Stress and Coping Mechanisms

Locus of Control

• Locus of control is how much responsibility we take

Interventions

• Interventions are activities to prevent a stressor from resulting in negative consequences, such as psychological discomfort, anxiety, illness, and disease

Coping with a Stressor

• Stress is the result of a demand that exceeds available resources
• Coping is engaging in a behavior or thought to respond to a demand
• Task-oriented coping involves finding a better way to do the task
• Emotion-focused coping involves managing one's feelings and/or accepting that the task is beyond one's talent

Categories of Appraisal

• Primary appraisal judges how much of a threat is involved and how important the outcome is
• Secondary appraisal determines whether resources needed to meet the demand are available
• Reappraisal evaluates whether the response made to a demand/threat was effective

Self-Efficacy

• Self-efficacy is confidence in the ability to manage a demand/threat
• Outcome efficacy is the availability of an effective strategy to manage a demand/threat
• Personal efficacy is successfully employing a strategy

A Model of Stress

• Cognitive appraisal: Interpretation of a stressor
• Emotional arousal: Fear, anger, and insecurity
• Physiological arousal: Increase in serum cholesterol, respiratory and heart rates, muscle tension, blood pressure, and blood glucose
• Consequences: Poor performance, poor interpersonal relationship, and illness
• Stress models can have many feedback loops
• The consequence of stress can become a new stressor and start a new feedback loop

Setting Up Roadblocks

• Intervention involves setting up roadblocks at various points on the stress theory model
• The model includes sequential phases, with each phase dependent upon the previous phase
• Cognitive restructuring or medications can be used as roadblocks in the initial stage
• Relaxation techniques keep emotional reactions from leading to prolonged physiological arousal
• Physical activity can effectively block the continuation of stress after physiological arousal has occurred

Comprehensive Stress Management: An Introduction

• This includes intervention at all phases of the stress theory model
• Several means of intervening are used at each phase
• Elimination of stress is not recommended
• Attempts to perform within optimal levels of stress

Trainable Skills to Effectively Manage Stress

• Most effective methods include prevention, like planning to avoid stressors and source management, like reducing or eliminating the source of the stress
• Least effective methods include relaxation, like meditation or diaphragmatic breathing, and thought management, like reinterpreting stressful thoughts to be less stressful

Eustress

• Eustress is stress that results in positive consequences
• Eustress allows personal growth and is beneficial to the person

Taking Control

• Managing stress means exercising control rather than giving up control
• Individuals can decide to control or not control the stress response
• Practicing specific techniques means taking control and assuming responsibility
• Employing stress management techniques in a stressful way is dysfunctional

Making a Commitment

• Start immediately
• Determine a contract with yourself
• Include rewards for accomplishments
• Plan punishments for not fulfilling the contract
• Set realistic goals

The Stress Diary

• This diary must include seven components for each day: Stressors, reactions, means of coping, better means of coping, relaxation techniques tried, effectiveness of these techniques, and sensations during the day
• What stressors do you frequently experience?
• Which routine stressors can you eliminate and how?
• How does your body typically respond to stressors?
• How does your psyche typically respond to stressors?
• What do you typically do when confronted with a stressor?
• Are there any coping techniques that you use more than others?
• Do these techniques work for you or against you?
• Are there any coping techniques that you believe would be helpful but you don't use often enough?
• Are any particular relaxation techniques more effective for you than others?
• Summarize what you will do as a result of recording and analyzing this diary.

Nutrition and Stress

• Stress leads to poor nutritional habits
• This results in eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia
• Stress leads to poor nutritional habits that result in eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia
• Maintaining a balanced diet is essential to staying nutritionally healthy
• In the United States, 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder
• People with eating disorders often have obsessional, perfectionistic, and anxious personality styles
• Get help if you or someone you know has one of these conditions

Balanced Diet

• Should contain a variety of nutrients
• Make half your grains whole
• Eat at least 3 ounces of whole-grain cereals, breads, crackers, rice, or pasta every day
• 1 ounce is about 1 slice of bread, about 1 cup of breakfast cereal, or half a cup of cooked rice, cereal, or pasta
• Vary your veggies
• Eat more dark-green veggies, like broccoli, spinach, and other dark leafy greens
• Eat more orange vegetables, like carrots and sweet potatoes
• Eat more dry beans and peas, like pinto beans, kidney beans, & lentils
• Focus on fruits
• Eat a variety of fruit, including fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruit
• Go easy on fruit juices.
• Get your calcium-rich foods
• Choose low-fat or fat-free milk, yogurt, and other milk products
• Choose lactose-free products or other calcium sources, such as fortified foods and beverages, if you don't/can't consume milk
• Go lean with protein
• Choose low-fat or lean meats and poultry
• Bake it, broil it, or grill it.
• Vary your protein routine and choose more fish, beans, peas, nuts, and seeds
• For a 2,000-calorie diet, you need 6 oz grains, 2.5 cups of vegetables, 2 cups of fruits, 3 cups of milk, and 5.5 ounces of meat and beans every day
• Get 3 cups of milk every day, and 2 cups for kids aged 2 to 8

Healthy Diet

• Healthy foods should be low in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, and sugar

Foods to Limit

• Foods that are high in saturated and trans fats and cholesterol
• Processed and fried foods
• High-fat milk and milk products
• Baked products and snack foods
• Drinks with high-fructose corn syrup
• Foods fried in hydrogenated shortening
• Foods and drinks with added sugars

Nutrition and Stress

• Reducing saturated fats and increasing fiber in the diet reduces the risk of heart disease and certain cancers
• Body mass reflects a person's ill health if he or she is overweight
• Desirable body mass index (BMI) is between 18.5 and 24.9
• Eating five or more servings of a variety of vegetables and fruits daily helps with eating for cancer prevention

Eating for Cancer Prevention

• Choosing whole grains over processed grains
• Limiting the intake of processed and red meats
• Carrying a limited amount of body fat

Diet-Related Chronic Diseases

• Cardiovascular disease
• Hypertension
• Diabetes
• Cancer
• Osteoporosis

Pseudo Stressors

• Food substances that produce a stress response
• Known as sympathomimetics
• Mimic sympathetic nervous system stimulation
• Create a pseudo stress response in which the stressor elicits a stress response
• Caffeine is a sympathomimetic agent

Vitamins and Minerals

• Chronic stress depletes vitamins from bodies, especially B complex vitamins and vitamin C
• Vitamin deficiency can cause anxiety, insomnia, muscular weakness, and stomach upset
• Stress interferes with calcium absorption in the intestines
• Stress increases the excretion of potassium, zinc, copper, and magnesium
• Salt increases blood pressure and can increase to a dangerous level during stress and caffeine is a sympathomimetic agent

Relationship of Sugar with Stress

• Vitamin B is needed to break down sugar
• Hypoglycemia is a condition of low blood sugar preceded by elevated levels of blood sugar
• Hypoglycemia produces an intense stress response & chronic stress burns out the beta cells resulting in reduced production of insulin

Eating to Manage Stress

• Eating a balanced diet, guided by the food pyramid
• Limiting the amount of saturated fats and increasing the amount of fiber
• Adding cruciferous vegetables and limiting alcohol
• Being more realistic about one's weight
• Limiting the intake of caffeinated beverages and not using tobacco
• Supplementing one's diet with vitamins, especially C and B complex
• One should limit their intake of foods containing sugar, processed flour, and sodium

Noise and Stress

• Noise can raise blood pressure, increase heart rate, and lead to muscle tension and job dissatisfaction
• Noise results in irritation, headaches, increased blood pressure, and sleep problems
• Stress responses develop at 85 decibels & prolonged exposure to sounds above 90 decibels result in hearing damage

Noise Reduction

• Use cotton or ear plugs if your job requires constant exposure to loud noises
• Sit as far away as possible from the performers at loud rock, symphony, or band concerts
• Put drapes over windows to reduce street noise
• Choose acoustical tile for ceilings and walls when building a house or adding a room
• Use carpeting or select an apartment with carpeting in all rooms adjacent to other units
• Keep noise-making appliances away from bedrooms, den, and living room

Soothing Noise

• Examples include, white noise, surf rolling onto the shore, birds chirping, wind rustling through the leave, & specific words

Life-Events Scale

• Holmes and Rahe developed a life-events scale for identifying unhealthy life events
• They used a social readjustment rating scale

Life Events and Stress

• Social support is a roadblock to stress
• Social support is the presence of significant others with whom to discuss stressors
• Stressor examples include vacation and marital separation
• Stressors require extra energy for adjustments to be made

Hassles and Chronic Stress

• Hassles are daily negative interactions with the environment
• Everyday hassles are more detrimental to health than major life events
• The absence of uplifts also relate to ill health
• Hassles are associated with depression, unhealthy eating, and tobacco and alcohol use

Success Analysis

• Success boosts one's self-esteem
• Success is multi-faceted & views on success vary from person to person
• Maximizing strengths and minimizing weaknesses help in becoming successful

Definitions of Success

• Being chosen by others
• Pleasing others
• Being helpful
• Achieving academically
• Achieving in sports activity
• Being the best
• Achieving in spite of obstacles and difficulty
• Learning a new skill
• Getting recognition from others
• Being happy

Patterns of Behavior

• Assertive: Acting to satisfy one's own needs, but not at the expense of others' rights
• Nonassertive: Giving up what one is entitled to in order not to upset another person
• Aggressive: Acting in a way to get what one is entitled to but at the expense of others' rights

Assertiveness

• Helps to resolve conflicts and communicate more effectively in response to verbal abuse
• Assertion theory is based on the premise that every person has certain basic rights
• People are taught that acting consistently with these rights is socially or morally unacceptable & nonverbal
• Body language needs to be consistent with verbal assertiveness

Body Language

• Standing straight
• Facing the other person directly
• Maintaining eye contact
• Speaking in a clear and steady voice
• Speaking fluently, without hesitation.

Nonassertive Body Language

• Lack of eye contact
• Looking down or away
• Swaying and shifting of weight
• Whining and hesitancy when speaking

Nonverbal Aggressive Behavior

• Leaning forward with glaring eyes
• Pointing a finger at the other person
• Shouting
• Clenching the fist
• Putting hands on hips and wagging the head

DESC Form

• Formula for verbally expressing assertiveness consisting of a description of the situation, expression of feelings, specification of preferred change, consequences of whether or not a change is made

Steps in Conflict Resolution

• Active listening; paraphrasing the speaker's words and feelings
• Called reflective listening
• Identifying the speaker's position
• Exploring alternative solutions

Requirements for Successful Communication

• Sender must be knowledgeable, trustworthy, and believable
• Sender of a message must be familiar with the preferences of the receiver
• Message must be credible and should include evidence, if possible
• The medium through which the message is communicated should be effective
• For the message to be received as intended, the sender should know a lot about the receiver

Nonverbal Communication

• Communication by body posture
• People show appreciation and affection, revulsion, and indifference with expressions and gestures
• Individual's sexuality is communicated by the way he/she dresses, walks, and stands

Verbal Communication

• Ensures that nonverbal and verbal messages are consistent
• Plan time to talk
• Allow sufficient time
• Avoid distractions
• Approach the other person's expression of feelings
• Risk really describing your thoughts and feelings
• Approach with one goal: Improve your relationship
• Listen and paraphrase
• Begin with a point of agreement
• Use "and" instead of "but" as it adds rather than discounts
• Use "I" statements to avoid defensiveness
• Avoid "why" questions as they can be perceived as criticisms.

Emotional Intelligence

• Ability to accurately identify and understand one's own emotional reactions and those of others, as well as regulate emotions
• Emotional intelligence is important in developing and maintaining relationships

Goleman's Model of Emotional Intelligence

• Accurately perceive emotions in oneself and others
• Use emotions to facilitate thinking
• Understand emotional meanings
• Manage emotions

Developing Emotional Intelligence

• Emotional intelligence can be improved at any age
• Programs have been developed to do that & are described on the website of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations
• Improving emotional intelligence takes a long time of concentrated effort
• Goleman states that modifying the neural circuits to extend deep into the nonverbal parts of the brain means emotional intelligence training must be experiential, usually involving a long and sometimes difficult process requiring much practice and support

Technostress

• Reaction to technology and how our lives are changing as a result
• Technology eliminates personal down time that makes a person feel overwhelmed and stressed

Polyphasic Behavior

• Type A behavior pattern
• Sign of stress & affects relationships
• Occurs when more than one form of technology is employed at a time

Solutions to Technostress

• Limiting the use of technology
• Reserving specific time for checking mails & text messages
• Refraining from answering phone calls & text messages purposefully when interacting with family or friends

Cyberbullying

• Behavior performed through electronic or digital media by individuals or groups who repeatedly communicate hostile or aggressive messages intended to inflict harm or discomfort on others
• Many forms, among them sending, spreading, posting, and stealing information

Cyberbullying Effects

• Cyberbullying has catastrophic effects and can cause a decline in academic performance, an increase in dropping out of school, physical violence, and even suicide

Responding to Cyberbullying

• If the bullying occurs on a social media site, the site should be contacted
• Contact student services on campus;
• Contact the campus department of it security;
• Let campus security know of the cyberbullying
• Contact law enforcement (local and state) and keep the evidence

Time Management Techniques

• Analyze how you spend your time
• Set daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and long-range goals
• Prioritize your goals and your activities
• Use A, B, C lists: time management technique in which tasks are prioritized
• Schedule your activities into your day and maximize your rewards by organizing time
• Say "no." Delegate work that does not need your personal attention
• When you first pick something up, be prepared to complete working on it then
• Use the circular file for junk mail; keep interruptions to a minimum, and invest time initially

Social Support

• Being accepted, being loved, or belonging
• Tangible: Money or use of a car
• Emotional: Love or caring support
• Informational: Facts or advice
• It is provided by family members, friends, or partners

Managing Stress through Social Support

• Stressors' impacts can be buffered, managed, or prevented with social support
• Direct effect theory: views social support as a means of preventing stressors from occurring in the first place
• Stress buffering theory states that social support helps after a stressor is encountered

Effects of Social Support on Health

• Linked to quality of life
• Relates to life satisfaction in urban youth
• Improves the immune system's effectiveness
• Decreases cortisol secretion during stress
• Increases HIV/AIDS patients' adherence to their medication regimens
• Helps alleviate depressive symptoms
• Decreases the rate of abandonment of children with down syndrome

Perceptions

• Cognitive interpretations of people, things, and events within one's world
• Relates to the inner self
• Include perceptions of events and one's own self-worth

Selective Awareness

• Being selectively aware of the positive aspect of each situation
• Be aware of the good and bad sides of a situation
• Deemphasize the disturbing features of a stressor

Focus

• Control thoughts
• Be more critical than supportive
• In any situation there are both good and bad elements, one can focus on the situation's positive aspects
• People restrict themselves from enjoying the pleasures of life due to routine and habituation
• Putting minor stressors into perspective and focusing on the positive is critical
• Focus on things about which to be grateful to develop an attitude of gratitude

Optimism and Health

• Optimism keeps people healthy and stress-free
• Pessimism contributes to poor health
• Humor plays an important role in optimism and captures interest and helps one learn more about stress

Humor

• Increases cheerfulness and is can be an effective means of coping with stress, by changing psychological and physiological well-being, and leading to relaxation
• Helps in overcoming posttraumatic stress disorder & can improve the health of the elderly
• Used inappropriately, humor can cause distress to others

Type A Behavior Pattern

• Named and defined by Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman
• Cluster of behaviors associated with the development of coronary heart disease
• Includes competitive drive, aggressiveness, impatience, time urgency, free-floating hostility, and insecurity

Type B Behavior Pattern

• Behavior that exhibits no free-floating hostility or sense of time urgency and isn't excessively competitive
• Opposite of Type A

Research Findings on Type A Patterns

• Show that Type A personalities tend to experience more job stress
• Type A hospital employees also had more health problems than other hospital employees
• Suffer from coronary heart disease and obstruction of the coronary vessels
• Take longer to recover from stressful events than Type Bs

Type A Behaviors

• Hostility and anger

Modification of Type A behavior involves

• Rewarding Type B behavior, while ignoring or punishing Type A behavior
• Setting weekly, realistic, and attainable goals
• Listing behaviors that one wants to eliminate
• Separating needs from wants
• Slowing down and not taking things in a hurry

Self-Esteem

• How highly one regards oneself and is related to drug abuse, irresponsible sexual behavior, and other unhealthy activities Self-esteem is learned through societal standards, friends, and family
• Leads to the development of stress-related illnesses
• Self-efficacy helps in building self-esteem, or the belief that one can be successful at doing something
• It helps in recovering from posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and occupational stress

Other Behavior Patterns

• Type C is associated with the development of cancer and is characterized by denial, suppression of emotions, and pathological niceness
• Type D is associated with the development of and death from coronary heart disease, is characterized by negative emotion and inhibited self-expression

Increasing Self-Esteem

• Identifying aspects to improve, honest feedback from friends is helpful
• Identifying aspects to improve, being open about one's thoughts, feelings, passions, and frustrations is helpful

Locus of Control

• Perception of the amount of personal control one has of life events
• External locus of control: Perception that one has minimum control over life events
• Internal locus of control: Perception that one has maximum control over life events
• People can have these different loci in different areas
• Cocreator perception deficiency (CCPD): Belief that one is either the victim of circumstances or the master of circumstances, which are both faulty perceptions

Anxiety

• Unrealistic fear
• Results in physiological arousal and behaviors to avoid or escape the anxiety-provoking stimulus
• Types include test anxiety, trait anxiety, & state anxiety

Disorders

• Panic disorder: Feelings of terror that strikes people repeatedly without warning and makes people numb, sweaty, and weak
• Social phobia: Overwhelming fear and self-consciousness in everyday situations, experienced in formal and informal situations
• Specific phobia: Intense fear of a specific situation that is harmless

Coping Techniques for Anxiety Disorders

• Cognitive restructuring: Viewing an anxiety-provoking event as less threatening
• This helps in the accurate assessment of a situation by measuring the consequences or outcomes

ABCDE Technique

• Taught to all ages that examines irrational beliefs, with components including Activating agent, Belief system, Consequences, Disputing irrational beliefs, & Effect

Resiliency

• Ability to identify & respond to challenges, make use of strengths and assets, & respond to challenges to grow
• Resilience is based on knowing your strengths

Resilient Traits

• Happiness
• Optimism
• Self-determination
• Creativity
• Self-control
• Gratitude
• Forgiveness
• Humility

Hardiness

• State of mind that includes commitment, control, & challenge
• Hardy people can withstand stressors

Spiritual Health

• Adherence to religious doctrine and the ability to discover and express one's purpose in life
• Spiritual wellness helps people experience love, joy, peace, fulfillment, achieve & help others
• Spiritual health reduces stress and improves general health, decreases chronic pain, and enhances self-awareness

Religion

• Social concept that involves beliefs, practices, and rituals related to the sacred
• Believes in the concept of life after death and proscribes rules to guide behavior

Spirituality

• Personal responsibility & individuals define for themselves the rules to live by
• Spirituality helps people behave spiritually, even without organized religion
• Religion & spirituality are used as interventions to improve health and alleviate stress

Spirituality and Health

• Living a spiritual life correlates with healthy behaviors & reduces psychological distress
• Spiritual behaviors can reduce risk of physical illness, lower rates of cigarette smoking and mortality
• Spirituality can improve health of employees

Spirituality and College Students

• Greatest degree of spiritual growth occurs when one actively engages in introspective activities
• Charitable involvement helps to promote spiritual growth
• Growth in equanimity increases students' grade point averages, leadership skills, and well-being

Control Theory

• Degree of control over a stressor, is proportional to the well-being of the individual
• Primary control: Attempts to change a situation
• Secondary control: Attempts to control oneself or one's emotional reactions.

Approaches to Increasing Control

• Self-directing: Individual perceives him- or herself as responsible for the outcome
• Collaborative: Individual works with God to control the situation
• Deferring: Entire situation is turned over to God
• Pleading: Individual begs God to intervene

Social Support Theory

• Participation in spiritual groups brings one in close contact with others of similar mind
• Sense of affiliation helps ease feelings of anger and anxiety

Placebo Theory

• People who believe that something will help them often report that something helps
• Double-blind studies: Research investigations in which neither the research subjects nor the data collectors are aware of who is in the control group and who is in the experimental group

Being Unforgiving

• Associated with brain activity consistent with stress, anger, and aggression; stress-related hormonal secretions; increase in blood pressure; blood chemistry consistent with a stress response, and negatively affects mental health

Forgiveness

• Sincere intention not to seek revenge or avoid the transgressor and replacing negative emotions with positive emotions
• Lowers anxiety, depression, stress, and blood cholesterol
• Associated with lower self-reported illness, less back pain, and spiritual well-being

Becoming More Forgiving

• Know you wish you could be forgiven and feeling gratituous for having recieved it

Volunteerism

• Spiritual activity with many benefits, including: a greater sense of civic responsibility, higher level of academic achievement, an increased commitment to helping others, enhanced critical thinking skills

Beneficial Health & Social Factors of Volunteerism

• Higher levels of happiness, life satisfaction, and self-esteem
• Increased social networks that serve as buffers, reduce disease risk, lower mortality, and help people cope with chronic illness

Effective Stress Management

• Having life purpose serves as helps focus on emotions, and creates problem solving coping techniques
• Accepting hard life things and colaborate to achieve goals
• Focus on spiritual health can create soulful & unique patterns of their spirit

Spiritual Disease

• Not behaving in alligment