Stress

• Stressors are the factor that trigger stress . may be chemical or biological in nature .
• 1. physiological stress = excessive exercise , lack of sleep and rest , chronic pain , injury
• 2. environmental stress = different kinds of pollution , extreme temperature , crowding or isolation
• 3. social stressors = in family domain , it includes , break-up of intimate relationships , lack of healthy relationships with parents .

  in personal domain , it includes , low self esteem , frustration , anger .
• 4. psychological stressors = the situations that we cannot manage according to social expectations
• General Adaptation Syndrome = 1. Alarm Stage = in the stage , the organism is suddenly exposed to the threatening and unfamiliar stimulus . this phase involves the immediate reaction to the stimulus . the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system gets activated and prepares the body for extensive action . so , there is increase in blood pressure , heartbeat , glucose level and release of a hormone named Adrenaline .
• Resistance stage is the stage after the initial level of arousal, where the body tunes up fast to react.
• Secretion of adrenaline during the resistance stage mobilizes glucose, providing the energy for fight or flight.
• Symptoms that had appeared in the previous stage due to the suddenness of stimulus, disappear in the resistance stage as the first stage of shock has passed and the organism now knows that the stressor exists.
• During the resistance stage, the organism starts to think of ways to cope up with the changes brought about by the stimulus to attain normality again, indicating an increase in power of resistance.
• The body is not able to cope effectively with a new stressor at this time during the resistance stage.
• 3. exhaustion stage = if the exposure to the stress persists , gradually the body's resistance breaks down . The resources that help the body to fight depletes continuously . Thus the final stage of exhaustion sets in . if this stage prolongs , it results in burnout . In this stage , the body's capacity to respond to stressors collapse . due to increased level of corticol , the person may not be able to ward off diseases . he or she becomes sick or may even die .
• COGNITIVE APPRAISAL MODEL OF STRESS = 1. primary appraisal stage - individuals primarily try to judge the stressor or situation , they are facing and its probable influence on them . may give rise to three alternative evaluations - a) this is not important , b) this is good , c) this is threatening to my well-being . The first two evaluations do not let them perceive the situation as stressful but the last one does .
• the primary cognitive appraisal classifies the stressful situation either as harmful or challenging or threatening . Harmful situation indicates the level of damage that has already been done by an event . If a situation seems threatening , the individual experiences stress considering future damages that may be brought on by the situation . if the situation seems challenging , a positive stress develops within the individual , he is more confident to take adaptive response to overcome the stressful situation
• if the situation is seen as harmless , it means that the individual has already dealt with a similar situation and has developed the resources to cope with it .
• 2. secondary appraisal stage = this stage is not just a consequence of the primary stage . instead it occurs simultaneously with the primary stage or as the cause behind the occurrence of primary appraisal . it involves the person's perception of how he can deal with the situation . either the person thinks he can deal with it effectively by thinking of various effective coping strategies . or they evaluate the situation negatively and resort to ineffective ways of coping or managing stress
• EXTERNAL FACTORS OF STRESS = 1. stressful life events - any major life event which occurs leads to stress within the individual . The individual who is experiencing marked changes or has experiences changes in the recent past is vulnerable to physical and psychological problems . Holmes and Rahe and Dube , attached great importance to the factor of major life events that lead to stress . These events include , losing of job , divorce , academic failure , etc .
• sometimes they are unable to search a proper way to cope with this change in a manageable time frame . this may hamper his normal functioning at the professional and personal level .
• Minor hassles of daily life are events that trouble us and jeopardize our mental peace, often due to their repetitive or persistent nature.
• This type of stress ranges from very general, common problems to very specific and rare problems of daily life.
• These hassles may include quarrels with friends or spouse over petty issues, obtaining poor marks in examinations, health worries.
• Although these hassles seem unimportant, their persistent nature chips away at our resources.
• Stress effects the immune system by draining off the resources of the person, highly disturbing his complex immune system.
• The immune system constitutes the virtue by which the body is able to recognize and destroy potentially harmful agents such as bacteria, viruses and other infection producing germs and cancerous cells.
• Foreign elements that enter our body are called antigens.
• When antigens enter the body, a type of white blood cells called lymphocytes begin to multiply.
• Some lymphocytes, called T-cells, attack the antigens and often destroy them by engulfing them.
• These lymphocytes also destroy the body's own cells that have been infected or become cancerous.
• Other lymphocytes, called B-cells, produce antibodies which are chemical substances that neutralize the antigens.
• 2. causes hypertension - also referred to as high blood pressure indicates that the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated . it is a dangerous , silent killer . the risk is that it is not always identified by any particular symptom . it slowly damages the various organs such as kidneys , heart , brain, eyes .
• sustained high blood pressure leads to heart problems , stroke , cerebral hemorrhage , poor vision , etc . people experiencing high levels of stress generally are at a greater risk for having hypertension . the body secretes a surge of hormones in response to stress . these hormones constrict the blood vessels thereby raising blood pressure . often these persons resort to an unhealthy lifestyles like drinking alcohol , poor sleeping habits , etc .
• 3. cardiac problems -type a personality linked to experiencing high levels of stress culminating to heart problems . they are target oriented , competitive , try to achieve more than others , tend to judge themselves by the amount of success , money , assets and friends they have . their levels of excitement , anger and tension are also always high . all these traits create a lot of pressure on them .