Response

The ABC-X model shows how families view and respond to stress. The “A” is the stressor event

the stressor event comes in three different types. The first is if it is natural such as a family

member dies or the event is unexpected like a robbery. The second is if it can be understood like

having a disease or it is not understood like developing allergies when you never had any.

Finally, there the ones we cause ourselves and the ones we have no control over – flash floods

impact.. There are also stressors that endure for a long period of time (chronic) and some that

come and go rather quickly (acute).

“B” is the resources or strengths that the family has at its disposal to handle the situation.

Resources fall into three categories, individual, family and community. Individual resources are

what an individual would have learned or gained over their life, for example, their education,

skills and work ethic. Family resources for example, are family encouragement and support.

Finally, community resources are friends and associates that can help you with the situation.

“C” is how the family views the event that has created the stress. The way a family views the

situation can be affected by many influences such as religion, past experience and personal

knowledge on what is going on. It can be viewed as a time of hardship or as a challenge.

The “X” portion is the crisis, this occurs when the family cannot keep the stressor under control.

However, not all stressors lead to crisis when they can’t be kept under control. Plus some

families work better when facing a crisis, the family pulls together to get through the crisis.
Right now in my life, my family is facing a problem that fits the ABC-X model. The stressor in

my family is my sister’s illness, one reason the illness began was because she was stressed out

because of all of the things she wanted to do in her junior year college and couldn’t manage her

time properly. As a result she began to suffer from the concept of pileup, causing her stress and

resulted in seizures.

The resources we have at our disposal are a combination of individual and family resources.

First, the individual resources were that Tyler has not given up despite how tough things have

gotten and the fact that she had to learn how to do things differently. She also has to ask for help

when she could not do certain things for herself. Finally, the family resources we have at our

disposal are many, when we went down to Florida to the Mayo Clinic (another aunt

recommended we get Tyler to the Mayo Clinic) my aunt and uncle let us stay at their house when

we’re going to the Clinic. They also make sure they have food in their house that Tyler can eat,

given her food allergies. When we are at home, we listen to make sure she is ok even when she

is asleep, sometimes sacrificing needed sleep to help her.

We see my sister’s illness in many different ways. We see it as a hardship and a challenge that as

a family working together we can overcome. My parents have reached out to friends and

neighbors in order to find doctors who can help Tyler with her illness. I feel that God has

allowed Tyler to have this obstacle that she must overcome and that she must learn to better

manage her time and choose what is most important in her life. It has made me look at my life

differently as well and what I want to do.