Stress

1
Stress its Effects

• Chapter 3

2
The Nature of Stress

• Stress any circumstances that threaten or are
  perceived to threaten ones well-being and
  thereby tax ones coping abilities.

Mental Disorders
Stress
3
Stress is Subjective

• Primary appraisal is the event
• irrelevant to you
• relevant, but not stressful
• stressful
• Secondary appraisal do you have the coping
  skills to deal with the stress
• Ambient stress - chronic environmental conditions

4
Types of Stress

• Frustration - the goal is thwarted
• Conflict - incompatible motivations compete for
  expression
• Life Changes - all change is stressful but
  negative change causes more harm
• Pressure - expectations or demands that one
  behave in a certain way

5
Factors in Stress Evaluation

• Familiarity - higher the familiarity, the lower
  the stress
• Controllability - higher the controllability, the
  lower the stress
• Predictability - higher the predictability, the
  lower the stress
• Imminence - further away the event, the lower the
  stress

6
Responding the Stress

• Emotional Response powerful feeling accompanied
  by physiological changes
• Physiological Response
• Flight or Fight (autonomic Nervous System)
• General Adaptation Syndrome (alarm, resistance,
  exhaustion)
• Behavioral Response involves coping - efforts
  to master demands of stress.

7
Negative Effects of Stress

• Impaired task performance
• Disruption of cognitive functioning
• Burnout - physical, mental, emotional exhaustion
• Delayed effects PTSD
• Psychological problems
• Physical illness Psychosomatic

8
Positive Effects of Stress
What you want
Resolution
Tension
What you have
9
Stress Coping Resources

• Social Support
• Hardiness - (commitment, perseverance)
• Optimism - expecting a good outcome
• Sensation Seeking - a general preference for high
  or low levels of sensory stimulation
• Autonomic Reactivity - higher the ANS, the
  greater the impact of stress