STRESS
Concepts of Stress
• Stress is an universal phenomenon. All Stress people
experience it .
• Stress can have both positive and negative effects .
• Stress is produced by a change in the environments
that is perceived as a challenge, threat or danger.
• Stress is a condition in which the human system
responds to changes in its normal balanced state .
• When a person faces a stressor, responses are
referred to as coping strategies, coping responses or
coping mechanism .
Definition-
Stress is the 'non-specific response of the body
to any kind of demand made upon it.
-Selye
Stress is the arousal of mind and body in
response to demands made upon them.
-Schafer
STRESSOR:
Stressor can be any stimulus that causes an individual to
experience stress.
Three major categories of stressors are:
• Catastrophic events
• Important life events (personal stressors )
• Daily hassles (background stressors)
Catastrophic Events- catastrophic is a large scale disaster
that affects numerous people and causes extensive ,
damage. Catastrophes include earthquakes ,hurricanes ,
war, toxic waste contamination & nuclear accidents.
Important Life Events
Major life events such as the death of a family member,
which has immediate negative consequences usually fades
with time. The major life events are death of a parent or
spouse, the loss of one's job, diagnosis of a life-threatening
illness.
Dally Hassles
These are the minor of life that we irritants all face time and
time again-traffic delays ,noise pollution, weather, social
events, work demands.
Stress cycle
Stressor- Stressor can be any stimulus that causes an
individual to experience stress. Stressors include either
positive or negative life events ,e.g. death, divorce, new job,
marriage, etc.
Ways to reduce stress: Avoiding or managing the stress,
choosing what is important in life , time management, simple
living, learning to say no, etc .
Reaction to Stress - Once there is a stressor our body will
reaction it. Reactions to stress relates to perception of the
stress.
Reducing the reactions to stress: Asking God for help, spiritual
practices, cognitive behavior therapy.
Wear and Tear on the Body and Organ System -When a person
becomes stressed and does not correct the stressor, the same stress
reactions which helped cope in the beginning start to wear one self-
down .
Remedies: Improving diet, regular exercises , yoga, meditation. All
these activities reduce the emotional and physical effects of stress .
Reduced Optimum Health : After a sustained period of chronic stress
the body wears down which can invite more serious diseases like high
BP, heart problems diabetes, skin conditions, asthama , depression and
even cancer. Many diseases are associated with chronic stress .
Remedies : Consulting allopathic or homeo- pathy doctor to make a
plan for regaining health.
Increased Sensitivity to Stress : While once body is worn down
and emotions worn and exhausted, sensitivity to stress
increases. Overtime, a smaller and smaller stressor initiates the
same stress reaction that a big event used to get .
Remedies: Try deep breathing or meditation , taking walks or
talking with an objective friend may help to reduce sensitivity
to stress.
Effect of stress
• Stress is not always harmful. In fact it is recognized that low
levels of stress can even help for better performance.
• For example, a student can prepare well for examination only
if he/she has some stress.
• However, excessive levels of stress are undoubtedly harmful.
People under stress may not engage in positive health-related
behavior and this may lead to illness. When we are stressed
we may be less likely to engage in healthy behavior.
• For example, students taking exams stay up for most part of
the night for several days, skip meals and eat junk food.
Chronic stress can lead to physiological disorders such as ulcers,
high BP and heart diseases. It may also impair the immune
system thus decreasing the body's ability to fight invading
bacteria and viruses.
During stress some men consume excessive amount of alcohol
and smoke excessively. People under stress cease normal
exercise routines and become sedentary. Smoking is one of the
leading causes of cardiovascular disease and emphysema. high-
fat diet contributes to many forms of cancer as well as
cardiovascular diseases.
Adaption to stress
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)(Hans Selye, 1945)
Hans Selye, a pioneering stress theorist developed GAS model that
suggests that a person's response to stress consists of three stages:
o Alarm
o Resistance
o Exhaustion
Alarm Reaction or Fight-or-Flight Response
Alarm reaction is the body's initial reaction toa stressor. It is a set of
reactions initiated when division of the hypothalamus stimulates the
sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system.
Red blood cell (RBC) production increased
Liver converts glycogen into glucose and releases it into the bloodstream
Blood vessels supplying to the skin and viscera
heart rate and strength of cardiac muscle contraction increases.
Resistance Reaction
The resistance reaction is the second stage in the stress response. It is
initiated by regulating hormones secreted by the hypothalamus,
This action helps to control bleeding , maintaining blood pressure etc.
Combined action of HGH and TSH helps to supply additional energy to
the body.○ Resistance reaction is successful in helping us cope with
stressful situation.,
Occasionally it fails to fight the stress especially if it is too severe or long
lasting.
In this case GAS moves into the stage of exhaustion art rate and
strength of cardiac muscle contraction increases.
Exhaustion Stage
At this stage the cells start to die and organs weaken.
A long-term resistance reaction put heavy demand on
the body , particularly on the heart blood vessels and
renal cortex which may suddenly fail .
Coping with stress:
Coping Styles According to Roger and Nash (1995)
According to Roger and Nash, the coping styles are adaptive and
maladaptive.
Adaptive styles involve an appropriate adjustment to the environment
and gaining from the experience. These can be detached or rationale.
• Not seeing a problem or situation as threat
• Keeping a sense of humor
• Resolving the issue by dividing things into parts
• Taking nothing personally
• Taking action to change things
• Taking one step at time and approaching the problem with logic
• Using past experience for working out , how to deal with the
situation
Maladaptive styles involve failing to adjust to environment and
experiencing misery and unhappiness as a result. These can be
emotional and avoidance coping styles.
• Feeling helpless, depressed and angry
• Showing frustration on other people
• Preparing for the worst possible out come and seeking
sympathy from others
• Pretending there is nothing if people ask
• Sitting simply and hoping it all goes away
• Thinking about something else