This document provides an overview of stress, including definitions of stress, stressors, and the two types of stress - distress and eustress. It discusses common stressors for college undergraduates and daily hassles. Social factors of stress like poverty, job stress, and culture are examined. The concepts of burnout, acculturative stress, pressure, and frustrations are defined. The general adaptation syndrome and the autonomic nervous system are described. The document also explores how stress can impact health by affecting the immune system and potentially causing cancer, and defines acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
4. Define Stress:
• Physical, emotional, cognitive, and
behavioral responses to events that
are judged to be threatening or
challenging.
5. Define Stressors:
• Events that cause a stress reaction
(can come from within a source or
externally and can vary from mild to
severe)
6. Two Types of Stress:
• Distress- Unpleasant stressors
(Broken down car, health problems)
• Eustress- Stress about positive
events (high school graduation,
planning a wedding, getting a new
job)
7. What causes stress?
• All types of events can lead to stress.
Some examples on the SRRS are:
deaths in family, divorce, planning a
vacation, finding a job, beginning and
ending of school, Christmas, and
moving.
8. Most stressful events for undergrads?
• Death of close friend
• Finals week
• Flunking a class
• Financial problems
9. What are hassles?
• Daily annoyances such as losing
keys, minor disagreements, or
annoying neighbors
10. Social Factors of Stress:
• Poverty- With poverty usually comes other
burdens such as overcrowding, lack of medical
care, poor prenatal health, violence, increased
rate of illness, substance abuse and worrying
about meals.
• Job Stress- pay, workload, hours, conditions,
and lack of job security
• Culture- Our culture may also be a source of
stress: expectations, issues, and pressure.
11. When does burnout occur?
• Negative changes in thoughts, emotions, and
behavior as a result of prolonged stress or
frustration.
• Symptoms include:
– Extreme Dissatisfaction
– Pessimism
– Lowered Job Satisfaction
– Desire to Quit
12. What is Acculturative Stress?
• The stress resulting from the
need to change and adapt a
persons ways to the majority
culture.
13. 4 Types of Acculturation:
• Integration: keep original culture and form
positive relationship with members of
dominant culture
• Assimilation: Give up old ways and completely
adapt to new ways.
• Separation: Reject majority culture and
language. Socialize only with their group.
• Marginalization: not joining new culture or
leaving old. Living in the “margins” between
the two. Lack social support= very stressful
14. What is pressure?
• The experience produced by urgent demands
or expectations for a person’s behavior that
come from an outside source.
• Examples: pressure to get a job from parents
• Pressure to meet quota at work
• (reduces creativity, productivity, and interest)
15. What are frustrations?
• Daily annoyances that block
perceived goal
• Internal- wanted to be an engineer
and doing poorly in math
• External- Having wallet stolen and
not being able to pay bills
16. General Adaptation Syndrome
• Alarm- Body reacts to stress. Sympathetic
nervous system activated (increased heart
rate, blood pressure, and endorphins)
• Resistance- continue to operate under stress,
deep shallow breathes, may not feel pain
• Exhaustion- body resources depleted and
stress still occurs you will experience
exhaustion. Susceptible to stress related
diseases
17. ANS
• Sympathetic- body’s response to
stress (fight or flight response)
• Parasympathetic- When stress
ends parasympathetic calms body
and replenishes
18. TOTD: 1. How can stress lead to weight gain? 2.
Why do people possible hyperventilate when
stressed?
19. How does cortisol effect immune
system?
• Cortisol, released by adrenal
glands when stressed, can
suppress immune system and
it even continues after stress is
over.
20. Can stress cause cancer?
• Stress can suppress the
immune system and “natural
killer cells” that help attack
viruses and cancer cells.
Making it more likely for
cancer to progress.
21. Stress Disorders
• Acute Stress Disorder- Within 4 weeks of
traumatic event you experience anxiety,
dissociative symptoms, flashbacks or
“reliving” event, sleep disturbances. (62% of
hurricane Katrina survivors)
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder- Long-lasting
symptoms of sever stress and trauma (may
appear months or years after stressor such as
combat, loss of child, abuse, etc.)
22. TOTD: 3. What caused his PTSD?
4. What are his coping strategies?
