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Inevitably, as humans we encounter numerous events that have a significant amount of discomfort and tension, also known as stress. These occurrences oftentimes have negative effects on us giving us physical and emotional symptoms that can be unbearable. In order to manage our stress, we must learn how to identify the sources. We can do this by using Lazarus and Folkman’s cognitive stress theory which helps identify the stressful event, primary appraisal, secondary appraisal, and stress response. For example, if a friend lost his job that allowed him to pay college tuition, the stressful event is losing their job, primary appraisal is deciding if the event is harmful, secondary appraisal is how they will deal with it, and stress response is …show more content…
defined by how they psychologically assess the situation. To decipher the stressor, we must first locate the source of the stress which can also be called the stressful event. In order to do this, an individual must assess the event that is giving them negative feelings or relentless emotions of pressure. It is crucial to perform this step because if the event is unknown, it is extremely difficult to find a solution to alleviate the pain. If the friend lost their only source of income that substantially supported their college education, then losing the job would ultimately be defined as the stressful event. This is due to the fact that the loss of the job results in the person no longer having a method of paying their tuition which could potentially give off stress. Once an individual finds the origin of where their stress came from, the friend will now engage in primary appraisal which deciding if the event is harmful to you or not. This next step is completely variable because the choice lies in the mind of the person the stress is affecting. Everyone varies in mindsets, so losing a job could either be positive or negative depending on who it happens to. If the friend is particularly melancholic and pessimistic, when they undergo primary appraisal it can be inferred that they will state that the event is harmful for them. However, if the friend is typically optimistic, it is likely that they will not consider losing the job is harmful. This initial appraisal is what allows us to make secondary appraisal, which is how the person will deal with the hassle. The secondary appraisal is completely dependent on the classification of the primary appraisal.
This is because our perceptions of the stressful event affect the ways we cope and endure life’s major obstacles. Secondary appraisal basically consists of the methods and we take to minimize the stress we feel. If the friend decided that losing the job was harmful, it could be possible that they could adopt an emotion-focused style of coping which is when we attempt to put a positive spin on the disorder on our lives in order to mitigate the pain. My friend would start reminding themselves that maybe the job didn’t pay enough, their co-workers we’re not friendly, the schedule was not fulfilling, and the boss was too strict. This would eventually motivate them to pursue other jobs and apply for other positions that could offer more money for them. If the individual had a more optimistic perspective, then it can be inferred that they would have a more problem-focused mode of coping which is a strategy in which others tackle their challenges head on. Instead of taking defeat, the friend may reflect on themselves in attempts to find out where they went wrong or what they could change to improve their work ethics. It could be possible that my friend was too nonchalant, talkative, or lazy. If this was the case, they would cope by taking another job and working harder to keep it. Secondary appraisal completely depends on the perspective that the individual has and whether or not they
identify the event as harmful or not. Identifying stress as a response is how we determine people’s psychological and physical reactions to the stressful event. This can occur simultaneously with secondary appraisal or be a result of how we cope with the painful emotions. If coping strategies were ineffective, it can be deferred that the friend would experience feelings of hopelessness or depression because they were unable to find another job which causes them to have no source of income. My friend would then be unable to pay for their college expenses such as tuition, rooms, books, and food. They would believe that their chances at attending their dream college would be substantially diminished, altering their hormone production by increasing corticosteroids which are present during traumatic, stressful occurrences. As I stated earlier, stress is completely variable because it depends on the individual and how they perceive certain stimuli. If the stress was used positively, they could turn the situation around by continuing to push themselves by applying for various scholarships or loans that could temporarily help my friend while they strive to search for other jobs. Since stress is a transaction, it’s completely up to the individual on how they wish to resolve it. Stress is completely unavoidable because every human being encounters a plethora of problems that arise randomly. The discomfort that we feel from the stressors completely depends on how we generate the distress based on our mentalities and perceptions of external stimuli. Without stress, we would be unable to learn through experiences and continue to push ourselves. This is why it’s vital to recognize Lazarus and Folkman’s cognitive stress theory by pinpointing the stressful event, engaging in primary and secondary appraisal, and recognizing our stress responses.
Everyone everywhere has experienced stress with something they have dealt with in life. Whether it is school, paying bills, managing a busy schedule or work, stress affects everyone. Although everyone experiences stress, many people don’t actually know what stress is. Stress is the physical response of the body to harmful situations that threaten someone’s well being. When someone says “stress”, the word is automatically associated with a negative effect on people but small doses of stress can benefit a person, if used to correctly. Everyone’s stress level is different and the amount of stress that can be handled varies from person to person but a stress overload will not benefit anyone. “When you feel threatened, a chemical reaction occurs in your body to allow you to act in a way to prevent injury” (“Stress Management Health Center”). The chemical that is released when stressed is known as cortisol, also known a stress hormone. “Cortisol is like a long-term form of adrenaline, produced in the adrenal gland when the body is under pressure” (“The Effects of Stress on Your Reproductive Health and Fertility”). Adrenaline is also released to send the body into, what is known as, emergency action (“Stress Symptoms, Signs and Causes”). This emergency action speeds up reactions preformed by the body and the mind. This is a way of protecting the body. While in emergency action, this stress caused by threatening situations can save your life. In emergency situations, you are given “extra strength to defend yourself, for example, or spurring you to slam on your brakes to avoid a car accident” (“Stress Management Health Center”). Signs of being in this emergency action are a racing heart, blood pressure rises, quickening of breath and tigh...
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.
There have been numerous research attempts to understand how individuals cope with negative life events. Freud (1993) refer to defence mechanisms and the unconscious processes individuals resort to in an attempt to address the internal conflicts they experience. Coping strategies serves as a mediator between perceived threats and their anticipated consequences (Endler and Parker, 1990). When confronted with a threat individuals resort to certain behaviour responses in order to cope with the perceived threat. More and more evidence acknowledge the important role that coping strategies play when individuals respond to perceived stressful life events.
Stress has various effects on the body, both psychological and physiological. Stress can have positive effects on the body and can be beneficial, but frequent stress will eventually cause negative effects on the body.
The circumstances that cause stress are called stressors. Stressors vary in harshness and duration. For example, the responsibility of caring for a sick parent may be an ongoing source of major stress, whereas getting stuck in a traffic jam may cause mild, short-term stress. Some events, such as the death of a loved one, are stressful for everyone. But in other situations, individuals may respond differently to the same event—what a stressor is for one person may not be stressor for another. For example, a student who is unprepared for a chemistry test and anticipates a bad grade may feel stress, on the other hand a classmate who stud...
Despite that many don 't realize the dangers, stress is one of the most significant problems of modern times, causing serious problems on physical and mental health. Stress symptoms may be affecting a patients health, even though a doctor may not realize it. Don 't assume that an illness is to blame for that excruciating headache or your sleep deprivation. Let 's face it, everyone copes with stress. Sometimes stress is in our favor, but other times it could feel like stress is taking over. " Stress is a normal physical response your body uses to protect itself from challenges life throws at it each day"(Stress and Health: How Stress Affects Your Health) Stress affects everyone differently, so it 's important to understand what may be causing
“All of us have a personal relationship with stress, but few of us know how it affects us.” In the film “Stress- Portrait of a Killer” by National Geographic, Robert Sapolsky is researching baboon’s to find a link in stress and potential health risks in humans, Carol Shively is also researching macaques for that reason. Sapolsky is an american neuroendocrinologist that went to Africa “on a hunch” to study non-human subjects to test his theory, this experiment actually got Robert Sapolsky “MacArthur Foundations Genius Fellowship”. He did this by darting the baboons with anesthetic to put them to sleep, to make for easier blood samples. In the samples Sapolsky is measuring the levels of stress hormones found in the blood, he devoted thirty years of his life to this study with the help of his wife Lisa Sapolsky. This experiment relates to sociologic analysis, because Sapolsky’s study happens to draw a conclusion between economic activities and how it genuinely affects the quality of life. Some of the sociological themes we’ll be discussing are how “stress impacts our bodies and how our social standing can make us more or less susceptible”.
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.
Stress. This one word has the power to bring down even the most resilient and capable of people, it is so strong that it has the potential to affect not only a person’s mental well-being, but their physical and emotional well-being as well. Personally, I feel that I lead a relatively stress-free life on the daily, I mean yeah I get road rage every now and then and my roommates can be quite challenging sometimes, but for the most part, I’m not constantly worried or anxious about things. For this ten day stress journey, I chose to do it during week six of the quarter because this was a week where I had three midterm exams and a paper due. I set out completing
Stress is something that everyone has to deal with in life, whether it is good or bad stress. Stress management techniques are a great way to deal with stress. Some of the stress management techniques that I learned from this course are prioritization, scheduling, and execution. Using these techniques has effectively helped me deal with my own stress. When it comes to dealing with stress I still have many strengths and weaknesses that I will explain. Some stressors I have in my life that I will discuss are psychointrapersonal, social, life events, and daily hassles. Next, I will give my opinion on my post-course survey, and compare and contrast it to my pre-course survey scores. Finally, I will explain my last goals for this stress management course.
Every work environment has certain stress level inherent in its modus operandi, and how employees react to the different situations is likewise varied. Many theories try to explain an employee’s attitude can alter the expected negative reaction to workplace stress. These broad concept of identifying “moderators” can be simplified by considering if the individual employee has a type A or B personality, his or her locus of control, hardiness, and self-esteem. A moderator is defined as “a variable that affects the direction or strength of the association between two other variables”, employee and work related stress (Landy & Conte, p. 469). There are other peripheral factors like social groups that may have less
Stress is in our everyday lives. We allow things such as the way we live, school, work, family, relationships etc to stress us out. Some people deal with stress way different from others. Some may know how to cope with stress better than others. We allow stress to take a major toll over our lives when we are suppose to fight it, but a lot of people can’t do that. Stress makes you act and do things that are not like yourself. Stress is a negative word; it comes in all different shapes and forms.
Stressors, the sources of stress, include three types of events, referred to as daily hassles, major life events, and catastroph...
When stressful events occur three types of responses take place, an emotional response, a physiological response, and a behavioral response. Negative emotional responses such as anxiety, anger, and grief are common responses to stress. However, in some cases, an individual may exhibit positive emotions when coping with stressful situations. According to Folkman and Moskowiz, positive emotions promote resilience in the face of stress by promoting creativity, problem solving, flexibility, and can enhance physical and psychological health (Weiten & Lloyd, 2006, p. 84).
Stress is an ongoing dilemma that occurs in each and everyone’s life. It is a factor that is undoubtedly a part of daily living. Due to the trivial problems that occur in people’s daily lives massive amounts of stress can arise. People perceive and manage stress in many different ways. The causes and effects of stress are numerous and one’s ability to manage stress is vital in maintaining healthy living.