Katy Rimstad, MA

1
Stress and Health

• Katy Rimstad, MA
• University of St. Thomas
• Personal counseling and testing

2
What is stress?

• Human reaction to change
• Different for different people
• Catastrophes
• Significant life changes
• Daily hassles
• Conflict

3
College Undergraduate Stress Scale

• Add up stress ratings that you have experienced
• Individual differences in what event is how
  stressful
• Cumulative effect
• Gender differences?
• Some events occur multiple times in a year

4
Stress Response Systems

• Fight or Flight Response
• General Adaptation Syndrome
• Alarm reaction
• Resistance
• Exhaustion

5
Physical Reactions to Stress

• Sympathetic nervous system activates
• Increased heart rate breathing
• Digestion stops
• Pain is dulled
• Stress hormones released
• Cortisol
• Adrenaline
• Cannot remain in this state forever

6
Not all stress is bad

• Needed for motivation and performance
• Stress x Performance
• Some helps, too much interferes
• Breakdown point is different for all

7
Stress x Performance
Performance
Level of stress
8
Related to Stress

• Heart Disease
• Susceptibility to disease
• Immune System
• AIDS
• Cancer
• Conditioning

9
Perceived Control

• Poverty inequalities
• Optimism vs. Pessimism
• Handout What are the chances of you getting
  these health problems?

10
Promoting Health/Coping with Stress

• Exercise
• Biofeedback/Relaxation
• Social Support
• Spirituality
• Cognitive
• Daily Activities
• Modify Illness-Related behavior

11
Coping Styles

• Active-Cognitive
• 1, 6, 7, 10, 11, 15, 20, 21, 23, 26, 29
• Active-Behavioral
• 2, 3, 5, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 22, 25, 28, 31, 32
• Avoidance
• 4, 9, 14, 16, 19, 24, 27, 30