Stress (Textbook)
A perceived threat (real or imagined) to our mind, body, spirit, or emotions
Stress (3 Part)
1) Any event or circumstance that causes a person to react (stressor)
2) The mental and emotional processing: your thoughts and feelings about the situation
3) The internal physiological reaction: autonomic arousal, sympathetic arousal
Stressor
What causes a person to react
Eustress
Good, positive stress that motivates us
Distress
Bad stress that exceeds our ability to cope
Yerkes-Dodson Principle
Good and bad stress, you have a peak performance for health too (bell curve), left side is eustress, right side is distress
Acute Stress
Intense but brief; threatening events that have a relatively short duration and a clear endpoint
Chronic Stress
Less intense, longer acting; relatively long duration and no readily apparent time limit
Episodic Acute Stress
Frequent episodes of acute stress. Hassles: ordinary, everyday events. Always in a rush; always late
4 Dimensions of Wellness
Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, Spiritual
The most basic source of stress is...
changes
Why do we have more stress now than past generations?
Technostress, information overload, more choices, less privacy, immediate gratification, pollution, terrorism, materialism, overworking
How do we measure stress? (2)
1) Frequency of physical symptoms
2) Self-Assessment
Perceived Stress Scale
Assesses your feelings and thoughts over the past month
Inventory of College Students' Recent Life Experiences
Identify intensity of various life events over the past month
Stress Vulnerability Questionnaire
Vulnerability vs. Resistance to stress; identify areas to reduce vulnerability
Student Stress Scale
Life events scale associated with potential for illness
Are you headed for overstress?
Factors that can put you in the danger zone
Hardy Personality Profile
Assess 3 traits associated with resistance to stress
The Stress Response (3)
Fight-or-flight response (Walter Cannon), homeostasis, General Adaption Syndrome (Hans Selye)
Fight-or-flight response
Body is in homeostasis, brain receives stimuli from a sense, body stays aroused until event is over, body returns to homeostasis. Theory by Cannon
Homeostasis
Balance in the body
General Adaptation Syndrome
Three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. Theory by Hans Selye.
Alarm Stage
-Stressor perceived
-Fight-or-flight response
-Homeostasis disrupted
-Autonomic nervous system and endocrine system activated to prepare body for action
Resistance Stage
-Stressor continues
-Stress response stays activated (no return to homeostasis)
-Cortisol and aldosterone remain circulating in the system and body continues to be alarmed
-Low levels of alarm: person doesn't realize the chronic stress.
-Body may channel
Exhaustion Stage
-Stress continues
-Organ systems fail and other physical breakdowns occur
-Diseases that may occur potentially involve every organ and system of the body
Autonomic Nervous System (3)
Sympathetic NS, Parasympathetic NS, Neurotransmitters
Endocrine System (2)
Hormones, adrenal gland
Adrenal Medulla releases.... (2)
Epinephrine, norepinephrine
Adrenal Cortex releases... (2)
Cortisol & aldosterone
The Stress Hormones (4)
Cortisol, aldosterone, epinephrine, norepinephrine
Sympathetic NS Reactions
-Pupil dilates: lets you see better
-Heart beat speeds: more blood helps move oxygen through body
-Salivary glands decreases: produce less saliva to conserve fluids
-Airway opens: more oxygen can go in body
-Hair erects: makes animals look scarier
-Bladde
Hypothalamus
Activates both the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system
Allostatic Load
The price the body pays if it must constantly adapt to stress
Allostasis
The ability to achieve stability through change
Chakras
Centers of distribution of energy throughout the body
Hypothalamus and Sympathetic NS don't distinguish between...
threats of physical harm vs. situations of psychological stress