Unit 4, Chapter 3: Managing Stress and Coping with Life’s Challenges

1. What is Stress?

i. Stress → response to perceived change and challenges

ii. Stressor → what causes our bodies to react or respond

a. Common Types of Stress

i. Eustress → positive stress

ii. Distress → negative stress

iii. Acute stress → comes from demands of recent past or near future

iv. Episodic acute stress → regularly reacting with wild, acute stress

b. What causes stress?

i. Adjusting to Change: Key Stress for College Students → adjusting to

college life

ii. Hassles: Little Things That Bug You → small problems stressing you

out

iii. The Toll of Relationships → impacts of personal relationships

iv. Money Worries: Impact on Academics and More → worrying about

your financial status

v. Frustration and Conflict → fighting for goals and beliefs

vi. Overload → not enough to do everything / overwhelmed

vii. Stressful Environments → everything around you stresses you out

viii. Bias and Discrimination → favoritism or division causes stress

2. The Stress Response: What Really Happens?

a. Physiology/Systems Theory: General Adaptation Syndrome

 i. Homeostasis → body equilibrium

ii. Adaptive response → returning to homeostasis

iii. General adaptation syndrome → alarm, resistance, exhaustion

iv. Alarm Phase: The Body in “Protect Mode” → fight-or-flight response,

nervous system responds

v. Hypothalamus, epinephrine, cortisol

vi. Resistance Phase, Mobilizing the Body’s Resources → The body

resists alarm responses

vii. Exhaustion Phase: Body Resources Depleted → allostatic load,

immunocompetence

b. Psychological Theory: The Transactional Model of Stress and Coping

i. Interaction between a person’s perception, coping ability, and the

environment

ii. Minority Stress Perspective

iii. Yerkes-Dodson Law of Arousal → arousal or stress → performance

goes up to a point

iv. Do Men and Women Respond Differently to Stress? → women → tend

and befriend / Men → fighting or fleeing

3. Stress and Your Health

a. Stress and Cardiovascular Disease

i. Broken Heart Syndrome

b. Stress and Weight Gain

c. Stress and Hair Loss

 d. Stress and Diabetes

e. Stress and Digestive Problems

f. Stress and Impaired Immunity

g. Stress and Your Mental Health

i. Stress, Memory, and Concentration

ii. Psychological Effects of Stress

4. Individual Factors That Affect Your Stress Response

a. Appraisal

b. Self-Esteem

c. Self-Efficacy

d. Type A and Type B Personalities

i. Thriving Type A: Hardiness, Psychological Resilience, and Grit

ii. Type A and Toxic Core

e. Type C and Type D Personalities

f. Shift and Persist

5. Managing Stress in College: When Overwhelm Strikes

a. Taking a Mindful Approach to Stress

i. Assess Your Stressors to Solve Problems Mindfully

ii. Change Your Inner Voice: Be Compassionate

b. Developing a Support Network

c. Cultivating Your SpiritualSide

d. Managing Emotional Responses and Perceptions

i. Fighting the Anger Urge

 ii. Learn to Laugh, Be Joyful, and Cry

e. Taking Physical Action

i. Get Enough Exercise

ii. Get Enough Sleep

iii. Eat Healthfully

f. Managing Your Time

i. Do one thing at a time

ii. Clean off your desk

iii. Prioritize your tasks

iv. Work when you’re at your best

v. Remember that time is precious

g. Consider Downshifting

h. Finding Calm: Relaxation Techniques for Reducing Stress

i. Yoga

ii. Qigong and Tai Chi

iii. Diaphragmatic or Deep Breathing

iv. Meditation

v. Visualization

vi. Progressive Muscle Relaxation

vii. Massage Therapy

viii. Biofeedback

ix. Hypnosis