Stress

  • Stress: the reaction of the body and mind to everyday challenges and demands
  • Stressors: the things that actually cause the stress
    • Ex: family problems, relationships, grades, performances, fatigue
  • Eustress: good or positive stress that you react to in a positive manner
    • Motivates you
  • Distress: bad or negative stress that you react to in a negative manner
    • Ex: the death of a loved one
  • Stress Management
    • Exercise
    • Eat right
    • Develop positive coping strategies
    • Listen to your favorite relaxing music
    • Write down your thoughts about the stressor
    • Talk to someone
  • Defense Mechanisms
    • Denial: refusal to accept reality
    • Escape/Fantasy: running away from a problem through daydreams, books, excessive sleep, etc.
    • Rationalization: an attempt to justify one’s actions with an excuse rather than admitting one’s failure or mistake
    • Projection: an attempt to protect one’s self-esteem by blaming unpleasant feelings or inappropriate actions on others
    • Repression: blocking out thoughts about unpleasant things or experiences
    • Displacement: expressing feelings towards someone or something not associated with the source of feelings
    • Regression: retreating to an earlier time that seems less threatening and requires less responsibility
    • Compensation: an attempt to make up for something one did not have or did not receive
    • Sublimation: transforming unacceptable behaviors into acceptable ones
  • General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS): the physiological effects of stress on the human body
    • Stage One: Alarm
    • The body enters the alarm stage when it is first introduced to the stressor
    • Activates the sympathetic nervous system (Flight or Fight Response)
    • Stage Two: Resistance
    • A person enters the resistance stage when they manage their stress in a healthy, productive way.
    • The parasympathetic nervous system is activated to help bring the body down to normal functioning levels
    • Stage Three: Exhaustion
    • A person enters the exhaustion stage when they don’t manage their stress very well and/or is under a lot of stress for an extended amount of time
    • The body physiologically stays somewhat in the alarm stage, which can eventually cause major health problems
    • \
physiological changes during the alarm stagephysiological changes during the resistance stage
Pupils dilatePupils constrict
Hearing sharpensHearing returns to normal
Saliva decreasesSaliva increases
Heart rate and blood pressure increaseHeart rate and blood pressure decrease
Bronchioles dilateBronchioles constrict
Blood flow to muscles increasesBlood flow to muscles returns to normal
Muscles tightenMuscles relax
  • Coping with Loss and Grief
    • Denial or numbness: difficult to believe the loss has occurred
    • Emotional release: the loss is recognized and involves a period of crying
    • Anger: the person may feel powerless and unfairly deprived
    • Bargaining: reality sets in and the person may promise to change if what was lost can be returned
    • Depression: beyond feelings of sadness
    • Remorse: the person may become preoccupied with thoughts about how the loss could have been prevented
    • Acceptance: the person begins to face the reality of the loss and experiences closure
    • Hope: remembering becomes less painful, and the person begins to look ahead to the future