Chapter 3: Lesson 3 (Less Stress, More Care)

Stress and Human Response
  • Stress - always manifests itself by a syndrome, a sum of changes, and not by simply one change.

3 components of general stress syndrome

  1. The alarm stage
  2. The stage of resistance
  3. The exhaustion stage
  • Stress diseases - are maladies caused principally by errors in the body’s general adaptation process.
  • Amygdala - contributes to emotional processing, sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus
  • Hypothalamus - communicates with the rest of the body through the autonomic nervous system
  • the brain - stress response begins in
2 components of autonomic nervous system
  1. sympathetic nervous system - triggers the fight-or-flight response
  2. parasympathetic nervous system - promotes the “rest and digest” response
Techniques to Counter Chronic Stress
  • Relaxation response - Deep abdominal breathing, focus on a soothing word, visualization of tranquil scenes, repetitive prayer, yoga, and tai chi.
  • Physical activity - Use exercise to stifle the buildup of stress in several ways.
  • Social support - Companions all provide a life-enhancing social net, and may increase longevity.
Cultural Dimension of Stress and Dimension
  • Stress and coping - universal experiences faced by individuals regardless of culture, ethnicity, and race.
  • Self-care Therapy -
  1. Stop, breathe, and tell yourself: “This is hard and I will get through this one step at a time.”
  2. Acknowledge to yourself what you are feeling. Find someone who listens and is accepting. You do not need advice. You need to be heard.
  3. Maintain your normal routine as much as possible. Allow plenty of time for a task. Take good care of yourself.
Self-compassion Therapy -
  • Being warm and understanding toward ourselves, rather than flagellating ourselves with self-criticism.
  • Self-compassion - enhances motivation rather than self- indulgence.

 Self compassion is associated with :

  1. Mastery goals - the intrinsic motivation to learn and grow.
  2. Performance goals - the desire to enhance one’s self-image.

  • Self-compassion - Predicts greater happiness and optimism as well as less depression and anxiety when controlling for self-esteem.

  • Self-esteem - Robust association with narcissism.

\