1 / 19

PSYC 1000

PSYC 1000. Lecture 45. Stress of Living. Stress can exist in day-to-day experiences Stress Pattern of responses an organism makes to stressors that disturb its equilibrium and tax or exceed its ability to cope

kiara
Download Presentation

PSYC 1000

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. PSYC 1000 Lecture 45

  2. Stress of Living • Stress can exist in day-to-day experiences • Stress • Pattern of responses an organism makes to stressors that disturb its equilibrium and tax or exceed its ability to cope • Stressor = stimulus event that places demand on an organism for some kind of adaptive response • Stress can be bad (distress) or good (eustress)

  3. Stress and Stressors • Stress • Not just stimulus or simple response • Appraisals and coping responses important (left) • Short-term stressors can be positive in that they motivate us • But in larger “doses”, stress debilitating

  4. Stress: Process by which people perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that are appraised as threatening or challenging

  5. Physiological Stress Reaction • Acute stress • Transient states of arousal with clear onset and offset patterns • E.g., midterm exam • Chronic stress • State of enduring arousal, continuing over time, in which demands are perceived as greater than the internal and external resources for dealing with them • E.g., demanding job

  6. Emergency Reactions • How do we respond to acute stress situations? • Fight-or-flight response • Walter Cannon argued that body prepares for “fighting” or “fleeing” based on actions of hypothalamus and pituitary gland • Tend-and-befriend response • Shelley Taylor argued responses specific to women • Tend to befriend others and broaden social networks

  7. The Stress Response System • General Adaptation Syndrome • Selye’s concept of body’s adaptive response to stress as composed of three stages • Alarm Reaction: peripheral arousal systems activated • Resistance: attempt to maintain normal functioning • Exhaustion: demands outstrip ability to cope • Model (next slide) • Burnout: physical, emotional and mental exhaustion brought on by persistent job-related stress • Chronic presence of stress hormones can compromise immune system • Linked to psychosomatic disorders

  8. Two-Track Stress Response System • 1. Sympathetic Nervous System: prompts release of stress hormones Epin. & NorEpin. (inner adrenal glands) • 2. Cerebral Cortex: prompts release of Glucocorticoid stress hormones (outer adrenal glands)

  9. Allostasis • the process of adaptation to acute stress, involving the output of stress hormones to restore homeostasis in the face of a challenge (Sterling and Eyer 1988). • “Allostatic load” refers to the price the body pays for being forced to adapt to adverse psychosocial or physical situations • Presence of too much stress • inefficient operation of the stress hormone response system

  10. Allostasis

  11. Allostatic Load

  12. Measuring Allostatic Load

  13. Cost of Allostatic Load

  14. Stressful Life Events • Catastrophic Events • Earthquakes, Combat stress, Floods • Significant Life Changes • Death of loved one, Divorce, Loss of job, Promotion • Changes decrease with age • Daily Hassles • Rush hour traffic, Long lines, Job stress, … • Holmes & Rahe: Life Events Inventory or Social Readjustment Rating Scale • Properties of stressors

  15. Stress (Canada, 1999)

  16. Holmes & Rahe (1967) • Self-rating: measures Life Change Units (LCUs) from experiences ranging from death of spouse to getting traffic ticket • 100 Judges rated events assuming Marriage = 500; then scores divided by 10 (note marriage = 50) • LCUs over past year summed to predict likelihood of stress related illness or accident Total LCU Score Chance of Illness or Accident Within 2 yrs below 150 35% 150 - 300 51% over 300 80%

  17. Death of a spouse 100 Divorce 73 Marital Separation 65 Jail term 63 Death of close relative 63 Personal injury or illness 53 Marriage 50 Fired from job 47 Marital reconciliation 45 Retirement 45 Change in health,family 44 Pregnancy 40 Sexual differences 39 Gain new family member 39 Change financial status 38 Death of close friend 37 Change line of work 36 Argument with spouse 35 Mortgage 31 Foreclosure of mortgage 30 Change in responsibility at work 29 Son or daughter leaving home 29 Trouble with in-laws 29 Outstanding personal achievement 28 Wife start or stop work 26 Beginning or ending school 26 Revision of personal habits 24 Trouble with boss 23 Change in working hours 20 Change in working conditions 20 Change in residence 20 Change in school 20 Change in recreation 19 Change in social activities 18 Loan 17 Change in sleeping habits 16 Change in family get-to-gethers 15 Change in eating habits 15 Vacation 13 Minor violations of the law 11 Holmes-Rahe Stress Scale 1967)

  18. Next Class • Coping with stress

More Related