PRACTICAL 1

PSY291
Stress
• The term stress has typically been used to refer to both to the
adjustive demands placed on an organism and to the organism’s
internal biological and psychological response to such demands.
• Adjustive demands are STRESSORS, to the effects they create within
an organism as STRESS, and to efforts to deal with stress as COPING
STRATEGIES.
• All situations, positive and negative, that require adjustment can be
stressful.
• According to Hans Seley, the notion of stress can be broken down
further into EUSTRESS and DISTRESS.
• EUSTRESS- is positive stress e.g. during marriage stress is eustress

• DISTRESS- is negative stress e.g. during a funeral is distress .

Stress is a normal reaction the body has when
changes occur. It can respond to these changes
physically, mentally, or emotionally.
Stress is the body's reaction to any change that
requires an adjustment or response. The body
reacts to these changes with physical, mental, and
emotional responses.
Stress is a normal part of life. You can experience
stress from your environment, your body, and
your thoughts. Even positive life changes such as
a promotion, a mortgage, or the birth of a child
produce stress.
The human body is designed to experience stress and
react to it. Stress can be positive, keeping us alert,
motivated, and ready to avoid danger. Stress becomes
negative when a person faces continuous challenges
without relief or relaxation between stressors. As a
result, the person becomes overworked, and stress-
related tension builds.
• CATEGORIES OF STRESS
 3 BASIC CATEGORIES
• 1. FRUSTRATION
• 2. CONFLICT
• 3. PRESSURE
• WHAT IS FRUSTRATION ?
 FRUSTRATION

• When a person’s strivings are thwarted either by obstacles that block

progress toward a desired goal or by the absence an appropriate goal,
frustration occurs.
• Frustration often leads to a self-devaluation, making the person feel
that he /she has failed in some way or incompetent.
• A wide range of obstacles, both external and internal, can lead to
frustration.
• Prejudice, discrimination, unfulfillment in a job, and the death of a
loved one are common frustrations stemming from the environment;
physical handicaps, limited ability to perform a certain tasks,
loneliness, guilt, and inadequate self-control are sources of frustration
based on personal limitations.
 CONFLICTS

• WHAT ARE CONFLICTS?

CONFLICTS
• In many instances stress results from the simultaneous occurrence of
two or more incompatible needs or motives: the requirement of one
preclude satisfaction of the others

• Example: the woman who loves her job but must decide whether to
uproot her family for a promotion.
Types of conflicts

• 1. APPROACH-APPROACH CONFLICT
• 2. AVIODANCE –AVOIDANCE CONFLICT
• 3. APPROACH-AVOIDANCE CONFLICT
• APPRAOCH-APPROACH CONFLICT- involve choosing between two or
more desirable goals. It generally causes eustress.

• AVOIDANCE-AVOIDANCE CONFLICT- are those in which the choices

are between undesirable alternatives. Neither choice will bring
satisfaction, so the task is to decide which course of action will be
least disagreeable i.e., the least stressful.
• APPROACH-AVOIDANCE CONFLICT- involve strong tendencies to
approach and to avoid the same goal.
• WHAT IS PRESSURE?
In general pressure force us to speed up, intensify effort, or change the
direction of goal-oriented behavior.

All of us encounter many everyday pressures.

Pressure can originate from external or internal sources.

Factors predisposing a person to stress
• the actual degree of disruption that occurs or in threatened depends
partly on a Stressor’s characteristics and partly on the Person’s
resources, both internal and external.

•
1. Nature of the stressor
• It includes the importance of the stressor to the person,
• Duration of the stress
• Effect of stressors in the person’s life
• Whether the stressor appears along with the other stressors
• Whether the stressor is artificial or natural
• Whether or not that stressor is seen by the victim as being within
his/her control.
•

• 2. Experience of crisis
• The term crisis is used to refer to times when a stressful situation
approaches or exceeds the adaptive capacities of a person or group.

• Crises are often especially stressful because the stressors are so

potent that the coping techniques we typically use does not work.
• Examples of crisis are- traumatic divorce, natural disaster or
aftermath of any injury or death that forces difficult readjustments in
a person’s self-concept and the way of life.
•

• 3. Life Changes-
• It is important to remember that life changes, even some positive
ones places a new demands on us and thus may be stressful.

• Faster the change greater is the stress

• 4. A person’s perception of the stressor
• Most of us are well aware that, in some cases, one person’s stressor is
another person’s thrill.
• The same event will be interpreted differently by different people.
• Stress tolerance – refers to a person’s ability to withstand stress
without becoming seriously impaired.
• Individual learning history also plays a crucial role in the general
capacity to deal with stress
• 5. Lack of External Resources and Social Support
• Considerable evidence suggests that positive social and family
relationships can moderate the effects of stress on a person and can
even reduce illness and early death.
• Lack of external resources and support make a given stressor more
potent and weaken a person’s capacity to cope with it.
• THANKS FRIENDS