowered).

COUNTERSHOCK PHASE

Immediately following the shock phase, the body prepares to deal with the stressor.

The amygdala detects the threat and sends a signal to the hypothalamus to initiate the sympathetic nervous system → activates flight or flight response by sending a signal to the adrenal glands via the bloodstream, stimulating the release of stress hormones such as:

  • Cortisol - enables a continuous blood supply to provide energy and reduce inflammation. Also increases pain tolerance. Prolonged high levels of cortisol can impair immune system performance and damage brain areas such as the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, affecting cognitive ability.

  • Adrenaline - increases heart rate and supports the conversion of glycogen into glucose in the liver.

  • Noradrenaline - raises blood pressure by constricting blood vessels.


2) Resistance Stage

The body attempts to repair itself after the initial shock during this stage.

The parasympathetic nervous system works to reverse the responses produced by the sympathetic nervous system.

Despite this, stress hormones continue to be secreted (but at a lower level), and if the stress continues and is not solved, the body progresses to the third stage.


3) Exhaustion Stage

The body enters this stage if stress persists over a prolonged period.

Physical and mental reserves are depleted, reducing the effectiveness of the adrenal glands → lowering blood sugar levels and impairing physical health.

Immediate effects include fatigue and reduced motivation, while chronic stress increases the risk of reducing depression or anxiety, and consequent weakening of the immune system raises chances of developing conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.



Lazarus and Folkman’s Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping (1984)

Suggested that individuals use their perception of a stressful situation and their subjective past experiences to help them cope.

Stress is a consequence of the dynamic process where primary and secondary appraisals work to assess the significance of a situation and evaluate ways to deal with it.


Described how individuals interact with their environment, explaining that stress arises from the continual need to assess their current situation. The emphasis is on the relationship between the person and the characteristics of the environmental event.


Cognitive Appraisal

The mental processes used to assess a situation, making judgements about environmental events.

Psychological stress arises from the relationship between the individual and their cognitive appraisal of the environmental event, with the individual determining if the event is stressful based on their cognitive appraisal.

It involves primary and secondary appraisal, with both occurring simultaneously

PRIMARY APPRAISAL

The initial assessment of the situation conducted to determine its significance. Individuals assess whether the event is irrelevant, positive, or stressful, and if deemed stressful can be further characterised as a:

  • Harm (damage already done)

  • Threat (potential future damage)

  • Challenge (potential for growth or gain)

SECONDARY APPRAISAL

If a situation is deemed as stressful, individuals evaluate their coping resources and options to determine how to manage the situation. This involves assessing one’s ability to manage or alter the situation to handle the emotional response.


Methods of Coping

Coping strategies are a set of tools that people use to support positive emotions and mental health outcomes, and involve spending mental energy in ways to reduce stress.

EMOTION FOCUSED COPING

Aims to reduce the unpleasant emotional reaction to stress.

Typically used when individuals perceive they do not have the resources to effectively address the stress.

Strategies to reduce emotional distress could include:

  • Cognitive processes - avoidance or positive comparisons.

  • Behavioural strategies - meditation, physical exercise, drinking alcohol, speaking with a counsellor.

PROBLEM FOCUSED COPING

Focusses on addressing the root cause of the stress.

Typically used when individuals believe they have the resources to deal with the stress effectively.

  • Improving time management skills, improving assertiveness, working on a plan to resolve the issue, conducting research to find solutions.



Consequences of Stress

Stress can affect both physical and psychological health, and the way individuals cope plays a key role in determining its impact.

Coping strategies can be maladaptive, worsening stress, or adaptive, helping manage stress effectively.

MALADAPTIVE COPING STRATEGIES

Harmful, unhealthy methods of managing stress that often exacerbates its adverse effects. Strategies avoid addressing the stressors that are causing the problems.

  • Negative self-talk, denial, substance abuse, withdrawing from society, rumination, self-blame, procrastination.

ADAPTIVE COPING STRATEGIES

Beneficial, productive methods for managing stress that can decrease the adverse impacts of stress.

Strategies face stressors so that they can be effectively managed.

  • Meditation, exercise, positive reframing, planning, acceptance, humour, emotional support through others.


Holmes and Rahe’s Social Readjustment Rating Scale (1967) - Stress as a Stimulus


AIM - arrange life events in terms of levels of adjustment to predict the likelihood of physical illness.


SAMPLE - 394 participants, most likely convenience sampling.


METHOD:

  • Came up with a list of 43 common life events ranging from minimally to extremely stressful.

  • Score of 10-100 Life Change Units (LCU) for each life event was determined by asking participants to rate how much adjustment to their lifestyle the event would require, relative to marriage (with an arbitrary value of 50).

  • Ratings across all participants were averaged to assign a score to each life event, creating a scale that quantified the potential stress associated with different types of life changes.


KEY FINDINGS:

Higher total LCU scores were associated with greater levels of both physical and mental illness.

  • If a person has less than 150 LCU they have a 30% chance of suffering from a stress related illness.

  • 150-299 LCU equals a 50% chance of suffering from a stress related illness.

  • Over 300 LCU means a person has an 80% chance of developing a stress related illness.