BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE - IV

(STRESS AND COPING STRATEGIES)

Stages and Models of Stress

 Stress
• Eustress
– Manageable Stress can lead to growth and enhanced
competence
• Distress
– Uncontrollable, prolonged, or overwhelming stress is
destructive.
• Acute Stress
– Immediate response to a threat or challenge
• Chronic Stress
– Ongoing exposure to stress, may seem unrelenting
 Stages of Stress: General Adaptation
Syndrome (GAS)
Defined by Selye in 1956. Comprises 3 stages:
Stage I: Alarm
• The body’s defences against stressors are
mobilized through activation of the
sympathetic nervous system
• Arousal of the sympathetic nervous system
releases hormones (adrenaline) that help
prepare the body to meet stress and danger
• Highly adaptive short term response to an
emergency situation
The Nervous System
• During stress, the
nervous system is
activated.
 The General Adaptation Syndrome (2)
Stage II: Resistance
• The body enters this stage if the stress is prolonged
• But the body continues to draw on internal
resources at an above normal rate
• Outwards appearance seems normal
• Physiologically, the body’s internal functioning is not
normal
• Sets the stage for diseases of adaptation (e.g.,
peptic ulcers, ulcerative colitis)
 The General Adaptation Syndrome (3)
Stage III: Exhaustion
• Continued exposure to the same stressor
drains the body further
• The capacity to resist is depleted
• Illness results
• This stage is characterized by activation of
the parasympathetic division of the ANS
• In severe cases, results in death
STRESS PHYSIOLOGY
 Signs & Symptoms of Stress
• Cognitive
– Decreased concentration, comprehension, & memory
• Behavioral
– Irritability, withdrawal, violence
• Emotional
– Fear, anxiety, depression, fatigue
• Physiological
– Increased BP, HR, Respirations, etc
– Somatic symptoms
– Decreased immune response
 Cognitive - Transactional Model
Lazarus & Folkman (1984)
• Propose that the interpretation of stressful events
is more important than the events themselves
• It is neither the environmental event nor the
person’s response that defines stress
• It is the individual’s perception of the
psychological situation that defines stress
• Stress is a function of the person’s feeling of
threat, vulnerability, and ability to cope rather
than a function of the stressor
• Distinguish three kinds of appraisal
Stress and Emotions
• While positive emotions such as love and
desire fill our days with purpose, negative
emotions can fill us with dread and make each
day a chore to navigate. Stress can lead to
anxiety, anger and depression.
Stress and Cognition
• Under stress, people may have difficulty thinking
clearly or remaining focused on the task at hand.

• High levels of bodily arousal that characterize the

alarm reaction stage can impair memory functioning
and problem solving ability (example: test anxiety).
 Primary appraisal
• Initial evaluation of a situation
3 possible outcomes:
Irrelevant
• the event has no implication for the individual’s
well-being
Benign-positive
• the event may increase well-being
Stressful
• the situation is perceived as harmful, threatening,
or challenging
 Primary appraisal (2)
Harm/loss
• involves actual significant physical or psychological
loss
• psychological damage that has already been done
Threat
• the anticipation of harm or loss
• allows to anticipate and prepare for the future
Challenge
• the event is perceived as stressful
• the focus is on positive excitement
• refers to the person’s confidence in overcoming
difficult demands
 Secondary Appraisal
Concerned with a person’s evaluation of his/her ability to
cope with the situation
The individual asks 3 questions:
• which coping options are available?
• the likelihood that one can apply the strategy
• the likelihood that any given options will work: will it
reduce stress?
Reappraisal
• continuous reappraisal on the basis of new information
• identical to the initial process
• may lead to more stress
STIMULUS AND RESPONSE-
ORIENTED APPROACHES
 Stimulus Oriented Approach of Stress
• Stress is regarded as an external force which is
perceived as threatening.

• Any external event or any internal drive which

threatens to upset the organic equilibrium of
an individual leads to stress
Response Oriented Approach of Stress
• In this approach the nature of the stress can be
best understood in terms of the way people
perceive and ascribe meaning to stress producing
situations

• It depends on the values they attribute to actions

and the way they interact with events.

• It describes how stress is reacted to, and how

people function under stress.
 Contd.
• There are four phases in the reaction to stress:
– The Initial Phase: Anticipating the stress as a
threat
– The Impact Phase: When it affects the person
psychologically and physiologically
– The Recoil Phase: When the person perceives the
bodily/mental “Set-back” as a result of stress
– The Post Traumatic Phase: The post stress
syndromes leading to recovery and healing.
The Psychodynamic Approach of Stress
• It considers events external or internal which
pose a threat to the integrity of the person
leading to the disorganization of personality as
stress.

• Stress presages loss of ego strength and loss of

ego support.

• It may be induced by interpersonal (external) or

intrapsychic (b/w own impulses and ego) factors
resulting in anxiety.
 Contd.
• The GAS model has been widely accepted as a
comprehensive model to explain the stress
phenomena.
TRANSACTIONAL/INTERACTIONAL
MODELS OF STRESS
TRANSACTIONAL/INTERACTIONAL MODELS OF STRESS

• Interactions are moderators & transactions

contain a temporal component
– Interaction demands exceed capacity, but this
unfold over time

• These models are based on appraisal

mechanisms
Lazarus’s Transactional model
Appraisals
Pestonjee’s Models of Stress
Pestonjee’s Models of Stress
Pestonjee’s Bounce Back Model of Stress
 Burnout Stress Syndrome (BOSS),
Paine, 1982
• Honeymoon Stage: Euphoric feeling with a
new assignment
• Fuel Shortage Stage: Lack of resources – leads
to unfulfilled expectations and frustrations
• Chronic Symptom Stage: Stress becomes
prolonged
• Crisis Stage: Stress keeps on hurting further
• Hitting the wall stage: Stage of no return
PRESSURE – ENVIRONMENT FIT
MODEL OF STRESS
 Sometimes the balance
between ourselves and our
environment is just right…
 We balance the demands of life
(environmental press)
in our lives because we have the
resources (personal competence) to do
school so… parents

children

finances

appointments
Sometimes our environment
places pressure on us and
we feel stressed.
Such as an STRESS

exam…
 A certain amount of Environmental Press
(stress from the environment) can
actually facilitate moving us into a phase
of Maximum Performance Potential.

A+

Graduation !

1st Place
Self-care helps us return to an
even balance between
environmental press and our
personal competence.
 Examples of Environmental
Press

• Relocation
• Loss of home, job, spouse,
ability to drive
• Lack of familiar supports: walker, cane
• Absence of sensory aids such as glasses
and hearing aids
 Intervention: Increasing Personal
Competence
• Assess what has served the person in the past to
manage stressors and increase personal
competence.
• Refer to occupational and/or physical therapy,
to increase personal skill level to recuperate or
adapt to current situation.
• Supportive groups:
– Religious
– Family
– Social
What interventions do I use?
• The focus on decreasing environmental press and/or
facilitating an increase in personal competence
depends on each individual and the circumstances.

– For individuals who are cognitively impaired, focus more energy

on reduction of environmental press while maintaining their
current level of competence for as long as possible.

– For cognitively intact individuals, depending on their level of

ability, focus on reduction of environmental press while they
learn ways to develop and/or increase their personal
competence.