1. Chapter 3 – Personal Stress Management
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Personal Stress Management
LectureOutline
I. What is Stress?
Dr. Hans Selye defined stress as “the non-specific response of the body to any
demand made upon it.” Stressors are the things that trigger a state of arousal,
either in a positive or negative way.
A. Eustress and Distress
1. Eustress refers to the positive stress in our lives. Eustress challenges us to
grow, adapt, and find creative solutions in our lives.
2. Distress refers to the negative effects of stress that can deplete or even
destroy life energy.
B. Stress and the Dimensions of Health
1. From a holistic perspective, stress can have an impact on every dimension
of well-being.
a. Physical – Stress triggers molecular changes within your body that
affect your heart, muscles, immune system, bones, blood vessels, skin,
lungs, gastrointestinal tract, and reproductive organs.
b. Psychological – Chronic stress affects thoughts and feelings; however,
positive emotions and attitudes can buffer the ill effects of stress and
enhance satisfaction and genuine happiness.
c. Spiritual – Stress can sidetrack us from achieving our full potential; but
our spirit, when nurtured, can help resist and recover from stress.
d. Social – Your relationships with your family, friends, coworkers, and
loved ones affect and are affected by the stress in your life.
e. Intellectual – Even mild stressors can interfere with your brain’s
functioning.
f. Environmental – External forces such as pollution, noise, natural
disasters, exposure to toxic chemicals, and threats to your safety can
cause or intensify the stress in your life.
2. Types of Stressors
a. Acute time-limited stressors: situations that cause feelings of anxiety,
such as having to speak in public or work out a math problem while
under pressure.
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b. Brief naturalistic stressors: more serious challenges (e.g., taking the
SAT or meeting a deadline for a project).
c. Life change events: include planned and predictable occurrences, such
as graduation or marriage, as well as unexpected ones, such as the loss
of a home in a fire or flood. The death of a partner or parent ranks high
on the list.
d. Chronic stressors: ongoing demands caused by life changing
circumstances, such as permanent disability from an accident or caring
for a parent with dementia.
e. Distant stressors: traumatic experiences that occurred long ago, such as
child abuse or combat, which have an emotional and psychological
impact.
II. Stress in America
A. Stress on Campus
1. About nine in ten students rate the overall level of stress they experienced
in the last 12 months as “average,” “more than average,” or
“tremendous.”
2. In addition to its impact on health, stress can affect students physically,
emotionally, academically and socially.
3. Students say they react to stress in various ways:
a. Physiologically
b. Emotionally
c. Behaviorally
d. Cognitively
4. Stress on students include the following documented effects:
a. Difficulty paying attention and concentrating.
b. Poor or inadequate sleep.
c. Lack of exercise.
d. Increased consumption of junk food.
e. Greater risk of anxiety and depression.
f. Lessened life satisfaction.
B. Gender Differences
1. More female than male students reported feeling hopeless, overwhelmed,
or exhausted (but not from physical activity).
2. Neither gender necessarily handles stress better.
C. Students under Age 25
1. The stage of life between the ages of 18 and 25 is termed “emerging
adulthood.”
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2. During this potentially risky transition period, young men and women of
every racial and ethnic group are more likely to engage in behaviors that
can increase stress and imperil health.
D. Students over age 25
1. The number of older undergraduates is skyrocketing, with an estimated
increase of 21 percent from 2005 to 2016.
2. Many of these students, often parents with full- or part-time jobs, find
themselves playing multiple roles and facing multiple stressors.
3. Veterans may be processing their experiences in distant and dangerous
lands.
4. Family typically emerges as the greatest source of both stress and support
for women returning to school.
E. Minority Students
1. Minority stress refers to negative experiences in the campus environment
that students perceive to be linked to the social, physical, or cultural
attributes characteristic of their racial or ethnic group.
2. Among the forms of minority stress are:
a. University social climate stress
b. Intergroup stress
c. Discrimination stress
d. Within-group stress
e. Achievement stress
f. Acculturative stress
3. While many minority students say that overt racism is rare and relatively
easy to deal with, subtle racial expressions—sometimes termed
microaggressions—may undermine their academic confidence and their
ability to bond with the university.
4. Researchers have identified three common types of microaggressions:
a. Microassaults – conscious and intentional actions or slurs
b. Microinsults – verbal and nonverbal communications that subtly
convey rudeness and insensitivity and demean a person’s racial
heritage or identity
c. Microinvalidation – communications that subtly exclude, negate, or
nullify the thoughts, feelings, or experiential reality of a person of color
F. Entering Freshmen
1. The first year of college is the most stressful for all undergraduates, even
when they begin with positive expectations and attitudes.
2. First-generation college students encounter more difficulties with social
adjustment and lack of social support that adds to their stress levels.
G. Test Stress
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1. For some students, test anxiety provokes a marked elevation in blood
pressure.
2. The students most susceptible to exam stress are those who believe they’ll
do poorly and who see tests as extremely threatening.
3. Negative thoughts often become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
4. You can overcome test stress by knowing – even mastering – the subject
and by controlling the way you think about and talk to yourself about
tests.
III. Other Stressors
A. The Anger Epidemic
1. The three primary culprits for the anger epidemic are: time, technology,
and tension.
2. For years therapists encouraged people to “vent” their anger. However,
research now shows that letting anger out only makes it worse.
3. While stress alone doesn’t cause a blowup, it makes you more vulnerable
to overreacting.
B. Economic Stress
1. Unemployment is a serious stressor.
2. Although money cannot buy happiness, it does buffer the ill effects of
stress.
C. Job Stress
1. More today than ever before, many people find that they are working
more and enjoying it less.
2. High job strain is defined as high psychological demands combined with
low control or decision-making ability over one’s job.
D. Burnout
1. Burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion brought
on by constant or repeated emotional pressure.
E. Illness and Disability
1. A common source of stress for college students is a learning disability,
which may affect one out of every ten Americans.
IV. Traumatic Life Events and Stress
About 39 to 74 percent of all people experience at least one potentially traumatic
event during the course of their lives.
A. Acute Stress Disorder
1. In acute stress disorder, disabling symptoms occur within three days to a
month after exposure to a traumatic event.
2. Symptoms of acute stress disorder may include:
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a. Recurrent, involuntary, and intrusive distressing memories of the
trauma
b. Recurrent distressing dreams related to the trauma
c. Dissociative reactions, such as flashbacks, in which an individual feels
that the traumatic event is recurring
d. Persistent inability to experience happiness, satisfaction, or other
positive emotions
e. Altered sense of the reality of one’s surroundings or oneself, such as
time slowing down
f. Inability to remember an important aspect of the traumatic event
g. Efforts to avoid distressing memories, thoughts, or feelings related to
the trauma
h. Efforts to avoid reminders, such as certain people, places, activities,
objects, or situations, which arouse distressing feelings or thoughts
i. Sleep disturbances, including difficulty falling or staying asleep and
restless sleep
j. Irritable behavior and angry outbursts
k. Hypervigilance
l. Problems with concentration
m. Intensified startle response
3. Acute distress disorder causes significant distress and interferes with a
person’s ability to work, study, relate to others, and maintain usual
routine and social activities.
B. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
1. In the past, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was viewed as a
psychological response to out-of-the-ordinary stressors, such as captivity
or combat. However, other experiences can also forever change the way
people view themselves and their world.
2. An estimated 9 percent of all college students suffer from PTSD.
3. Symptoms of PTSD, which usually begin within the first three months
after a trauma, include:
a. Recurrent, involuntary, and intrusive distressing memories of the
traumatic event
b. Recurrent distressing dreams related to the trauma
c. Persistent avoidance of external reminders and distressing memories
of the trauma
d. Persistent feelings of guilt, shame, anger, horror, fear, or other negative
emotions
e. Hypervigilance and other changes in arousal and alertness
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4. Individuals with PTSD may require different types of help at different
stages. Behavioral, cognitive, and psychodynamic therapy, sometimes
along with psychiatric medication, can help individuals suffering with
PTSD. Mind–body practices, such as exercise, mindfulness, meditation,
and deep breathing, also have proven effective.
5. Without recognition and treatment, PTSD can last for decades, with
symptoms intensifying during periods of stress.
6. When identified and treated, more than half of affected persons achieve
complete recovery.
7. Mental health professionals have found that no single approach to
treatment works for all trauma victims.
V. The Stress Response
The stress response refers to a cascade of internal changes that mobilize the body’s
resources for action.
A. General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)
1. A biological theory of stress developed by Hans Selye.
2. Our bodies constantly strive to maintain a stable and consistent
psychological state called homeostasis.
3. Adaptive response is the body’s attempt to restore homeostasis.
a. Alarm - As it becomes aware of a stressor, the body mobilizes various
systems for action.
b. Resistance – If the stress continues, the body draws on its internal
resources to try to sustain homeostasis, but this requires greater and
greater effort.
c. Exhaustion - If stress continues long enough, normal functioning
becomes impossible. Even a small amount of additional stress at this
point can lead to a breakdown.
B. Cognitive Transactional Model
1. A nonbiological theory developed by Richard Lazarus, based on the
interrelationship between stress, which has a powerful impact on well-
being, and health, which affects a person’s ability to cope with stress.
2. When individuals confront a challenge, they make immediate judgments
about whether it poses a threat and whether they will be able to respond
to it.
3. Lazarus identified four stages in this process:
a. Primary appraisal – individual judges the severity of a threat; if not
perceived as dangerous, no stress develops
b. Secondary appraisal – if the situation is perceived as threatening,
individual assesses whether they have the power and resources to act
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c. Coping stage – individual does whatever they can to deal with the
challenge
d. Reappraisal – individual evaluates whether the original stressor has
been eliminated or whether they need to try again or use a different
approach
C. Yerkes-Dodson Law
1. Increasing stress can boost performance—but only up to a certain point.
VI. The Impact of Stress
Stress triggers molecular changes throughout the body that make us more
susceptible to many illnesses.
A. Stress and the Heart
1. One way in which stress increases the risk of heart attack and other
cardiovascular problems is by pushing people toward bad habits.
B. Stress and Immunity
1. Acute time-limited stressors, the type that produce a fight-or-flight
response, prompt the immune system to ready itself for the possibility of
infections resulting from bites, punctures, or other wounds.
2. Long-term or chronic stress creates excessive wear and tear, and the
system breaks down.
3. The longer the stress, the more the immune system shifts from potentially
adaptive changes to potentially harmful ones.
4. Traumatic stress can impair immunity for as long as a year.
C. Stress and the Gastrointestinal System
1. The “brain–gut axis” links the brain with the organs involved in digesting
food.
2. Stress can:
a. Decrease saliva so your mouth becomes dry (a frequent occurrence
when under the stress of speaking in public)
b. Cause contractions in the esophagus that interfere with swallowing
c. Increase the amount of hydrochloric acid in the stomach
d. Constrict blood vessels in the digestive tract
e. Alter the rhythmic movements of the small and large intestines
necessary for the transport of food (leading to diarrhea if too fast or
constipation if too slow)
f. Contribute to or exacerbate GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease)
g. Lead to blockage of the bile and pancreatic ducts
h. Increase the risk of pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas),
ulcerative colitis, and irritable bowel syndrome
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3. For many years stress alone was blamed for causing stomach ulcers, but
scientists have discovered that a bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, infects the
digestive system and sets the stage for ulcers.
4. Stress may increase susceptibility by reducing the protective gastric
mucus that lines the stomach so ulcers develop more readily.
5. Stress directly affects what researchers call our “drive to eat.”
6. Even if they don’t consume more calories, some people, perhaps
especially sensitive to cortisol, put on “belly,” or visceral, fat when
stressed.
D. Stress and Cancer
1. Among the latest findings from psycho-oncology, the field that combines
medical and psychological approaches to cancer, are:
a. Stress-related abnormalities in cortisol, inflammation, and the
sympathetic nervous system can affect cancer growth.
b. Stressful life experiences and depression are associated with poorer
survival and greater mortality from various types of cancer, including
breast, lung, and head and neck tumors.
c. Psychosocial support and improved coping skills help even terminally
ill patients to live better at the end of life—and in some cases to live
longer as well.
VII. Managing Stress
Various approaches, including online stress management interventions, have
proven effective in reducing perceived stress and symptoms of anxiety,
depression, and stress.
A. Journaling
1. College students that wrote in their journals about traumatic events felt
much better after-ward than those who wrote about superficial topics.
B. Exercise
1. Regular physical activity can relieve stress, boost energy, lift mood, and
keep stress under control.
C. Cognitive Restructuring
1. Cognitive restructuring is a technique of cognitive-behavioral therapy that
helps people examine negative thoughts, challenge them, and rewrite the
negative thinking that lies behind them.
D. Routes to Relaxation
1. Relaxation is the physical and mental state opposite that of stress.
2. Relaxation techniques may alter brain chemistry such as increasing the
levels of pleasure-inducing chemicals in the brain.
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a. Progressive relaxation works by intentionally increasing and then
decreasing tension in the muscles.
b. Visualization or guided imagery involves creating mental pictures that
calm you down and focus your mind.
c. Biofeedback is a method of obtaining information about some
physiological activity occurring in the body.
E. Meditation and Mindfulness
1. Meditation activates the sections of the brain in charge of the autonomic
nervous system.
2. Meditation may be particularly helpful for people dealing with stress-
related medical conditions.
3. There is no right way to meditate.
4. Mindfulness is “an awareness that emerges by paying attention
deliberately in the present to an experience as it happens moment by
moment.”
5. Psychological benefits of mindfulness include greater self-compassion and
decreased absent-mindedness, difficulty regulating emotions, fear of
emotion, worry, and anger.
6. Mindfulness benefits individuals suffering from chronic pain,
fibromyalgia, cancer, anxiety disorders, depression, and the stresses of
everything from prison life to medical school.
F. Yoga
1. Yoga is defined as a union of mind, body, and spirit.
2. Yoga eases conditions such as lower-back pain, migraine, asthma, and
hypertension and has been proven to reduce anxiety and cortisol levels in
those with moderate levels of stress.
3. Yoga may lower harmful compounds associated with stress that increase
inflammation.
G. Resilience
1. Adversity—whether in the form of a traumatic event or chronic stress—
has different effects on individuals.
2. Various factors that enable individuals to thrive in the face of adversity
include:
a. An optimistic attitude
b. Self-efficacy
c. Stress inoculation
d. Secure personal relationships
e. Spirituality or religiosity
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VIII. Stress Prevention: Taking Control of Your Time
Symptoms of poor time management include rushing, chronic inability to make
choices or decisions, fatigue or listlessness, constantly missed deadlines, not
enough time for rest or personal relationships, and a sense of being overwhelmed
by demands and details.
A. Time Management
1. Schedule your time.
2. Develop a game plan.
3. Identify time robbers.
4. Make the most of classes.
5. Develop an efficient study style.
6. Focus on the task at hand.
7. Turn elephants into hors d’oeuvres.
8. Keep your workspace in order.
B. Overcoming Procrastination
1. Procrastinators reported more health-related symptoms, more stress, and
more visits to health care professionals than non-procrastinators.
2. The three most common types of procrastination are putting off
unpleasant things, putting off difficult tasks, and putting off tough
decisions.
3. To overcome procrastination: do what you like least first; build time into
your schedule for interruptions, unforeseen problems, and unexpected
events; establish ground rules for meeting your own needs; and learn to
“Just do it”.
Key Terms
biofeedback
burnout
distress
eustress
holistic
homeostasis
meditation
microaggression
microassaults
microinsults
microinvalidations
mindfulness
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
progressive relaxation
stress
stress response
stressor
tend and befriend
visualization, or guided imagery