Module 21:

Health, Stress, and Coping

Group 6
Alcain. Cariño. Escaño
Outline

I. Definition of Terms
II.Appraisal of Stress
III.Stress Responses
IV.Stressful Experiences
V.Personality & Health
VI.Coping with Stress
VII.Positive Psychology
VIII.Stress Management Programs
Definition of Terms
Stress
Stressors
Appraisal
Coping
Definition of Terms

Stress
- anxious or threatening feeling
that comes when we interpret or
appraise a situation as being more
than our psychological resources
can adequately handle
Definition of Terms

Stressors
- conditions or events that give
rise to stress
Definition of Terms

Appraisal
- interpretation of a potentially
stressful situation
Definition of Terms

Coping
- thinking and behaviors we
engage in to manage stressors
Appraisal of Stress
Primary Appraisal
Interpretations
Primary Appraisal

- initial, subjective evaluation of a

situation, in which we balance the
demands of a potentially stressful
situation against our ability to meet
these demands
Harm/Loss

A harm/ loss appraisal of a

situation means that you have
already sustained some damage
or injury.
Threat

A threat appraisal of a situation

means that the harm/loss has not
yet taken place but you know it
will happen in the near future.
Challenge

A challenge appraisal means that you

have the potential for gain or
personal growth but you also need to
mobilize your physical energy and
psychological resources to meet the
challenging situation.
Same Situation, Different Appraisals
Stress Responses
Fight-Flight Response
Psychosomatic Symptoms
Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome
(GAS)
Mind-Body Connection
Conditioning the Immune System
Fight-Flight Response
● directs great resources of energy to the
muscles and the brain

● can be triggered by either physical or

psychological stimuli

● involves numerous physiological

responses -- fight or flight
Fight-Flight Response
Physical Stimuli

You would activate the fight-flight response

when faced with a potentially dangerous
physical stimulus that threatens your
physical survival (e.g. mugger, accident,
police siren, snake, tornado, etc.).
Fight-Flight Response
Psychological Stimuli

You would activate the fight-flight response

when exposed to potentially bothersome
or stressful psychological stimuli (e.g.
worrying about exams, being impatient in
traffic, having to wait in lines, arguing with
someone, etc.).
Fight-Flight Response
Sequence for Activation

❶Appraisal ❷Hypothalamus ❸Sympathetic ❹Fight-Flight

Division Response
Fight-Flight Response
Physiological and Hormonal Responses

❶Respiration ❷Heart Rate ❸Liver and Stomach ❹Pupils

Fight-Flight Response
Physiological and Hormonal Responses

❺Piloerection ❻Adrenal Glands ❼Muscle Tension

Male – Female Difference
Psychosomatic symptoms
real and sometimes painful physical
symptoms that are caused by increased
physiological arousal that results from
psychological factors.
Common Psychosomatic Symptoms
● Stomach symptoms
● Muscle pain and tension
● Fatigue
● Headaches
● Intestinal difficulties
● Skin disorders
● Eating problems
● Insomnia
● Asthmatic or allergic problems
● High blood pressure or heart pounding
● Weak immune system and increased chances
of getting a cold or flu
Psychosomatic Symptoms
Development

❶Genetic Predisposition ❷Lifestyle ❸Threat Appraisal

SELYE’S GENERAL ADAPTATION
SYNDROME (GAS)
body’s reaction to stressful situations during
which it goes through a series of stages that
gradually increase the chances of
developing psychosomatic symptoms
SELYE’S GENERAL ADAPTATION
SYNDROME (GAS)
❶Alarm Stage
The alarm stage is the initial
reaction to stress and is marked by
activation of the fight-flight
response; in turn, the fight-flight
response causes physiological
arousal
❷Resistance Stage
The resistance stage is the body’s
reaction to continued stress during
which most of the physiological
responses return to normal levels
but the body uses up great stores
of energy.
❸Exhaustion Stage
The exhaustion stage is the body’s
reaction to long-term, continuous
stress and is marked by actual
breakdown in internal organs or
weakening of the infection-
fighting immune system.
SELYE’S GENERAL ADAPTATION
SYNDROME (GAS)
Mind-Body Connection
refers to how your thoughts, beliefs, and
emotions can produce physiological
changes that may be either beneficial or
detrimental to your health and well-being
Research on the importance and
implications of the mind-body connection
has given rise to a specialty in psychology
called
health psychology, which is the study of
how psychological factors relate to the
promotion and maintenance of health, as
well as the prevention and treatment of
illnesses.
CONDITIONING THE IMMUNE
SYSTEM
Immune System
- body’s defense and surveillance
network of cells and chemicals that fight
off bacteria, viruses, and other foreigh or
toxic substances
Psychoneuroimmunology
- study of the relationship among three
factors – the central nervous system, the
endocrine system, and the psychological
factors – which can suppress or strengthen
the immune system
The immune system can be classically
conditioned.
Stressful Experiences
Stressors
Conflict
Anxiety
Kinds of Stressors

● Hassles - small, irritating, frustrating events that we face daily and that we
usually appraise or interpret as stressful experiences.

● Uplifts - small, pleasurable, happy, and satisfying experiences that we have

in our daily lives

● Major life events - potentially disturbing, troubling, o disruptive situations,

both positive and negative, that we appraise as having a significant impact
on our lives.
Kinds of Stressors

social readjustment rating Scale

pg. 490 Plotnik 10th ed

Kinds of Stressors

Adjustment Disorder

- a condition in which a person is unable to cope with or adjust to a

major life change. The condition includes emotional and behavioral
symptoms.
Stressful Situations
Frustration
- awful feeling that results when your attempts to reach some
goal are blocked

Burnout
- physically overwhelmed and exhausted, finding the job unrewarding,
and becoming cynical or detached, and developing a strong sense of
ineffectiveness
Stressful Situations
Violence
- traumatic situations
- post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disabling condition that
results from personally experiencing an event that involves actual o
threatened death or serious injury or from witnessing or hearing of
such an event happening to a family member or close friend
- psychological symptoms are evident
Conflict
- the feeling you experience when you must choose between two or more incompatible
possibilities

Kinds of conflict
● Approach-approach conflict
● Avoidance-avoidance conflict
● Approach-avoidance conflict
Conflict
Five Styles of Dealing with Conflict
1. Avoidance - by avoiding or ignoring conflict, it will disappear

2. Accommodation - hate conflicts and tend to please people and worry

about approval

3. Domination - go to any lengths to win, even if it means being

aggressive and manipulative
Conflict
Five Styles of Dealing with Conflict
4. Compromise - recognize that other have different needs and try to
solve conflicts through compromise

5. Integration - try to resolve conflicts by finding solutions to please both

partners
Anxiety

- unpleasant state characterized by feelings of uneasiness and

apprehension as well as increased physiological arousal, such as
increased heart rate and blood pressure
Anxiety

1.Conditioned Emotional Response - results when an emotional

response, such as fear or anxiety, is classically conditioned to a
previously neutral stimulus.

2. Observational Learning - a form of cognitive learning results

from watching and modeling and does not require the observer to
perform any observable behavior or receive a reinforcer.
Anxiety

3. Unconscious Conflict - anxiety arises when a conflict between the id

and superego takes place as to how to satisfy a need with the ego caught
in the middle. The ego’s solution to this problem is to create a feeling of
anxiety.
Positive Stress

Eustress

- a pleasant and desirable type of stress that is healthful and keeps us

engaged in situations.
Personality & Social Factors
Hardiness
Locus of Control
Optimism & Pessimism
Type A & Type D Behavior
Hardiness

Why is it that certain people seem to handle stressful situations better

than others?

Hardiness - is a combination of three personality traits – control,

commitment, and challenge – that protect or buffer us from the potentially
harmful effects of stressful situations and reduce our chances of
developing psychosomatic illnesses.
Locus of Control

- represents a continuum: at one end is the belief that you are basically in
control of life’s events and that what you do influences the situation
(internal locus of control); at the other end is the belief that chance and
luck mostly determine what happens and that you do not have most
influence (external locus of control)
Optimism Versus Pessimism

Optimism

- stable personality trait that leads to believing and expecting that good things
will happen.

- adapts a process called positive reappraisal

Pessimism

- personality trait that leads one to believing and expecting bad things will
happen.
Type A & Type D Behavior

Type A Behavior (1970’s)

- combination of personality traits that included an overly competitive and

aggressive drive to achieve, a hostile attitude when frustrated, a habitual
sense of time urgency, a rapid and explosive pattern of speaking, and
being a workaholic

Type B was characterized as being calm, relaxed, and patient

Type A & Type D Behavior

● Type A Behavior ( 1980’s-1990’s)

- Type A was defined in the 1980’s as being depressed, easily

frustrated, anxious and angry or some combination of these traits.

- in 1990’s, specifies an individual who feels angry and hostile much

of the time but may not express those emotions publicly.
Type A & Type D Behavior

● Type D Behavior ( 2000’s)

- defined as chronic distress in terms of two emotional states: negative

affectivity and social inhibition.
Type A & Type D Behavior

● Social Support

- refers to three factors: having a group or network of family or

friends who provide strong social attachments; being able to exchange
helpful resources among family and friends ; and feeling, or making
appraisals, that we have supportive relationships and behaviors.
Coping with Stress
Secondary Appraisal
Kinds of Coping
Secondary Appraisal
- involves deciding to deal with a
potentially stressful situation by using one
or both of two different coping patterns:

● Problem-focused coping

● Emotion-focused coping
Kinds of Coping

Problem-focused coping

● Decrease stress by solving the problem through seeking information,

changing our own behavior, or taking whatever action is needed to
resolve the difficulty.
Kinds of Coping

Emotion-focused coping

● Do thing primarily to deal with emotional distress, such as seeking

support and sympathy or avoiding or denying the situation.