Stress and Coping
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What is stress?
It is used to describe how the demands of our lives seem to be becoming too great to deal with
What are the 2 components of stress?
• Stressor 2. Stress response
What is a stressor?
An event which creates demands on a person
What is a stress response?
A person’s reaction to a demand
How is a stress response influenced?
It is influenced by how a person judges the event and their capacity to react to the event effectively
Name 2 types of stress disorders
• Trauma and stressor-related disorders 2. Stress and psychophysiological disorders
Name 3 trauma and stressor-related disorders
• Acute stress disorder 2. PTSD
What is eustress?
A positive stressful experience, associated with increased motivation and acceptance of challenge
Describe the General Adaption Syndrome identified by Hans Selye
• There are 3 phases in a stress response • Phase 1 is an alarm reaction where the body mobilizes resources and stress resistance drops slightly • Phase 2 is resistance to stressor where the body can cope with the stressor and stress resistance increases and plateaus • Phase 3 is exhaustion where reserves are depleted and stress resistance drops significantly
Describe the Transactional Model of Stress
• Stressors occur in the environment • Each person has a perception filter which selects the stressors relevant • Primary appraisal is interpretation of stressors (positive, dangerous, irrelevant) • Dangerous stressors come under secondary appraisal (sufficient resources, insufficient resources) • Insufficient resources lead to stress • Coping is overcoming stress • Reappraisal is learning from stress
When is problem-based coping used?
Used when a person feels they have control of the situation, thus can manage the source of the problem
Name 4 possible strategies of problem-based coping?
• Defining the problem • Generating and evaluating alternative solutions • Learning new skills to manage stressor • Reappraising
When is emotional-based coping used?
Used when a person feels they have little control in a situation which means they cannot manage the source of the problem
Name 6 strategies used to regulate emotional distress
• Avoiding • Distancing from the emotion • Acceptance • Seeking emotional support • Selective attention • Venting anger
What are 3 strengths of the transactional model of stress?
• Focuses on individuality of stress response • Allows for changes to stressors over time • Enhances and emphasises importance of stress-management strategies
What are 2 weaknesses of the transactional model of stress?
• Highly subjective 2. Debate over whether conscious appraisal is required to experience stress
Name 2 major components of the body’s physical response to stress
• Nervous system 2. Endocrine system
Describe the sympathetic response to stress
• Hypothalamus causes increased arousal in sympathetic nervous system (inc. heart rate, inc. respiration, pupil dilatation) • Sympathetic activation prepares the body for intense motor activity
Describe the parasympathetic response to stress
• Functions under non-stressful conditions to serve regenerative, growth-promoting, energy0conserving functions
Describe the 3 components of the endocrine (HPA) axis
• Hypothalamus • Pituitary gland • Adrenal gland
Describe the endocrine pathway which triggers stress
• Hypothalamus triggers release of CRH (corticotropin-releasing hormone) • Activates pituitary gland which releases hormone ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) • ACTH carried by the blood to the adrenal gland • Adrenal gland releases stress hormones cortisol, adrenalin and noradrenalin
What is the biological explanation of stress?
Stress is a factor which disrupts homeostasis, inducing a physiologically aroused state
What 2 systems are activated during the fight or flight response?
• Autonomic Nervous System 2. Endocrine System
What is the autonomic nervous system?
An extensive network of nerve fibres connected to the CNS and all other organs of the body