Introduction to Stress Management Topics

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Introduction to Stress Management Topics
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Stress

• Middle English, 1303 c.e.
• From Old French estrece, meaning narrowness or
  oppression.
• Distress from the Latin districtus, to hinder
  (as in the narrow, hindering streets in an urban
  district).

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Stress (contd)

• As a verb, stress was first used in the sense
  to put emphasis on in the year 1896.
• Why then?
• What could stress come to mean in the future?

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The pioneers

• Walter Cannon. (1932). The wisdom of the body.
• Identified fight-or-flight response.
• Assumes that exposure to a stressor (such as a
  bear in the woods, or a stranger in a dark alley)
  causes the body to prepare for escape or combat.
• Limitations

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The pioneers (contd)

• Hans Selye. (1956). The stress of life.
• Selye proposed a three-stage model
• Alarm reaction First exposure to a stressor
  results in bodily changes
• Resistance With continue exposure, body no
  longer shows signs of stress
• Exhaustion Energy exhausted death.

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Selye model

• Selyes model is deterministic it assumes that
  stress events cause stress reactions.
• Selyes model is medical it assumes that stress
  reactions can be caused in terms of the body.
• Selyes model was positivistic, assuming that
  cause and effect are related in scientifically
  axiomatic ways.

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The pioneers (contd)

• A.T.W. Simeons. (1961). Mans presumptuous brain.
  Argues that the human brain has not evolved at
  the same pace as 20th-century life.
• Alvin Toeffler, Future Shock

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The pioneers (contd)

• Jacobson, Schultz, Benson Concerned with
  physical sensations of stress.
• Schultz Developed autogenics.
• Herbert Benson Developed technique similar to
  Transcendental Meditation.

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Legacy in vocabulary

• Bracing Unnecessary contraction of the muscles.
• Symbolic stressor - a situation in which the
  fight-or-flight response does not prove adaptive.
• Eustress - resulting from stressors that are
  widely regarded as positive.
• Distress - stress regarded as negative.

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Relationship b/w stress and stress reactivity

• In essence, people harden themselves against
  stress by learning stress management techniques.
• These experiences help people to feel less
  overwhelmed by stress and also help such feelings
  to pass more quickly.

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Example (p.10)

• Two people are fired from their jobs
• One person worries how they will pay their bills,
  and feels stressed.
• The other person looks forward to going on
  vacation, and does not feel so stressed.
• Note There are limitations on the usefulness of
  this technique can you identify them?

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Goal of stress management

• A goal of stress management is NOT to eliminate
  all stress.
• Enjoyable events are stressful, too.
• Stress also motivates peak performance.

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Relationship b/w stress and illness
Illness
Stress
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True or False?

• Is the following statement true or false?
• ___ A lack of problems or adversity can,
  ironically, cause individuals to experience
  personal crisis.

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Goals of stress management

• Deter undesired stress reactions from occurring
  by planning life events and monitoring ones
  perceptions
• Eliminate some stressors from our lives when it
  is feasible to do so
• Limit the harmful effects of stress by dealing
  with its emotional and physical consequences
• Enjoy life.

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The subjectivity of approaches

• What is Greenbergs favored approach to stress
  management?
• What is Bakers favored approach?
• What is yours?