What is stress?

the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening to our well being

Alternative definition?

Immediate physical safety

• Long Range security

Self-Esteem

THREATS TO OUR:

Reputation

Peace of Mind

NATURE OF STRESS

Stressful Life events

• Overwhelming traumatic crises are quite stressful

But also quite unusual

Everyday events are stressful

Waiting in lineCar trouble

Losing your keys Christmas Shopping

Stuck in traffic

Major and minor stressors are related

•Major changes

Going to college

Create minor stressors

Changing your address

Buying books

New surroundings

Getting Lost

Appraisal: stress lies in the eye

of the beholder

Stressful event(tough math test)

Threat(“Yikes! This isbeyond me!”)

Challenge(“I’ve got to apply

all I know”)

Panic, freeze up

Aroused, focused

Appraisal Response

Major types of stress:

• Frustration– Pursuit of goal is frustrated

• Transient and temporary• Failures and losses are significant

• Conflict-Incompatible motivations or behavioral impulses compete for expression– Approach-Approach– Avoidance-Avoidance– Approach-Avoidance

• Change-Any noticeable alterations in one’s living circumstances that require readjustment.– Is change itself inherently stressful?– Social readjustment rating scale

• Pressure-Expectations or demands that one behave in a certain way

RESPONDING TO STRESS

• Physiological

• Emotional

• Behavioral

Physiological Responses

• Sympathetic nervous system?______ Heart rate______ Respiration______ digestion______ pupils______ release of glucose by liver______ secretions of adrenal gland______ bladder

increases

increases

inhibits

dilates

stimulates

stimulates

relaxes

•FIGHT OR FLIGHT

Another stress response:

The hypothalamus secretes a hormone to the anterior pituitary. This hormone stimulates the pituitary to secrete another hormone which causes the adrenal glands to release cortisol, the classic stress hormone that arouses the body to meet a challenging situation. But cortisol then modulates the stress response by acting on the hypothalamus to inhibit the continued release of the initial hormone. Cortisol acts on many parts of the immune system to prevent it from overreacting and harming healthy cells and tissue. (reduce inflammation)

Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive responseStress

resistance

Phase 1Alarm

reaction(mobilize

resources)

Phase 2Resistance(cope with stressor)

Phase 3Exhaustion(reservesdepleted)

The body’s resistance to stress canlast only so long before exhaustion sets in

Stressoroccurs

General Adaptation Syndrome

patients with a variety of illnesses had many of the same "non-specific" symptoms. But these non-specific symptoms were a common response to stressful stimuli experienced by the body. After a series of tests on laboratory rats, Selye asserted that stress wasn't the culprit that led to the body's vulnerability. Rather, it was the prolonged duration of stress resulting in "diseases of adaptation." Chronic stress, he says, results in the overproduction of chemicals and hormones, producing symptoms such as ulcers and high blood pressure.

Emotional Responses to Stress

Negative:• Annoyance, anger and rage• Apprehension, anxiety, and fear• Dejection, sadness and grief

Positive responses :promote creativity, problem solving,

flexibility, learning about self

Effects of Emotional arousal• Emotional arousal can help or

hinder attempts to cope with stress

• The “inverted U hypothesis”

• As task becomes more complex optimal level of arousal tends to decrease

• Long drive? • Complex

decision?• Sporting

event• Speaking in

front of class-student?

• Speaking in front of class-teacher?

Behavioral Responses to stress

Behavioral responses involve COPING

Coping: Active efforts to master, reduce, or tolerate the demands created by stress

Can be positive or negative

Negative coping behaviors

“Behavioral disengagement”-learned helplessness

rather than stress

• Striking out at others– ‘frustration-aggression hypothesis– Not always aggressive towards source

of stress (displacement)– Idea of ‘catharsis’ not supported by

research• Different than expressing feelings, which

does help.

• Self-Indulgence– Excessive consumption

• Defense mechanisms• Defend against emotions elicited

by stress– Anger– Guilt– Anxiety– dejection

• Not healthy choice because they– Involve avoidance which isn’t a

genuine solution– Cause delay in dealing with problems– (Small illusions are beneficial.

Extreme distortions are maladaptive)

Constructive Coping• Healthful efforts to deal with stress• Doesn’t guarantee success

– Confronting problems directly• Action oriented• Conscious effort to rationally evaluate

options

– Reasonable realistic appraisal of coping resources

– Recognize and inhibit disruptive emotional reactions to stress

Coping strategies

• Reappraisal– Ellis’s rational thinking– Detect catastrophic thinking– Dispute irrational assumptions that

cause it• “I must have approval from everyone”• “I must perform well in all endeavors”

• TYPE A PERSONALITY– Reactive, competitive, hard-driving,

impatient, time-conscious, supermotivated, verbally aggressive, and easily angered

• “First, there is the tendency to try to accomplish too many things in too little time. Second, there is free-floating hostility. These people are irritated by trivial things; they exhibit signs of struggle against time and other people.”

• There are also contrasting patterns in social behavior. Type As tend to be more impatient with others and become angry when other people hold them back in any way. In general, Type As report feeling less comfortable around others than do Type Bs. They prefer to work alone rather than as a team, and they seem to resent being told what to do. Types As are more ready to do the opposite of what is demanded of them.

• What about Type A and work performance? Type As seem to work faster even when no pressure or deadline is involved. They complain less about hard work and report being less tired when it is finished. However, Type As do more poorly on tasks requiring patience or careful, considered judgment. Interestingly, surveys indicate that most members of top management are Type Bs, not Type As.

• What about Type A and work performance? Type As seem to work faster even when no pressure or deadline is involved. They complain less about hard work and report being less tired when it is finished. However, Type As do more poorly on tasks requiring patience or careful, considered judgment. Interestingly, surveys indicate that most members of top management are Type Bs, not Type As.

• Perhaps As don’t survive to make it! More likely, however, the impatient, hurried style of Type A is not compatible with the skills needed of top-level executives. In summary, Baron suggests that Type As do better on tasks involving time pressure or solitary work. Type Bs may do better on tasks requiring complex judgment, accuracy rather than speed, and working as part of a team.

• Expressing emotions, not acting out on them.

• Managing hostility– Type A and heart disease– Recent research finds that the anger

of aggressively reactive temperament is strongest predictor of heart attack

Manage hostility by forgiving others

Learn to relax

Promoting Health Biofeedback

system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state blood pressure muscle tension

Perceived Control Health consequences of a loss of control

No connection to shock source

To shock control To shock source

“Executive” rat “Subordinate” rat Control rat

Poverty and inequality

• How unemployment affects families

• In America Wealth = Health

Harmful effects

• Physical HealthHeart diseaseReduced immune function