Module 4

• Stress


  A reaction of the mind and body to a stimulus that disturbs the well-being, state of calm, or equilibrium of a person
• Stressor


  The stimulus that triggers the stress response
• Types of stressors

  • Catastrophes
  • Significant life changes
  • Daily hassles
  • Ambient stressors
• Catastrophes


  • Large-scale events that affect people from large areas, can be natural or manmade (e.g. natural disasters, war, terrorist attacks)
• Significant life changes


  • Personal experiences that force an individual to make huge changes in their personal life (e.g. having a child, graduating college, moving home)
• Daily hassles


  • Everyday inconveniences and encounters of an individual, small but repetitive or episodic (e.g. running late, being stuck in traffic, forgetting keys)
• Ambient stressors


  • Stressors that run in the background, we don't normally think of them but they trigger a stress response without us knowing (e.g. pollution, crowd, noise)
• Stress is linked to development and progression of a variety of physical illnesses and diseases (e.g. heart disease, musculoskeletal disorders, common cold)
• General adaptation syndrome (GAS)


  The three-stage process that describes the physiological changes the body goes through when under stress
• Hans Selye


  • Medical doctor and researcher who came up with the theory of GAS
• Stages of GAS

  1. Alarm reaction

  2. Resistance

  3. Exhaustion
• Alarm reaction stage


  The initial symptoms the body experiences when under stress, including the "fight-or-flight" response
• Resistance stage


  The body begins to repair itself, releasing lower amounts of cortisol and normalizing heart rate and blood pressure, but remains on high alert
• Exhaustion stage


  The result of prolonged or chronic stress, where the body's physical, emotional, and mental resources are drained
• Coping


  The way people try to deal with problems, including the problem of handling the typically negative emotions stress produces
• Broad dimensions of coping

  • Problem-focused coping
  • Emotion-focused coping
  • Avoidance coping
• Problem-focused coping


  Dealing with the actual problems posed by a stressful situation, objective and geared toward fixing what is out of order
• Emotion-focused coping


  Considering the difficulties challenging the feeling states of the individual, aiming to comfort and soothe the stressed person
• Avoidance coping


  Ignoring the stressors or fantasizing being in a different non-stressful circumstance, which does not solve the issue or truly bring about true relaxation
• A "stress relief toolbox" is a list of healthy ways to relax and recharge, which can be implemented daily to keep stress levels in check
• Stress

  • Is a response to threat, and reacting on a certain stimuli
• Stressor

  • what make you stress
  • Stimuli that causes stress response
• Appraisal

  • Different interpretation of stress factors
• Amygdala

  • Part of the brain that processes fear
• Adrenaline

  • Adrenal gland releases this
  • ATP (adenosine triphosphate)
• Stressors

  Catastrophes

  • Large scale and very dangerous

  Significant Life Changes

  • Events that require us to make changes in our lives

  Daily Homeostasis

  • Everyday inconveniences

  Ambient

  • Affect us without us knowing
  • Can kill you without you knowing
• Walter Cannon

  • First to coin the term
  • Fight-or-flight response
• Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis

  • Our biological adaptation to stress
• Hormones

  • Chemical messengers
• Corticotropin

  • Signals pituitary gland to send a signal to adrenal gland
• Hans Selye

  General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

  • Different phases to which our body reacts to a stressor
• General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

  Phase 1

  • Alarm Reaction (Mobilize resources)

  Phase 2

  • Resistance (cope with stressor)

  Phase 3

  • Exhaustion (Reserve depleted)
• Chronic stress

  • It shrinks our brain
  • Nakakamatay
  • Causes stress eating
• Synapse - the site of transmission of electric nerve implulses between two nerve cells ( neurons)
• Stress - defined as a process of reaction to a stimulus that disturbs the well-being, state of calmness. Or equilibrium of a person
• Stressor - anything that induces a stress response
• Eustress - Refers to the positive stress

  • Motivate
  • Focuses Energy
  • Improves Performance
• Distress - Refers to the negative stress

  • cause anxiety
  • decreases performance
  • leads to mental and physical problems
• Catastrophes: These large-scale events that affects people from large areas and can be natural or manmade. Examples: natural disasters, war, and terrorist attacks, etc.
• Significant Life Changes: These are personal experiences that forces an individual to make a huge changes in his or her personal life. Example: having a child, graduating in college, moving to a new home, etc.