The purpose of this essay is to apply psychological factors of stress to Sarah’s case study. Sarah is a 23 year old single parent who has suffered from arthritis since the age of 8 years old; due to this condition she has periods of pain that fluctuates leading to mobility problems. Sarah receives support from her mother and her friend to help care for her daughter when she has poor mobility. Sarah also has issues with her estranged boyfriend over visiting rights. Sarah is in receipt of welfare benefits which are under threat due to new welfare reforms. Sarah has been referred to mental health nursing as she is suffering from depression, due to life events this may have been caused by stress. The definition of stress that I have chosen to use is “Stress occurs when a person perceives that the demands of an external situation are beyond his or her perceived ability to cope with them” (Lazarus, 1966). Too much or on-going stress can lead to physical and emotional problems to our well-being. The reason this happens is because the body releases hormones called cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline into the bodies blood stream causing the fight or flight response this causes the body to get ready to deal with the danger or threat (stressor). If the stressor continues the body remains to release these hormones causing other problems to the body, such as high blood pressure and this happens when too much adrenaline is released through the blood stream. Continued stress then leads to further complications and in such cases disease and chronic illness begin to manifest including mental illness leading to anxiety and depression. A scientist called Hans Selye introduced the General... ... middle of paper ... ... Works Cited Dr Coleman V (1993). A Consultation with Dr Vernon Coleman, Stress and Relaxation, Hamlyn: Reed International Books Limited, p68-88 Friedman M, Rosenman R.H (1990), Modifying Type A Behavioural Pattern; A personal overview. Journal of Social Behaviour and Personality, 5, 1-24. Holmes, T.H, and Rahe, R.H, (1967). The Social Readjustment Scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 1 (11), 213-18 Lazarus, R.S, and Folkman, S, (1984). Appraisal and Coping. New York: Springer, 18-25 Lazarus (1982) http://www.psypress.co.uk/ek5/resources/pdf/chap18.pdf?oo=420.cognitiveappraisal,21st 21st November 2013 Selye,H. (1956). The Stress of Life. New York, NY: McGrawHill APA: Selye’s Theory: General Adaptation Syndrome)-Current Nursing.(n.d) retrieved from http://www.currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/selye%27_stress_theory.html
Therefore, prolonged stress included adverse psychological and physical health effects as well as the increased risk of premature death (Denollet, J., et al.
... J. H., & Manos, M. J. (2004). Abnormal Psychology: Current Perspectives 9th ed. In L. B. Alloy, J. H. Riskind, & M. J. Manos, The Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sociocultural Perspectives (pp. 75-104). New York: McGraw Hill.
prospect. In S. L. Garfield and A. E. Bergin (Eds.), Handbook of psychotherapy and behavior
The Social Readjustment Rating Scale The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) was developed by Holmes
According to the American Institute of Stress, stress can be defined as an individual’s response, physical, mental or emotional, to an event that causes a demand for change (Selye, 1936). For athletes, that demand for change can be caused by an injury, which ultimately can have a significant impact on overall stress levels. While a physical injury can cause psychological stress, mental trauma can similarly affect an athlete physically. An athlete’s psychological stability has a great affect on an athlete’s susceptibility to pain and can alter the response to and recovery from an injury (Ahern, 1997).
Benjamin, L. S. (1982). Use of structural analysis of social behavior (SASB) to guide intervention in psychotherapy. In J. C. Anchin & D. J. Kiesler (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal psychotherapy (pp. 190-212). New York: Pergamon.
The term ‘stress’ was generally thought to have been a concept created by Robert Hooke in the 17th century. He worked on the design of physical structures, such as bridges; his concept of stress came from how much pressure a structure could withstand. However, Lazarus (1993) pointed out that the term ‘stress’ has been used as far back as the 14th century, when it meant hardship or adversity. Back then it referred to the external stressor, such as the death of a spouse or financial worry; in the 20th century, there are many different schools of thought on this area. Hans Selye (1956), brought together the work of Cannon and Bernard and devised a comprehensive system of physiological stress; which he termed the ‘General Adaptation Syndrome’, and is a 3-stage process. He theorised that a certain level of stress called ‘eustress’ (Cox, 1978) could actually be beneficial to our overall performance. Later In 1976, Cox & Mackay devised another model called the ‘Transactional model’. This model takes into account the individual differences in the perception of the amount of stress experienced by the person. The main difference between these two models is that Selye’s model only accounts for the physiological side of stress, whereas Cox’s model takes into account both the physiological and psychological aspects of stress. Therefore, both models will have slight similarities and differences in their explanation for how stress occurs in individuals, which is the main focus of this essay.
Kumar, Anil, Puneet Rinwa, Gurleen Kaur, and Lalit Machawal. "Stress: Neurobiology, consequences, and management." Journal of Pharmacy and Bioallied Sciences, 2013: 1-7.
Stress is defined as “any circumstances that threaten or are perceived to threaten one’s well-being and thereby tax one’s coping abilities” (Weiten & Lloyd, 2006, p. 72). Stress is a natural event that exists literally in all areas of one’s life. It can be embedded in the environment, culture, or perception of an event or idea. Stress is a constant burden, and can be detrimental to one’s physical and mental health. However stress can also provide beneficial effects; it can satisfy one’s need for stimulation and challenge, promote personal growth, and can provide an individual with the tools to cope with, and be less affected by tomorrow’s stress (Weiten & Lloyd, 2006, p. 93).
Stress is the combination of psychological, physiological, and behavioral reactions that people have in response to events that threaten or challenge them. Stress can be good or bad. Sometimes, stress is helpful, providing people with the extra energy or alertness they need. Stress could give a runner the edge he or she needs to persevere in a marathon, for example. This good kind of stress is called eustress. Unfortunately, stress is often not helpful and can even be harmful when not managed effectively. Stress could make a salesperson buckle under the pressure while trying to make a sales pitch at an important business meeting, for example. Moreover, stress can increase the risk of developing health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and anxiety disorders. This bad kind of stress is called distress, the kind of stress that people usually are referring to when they use the word stress.
Stress is defined in the dictionary as “state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life”. Everyone encounters stress in their life caused by many different variables in life and we all cope with in different ways. The way one copes with the stress is how it can affect our body. Some take to working out, eating healthy, take breaks from what is stressing you out and getting plenty of sleep which are good ways to cope with it. Some take to other coping mechanisms that are not very great for the body. Some examples are stress eating, abuse of drugs and alcohol, bottling up the stress, and depression. These bad methods can cause serious damage to one’s health on the body.
First, stress is defined as an unpleasant state of emotional and physiological arousal that people experience in situations that they perceive as dangerous or threatening to their well being (Patel, 14). Stress is a universal feeling to everyone but the word stress means different things to different people. Some people define stress as events or situations that cause them to feel tension, pressure or negative emotions such as anxiety or anger (Patel, 15). Other people may view stress as a process involving a person’s interpretation and response to a threatening event. In any case, stress has many facets of how one perceives and responds to the certain predicament that is ailing them.
Stress is not something to be avoided. Everyone feels stressed from time to time and it depends on people that may feel stress in different ways. Not all stress is bad but it depends on how peoples take it. The words “stress” is something all of us have experienced but it seems that there are many different definitions used by psychologist, medics, management consultants or others. Psychologists describe stress as “demands of life” which pointed out as “stressors” and stress is the cause of the worn out tissue of our body (Meenakshisundaram, 2012, p.101). Stress can be divided into four types which are eustress, acute stress, episodic acute stress and chronic stress (illustrated in Figure 1).
According to the American Psychological Association, “Stress is often described as being overwhelmed, worried or run-down.”
Modern life is full of troubles, frustrations and deadlines. People have to suffer stressful from many directions and they seem to be consent to live with stress. Many people think that they can stand with stressful and it is harmless, but it is not. If people live in stress during a long period of time, it has bad effect to health and spirit. Therefore, there is actually that you can protect yourself by understanding stress and how to reduce these harmful effects caused by stress.