TOPIC 3

• Stress is a negative emotional experience accompanied by predictable biochemical, physiological, cognitive and behavioural changes that are directed either towards altering the stressful event or accommodating its effects.
• Stressors are stressful events/episodes & can vary from one person to another.
• Chronic stress can lead to physiological reaction, strength of response, effects of chronic stress, excessive reaction to the same stressor, excessive duration, poor recovery, unbalanced stress, and psychophysiological changes.
• Robert Sapolsky discusses the psychology of stress and why zebras don't get stress.
• Ten strategies for building resilience include making connections, avoiding seeing crises as problems, accepting that change is part of living, moving towards your goals, taking decisive actions, looking for opportunities for self-discovery, nurturing a positive view of yourself, keeping things in perspective, and maintaining a hopeful outlook.
• Allostasis, as defined by Sterling & Eyer (1988), maintains stability (or homeostasis).
• Allostatic load is the wear & tear on the body due to repeated stress.
• The fight or flight response, as described by Cannon (1932), involves increased activity rate and increase in arousal such as heart palpitations, breathlessness, and nausea.
• The fight or flight response suggests that these physiological changes enabled individuals to escape from sources of stress or fight the situation.
• The General Adaptation Model (GAS), as described by Seley (1956), consists of three stages in the stress process: alarm stage, resistance, and exhaustion.
• Employees who experience burnout tend to suffer from depression, become irritable & bored.
• The inventory has been found to have reliability & validity.
• Depersonalization is more likely to occur when employees are not given choices to make decisions in the workplace.
• Work life Balance strategies include flexible working patterns, job sharing, working from home, child care facilities, fitness facilities.
• The benefits of Work Life Balance include increased morale, reduction in absenteeism, improved productivity, and improved quality of work and output.
• Burnout relates to those employees who are particularly dedicated to their work.
• Burnout is higher amongst less hardy personalities and those with high external locus of control.
• Maslach et al proposed that burnout has 3 components: Emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and reduced self-accomplishment.
• Work life Balance isn’t only about families and children, it’s about working ‘smart’ about being fresh enough to give all you need to both work and home, without jeopardising one for the other.
• Advanced burnout has the following characteristics: Lower energy, low self esteem and self efficacy & low job involvement, increased physical symptoms & social withdrawal, impact on job performance and ultimately job appraisals.
• Emotional exhaustion is also related to lack of opportunities in the workplace such as promotion.
• The quality of work deteriorates but the quantity may not.
• Maslach & Jackson (1986) developed an inventory to assess & measure burn out with four subscales: emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, reduced sense of accomplishment, and personal involvement.
• Employees with burnout can become argumentative with their co workers and may become negative.
• Burnout may occur where individuals generally feel insecure or where they do not have complete fulfillment in their lives outside of work.
• Overthinking, obsessive thoughts, rumination, feelings of helplessness, catastrophising, and individual differences related to personality type optimistic vs pessimistic are examples of impact of stress on mental health.
• Stress affects your brain and body in different ways, causing changes in emotions, sleep, and impacting health.
• Events that are imminent (medical results), unpredictable, ambiguous, personal role, potential risk or harm involved, and chronic stressors can be appraised in the Transactional Model of Stress.
• Some individuals may find it difficult to cope with the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, which could lead to stress, anxiety, changes in emotions and mood, sleep disturbance, and impact on those with pre-existing mental health or physical illnesses.
• The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health includes loss of control, concerns and fears for the future, and loss of sense of security.
• Primary appraisal in the Transactional Model of Stress involves determining if a situation is relevant or irrelevant, benign and positive, harmful and a threat, or harmful and a challenge.
• Stress has links to Brain, causing damage to hippocampus leading to memory impairment, increased rates of depression, and accelerated atherosclerosis process.
• Secondary appraisal in the Transactional Model of Stress involves considering the pros and cons of a situation.
• Johnston's model of stress-illness link suggests that stress leads to disease when an individual is exposed to a prolonged interaction of physiological, behavioural, and psychological factors.
• Stress has links to Immune system, causing down regulation linked to poorer healing, increased infection rates and cancer progression.
• Burnout is a common term for overwork, where employees become less interested in their jobs, emotionally exhausted, and their job performance can be seriously affected.
• The Transactional Model of Stress was proposed by Lazarus & Folkman in 1984.
• Chronic work stress can lead to changes in physiology, changes in behaviour, and potential damage to the Cardiovascular system.
• Stress also has links to Digestive system, causing ulcers, constipation, and irritable bowel syndrome.
• Stress has links to Heart, causing acceleration of atherosclerosis process, leading to Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), sudden cardiac death, and stroke.