1. Chapter 10 Coping with Stress
A Wellness Way of Life
Ninth Edition
Robbins/Powers/Burgess
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2. Chapter 10 Objectives After reading this chapter, you will be able to:
Define the terms, stress, stressor, and stress response.
Explain the three stages of the stress response.
Define and give examples of eustress, distress, optimal stress, acute stress, and chronic stress.
Explain how perception and control are involved in stress.
On the Life Event Stress Test, measure the number of life changes you have encountered this year and be able to predict your susceptibility to a stress-related illness.
Explain the difference between daily hassles and daily uplifts and how each affects overall health.
Describe six harmful effects of too much stress.
Contrast Type A, Type B, Type C and Type D personalities.
Identify four questions that can be asked to manage and modify angry/hostile behavior.
List at least six strategies for managing stress.
Define and list at least five benefits of the relaxation response.
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3. Stress
Stress: nonspecific response of the human organism to any demand made upon it.
Stressor: factor causing stress.
Acute stress: body’s response to imminent danger – most common type.
Chronic stress: caused by prolonged physical or emotional stress, more than can be coped with.
Optimal stress: stress is intense enough to motivate and physically prepare us to perform well but not enough to cause harm.
Distress: negative stress
Eustress: positive stress
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4. Stress and the Relationship to Health Performance
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Stress and the Relationship to Health Performance
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5. Three-Stage Stress Response
Regardless of the cause, the reaction to stressor is both psychological and physiological and leads to the stress response.
Alarm Reaction: fight or flight physiological and psychological responses appear.
Resistance: body tries to cope with the fight or flight reaction through organ systems. If the resistance stage is maintained, it can lead to stress-related disease.
Exhaustion: resistance eventually fails and signs of alarm reappear. Disease and disability can result.
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6. Perception and Control
Whether a particular stressor causes a negative reaction depends on whether the person perceives that stressor as being negative.
Some people’s problems are related to faulty perceptions.
Control is a major factor. The perception of not having control is very stressful.
People who handle stress best tend to control their lives and look for active solutions to the problems and circumstances of their lives.
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7. Ways to Gain Control Over Your Life
Recognize and understand what causes your stress.
Make healthy lifestyle decisions.
Learn and implement time management skills.
Learn when to say no.
Regularly practice relaxation techniques and employ often the other stress-coping strategies found in the chapter.
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8. Harmful Effects of Stress
Psychosomatic disease: physical ailment that is mentally induced.
The following can be developed by stress:
Hypertension
Stroke
Cardiovascular disease
Ulcers
Migraine headaches
Tension headaches
Addictions
Cancer
Allergies
Asthma
Hay fever
Rheumatoid arthritis
Backache
Depression
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9. Psychoneuroimmunology and Stress
Specialized branch of medicine that studies the mind-body connection.
Chronic negative emotions deplete the immune system.
Chronic stress and stress perceptions can damage the immunity system.
Managing our stress is paramount. What we think and feel can affect our physical and psychological health.
Stress management techniques that calm the mind and shift negative thinking can be helpful.
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10. Cell Division and Telomeres
Telomeres, found on the strands of DNA that make up our chromosomes, are like the little plastic tips covering the ends of shoelaces that keep the strands from unraveling.
The telomeres of people that have chronic stress are almost 50% shorter.
Once the telomere is gone, the DNA begins to fray and cannot be used, ultimately contributing to aging.
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11. Daily Hassles and Uplifts
Daily hassles are the events or interactions in your daily life that you find bothersome, annoying or negative.
Daily hassles may be more detrimental to your health than major negative life events.
Daily uplifts are positive events that make us feel good and can reverse the negative effects of daily hassles.
A balance between hassles and uplifts, or allowing yourself to feel more uplifts, can be the key to better wellness.
Pay attention to the uplifts. Allow yourself to feel happy – even about small things.
Make a list of your hassles. What can you avoid or delete? Make a list of your uplifts. How can you notice more blessings?
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12. Personality Type Type A
Stressed, hurried, angry, hostile, organized, on time.
Body produces an extra amount of stress hormones.
Take the positive qualities and reduce anger and hostility.
Type B
Procrastinate, weight gain, creative, laid back, no worries.
Take the good and reduce putting off responsibilities.
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13. Personality Types Type D
Distressed personality with negative emotions.
Tends to be depressed, anxious, and insecure.
Exercise, relaxation and a healthy diet can help.
The Hot Reactor
Produce a large amount of harmful catecholamines when stressed that damage the heart and increase risk for sudden heart attack.
Faulty perceptions of stressor – perceive nearly every stressor as life and death.
Could be any personality type.
Reframing, thought stopping, and relaxation are important.
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14. Anger / Hostility Behavior Modification Techniques
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Ask 4 questions:
Is this situation really important?
Is this anger appropriate for this situation?
Is this action modifiable?
Is this situation worth dying for?
Reframing thought is also an excellent way to calm hot, angry reactions to stress.
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15. Other Stress Reduction Tips
Remind yourself that you are not in charge of everything or everyone.
Identify things that cause you stress and how to get around them.
Complete one task at a time and allow yourself to feel good about getting it done before moving on.
Plan to allow for extra time to do things and get places.
Say “NO”!
Live within your budget.
Worry about only the things you can control.
Weed out trivial things in your life. Unclutter your life.
Live in the present.
Journal the things you are thankful for each day.
SLOW DOWN!
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16. The Stress-Resistant, Hardy Person
Type C personalities are hardy and possess the following five traits.
Control – internal control of self.
Commitment – to meaningful involvement in life.
Challenge – is an opportunity rather than a threat.
Choices – lifestyle choices that enhance health. You always have a choice on how you react to life.
Connectedness – network of social support, helping and being helped by others.
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17. Stress Management Skills
How you perceive and manage the stressor is more important than the amount of stress.
Exercise
Relaxation techniques
Lifestyle changes
Reframing
Laughter and humor
Creating a memory bank
Avoid negative coping methods – drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, sex, shopping, gambling, violence, etc.
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18. Exercise
Aerobic exercise promotes health and energy and is a powerful antidote for stress, anxiety, and even moderate depression.
Many physicians prescribe exercise instead of medications or tranquilizers.
Exercise aids in the resistance phase of the stress response.
Exercise is a natural way to relax and renew energy.
Exercise can change brain chemistry.
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19. Relaxation Techniques
Practice the following relaxation techniques to find the one that you feel most comfortable using and that works for you.
Meditation
Autogenic training and imagery
Jacobson’s Progressive Relaxation
Abdominal breathing
Hatha Yoga
Massage
Biofeedback Training
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20. Lifestyle Change Eat a healthy diet Practice time management
Avoid alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes
Get 7-9 hours of restful sleep
Develop satisfying relationships
Learn when to seek the help and support of others
Schedule “Me Time” and listen to music.
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21. Reframing
Consciously reinterpreting a situation in a more positive light.
Reframe life’s stumbling blocks into challenges.
Look on the bright side, take control of your reactions, learn to be an optimist.
Optimists have higher hardiness scores.
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22. Laughter and Humor
Can provide psychological relief from tension, anxiety, anger, hostility, and emotional pain.
Laughing is internal jogging as it causes endorphins to be released in the brain. It helps relax the blood vessels and blood circulation.
It provides a greater sense of control, lowers stress hormones, and improves immune function.
Try to see the humor in everyday situations and don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself.
Avoid humor that is at someone else’s expense.
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23. Create a Memory Bank
Happiness comes from noticing and enjoying the little things in life.
Savor special experiences of your life and store them in your memory bank.
Journaling will help you remember them.
Allow yourself to remember pleasant things and feel happy.
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24. Rx for Action
Think of an act of kindness and then do it for a stranger.
Get 8 hours of sleep tonight.
Go to a humorous or uplifting movie or get a video/DVD of one.
Reflect on the meaningful people in your life. Connect with two of them today via , telephone, or letter.
Watch a sunset tonight and/or a sunrise tomorrow.
Get your study area organized.
Write in a journal. Record the best things that have happened to you this week.
Volunteer your services to a worthy project/group that interests you.
Arrive early to every class/job and all appointments tomorrow.
Take a break from ing/texting.
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25. What Do You Think? What are your most common stressors?
What creates eustress for you, and what creates distress?
How could you change or shift your perceptions of your stressors?
What are your daily hassles and daily uplifts? How could you decrease the hassles and/or increase the uplifts?
Have you ever experienced harmful effects from stress?
What is your personality type?
What is the best strategy for reducing stress for you? How often do you practice it?
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26. Questions?
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