Psychology Unit 2 Chapter 3 STRESS AND HEALTH

Psychology Unit 2 Chapter 3 STRESS AND HEALTH

Stress and Health Stress = A state of psychological tension or strain A factor that can bring into focus the stability or inconsistencies with an individual’s personality Adjustment = Any effort to cope with stress Change (good or bad) can be stressful But most people prefer �Order �Continuity �Predictability

What Is Stress? �“Technical” definition The disruption of the normal physiological equilibrium of the body that occurs when the fight or flight response is triggered by an internal or external stimulus. �Simple The triggering of the fight-or-flight response

What Is Stress? �Stressor Anything that triggers stress. �Condition or event that challenges or threatens the person �Unpredictability adds to stress �Two basic types Physical Stress �Accidents, disease, toxins, etc. Psychological Stress

Stress and Individual Differences �How much stress we experience depends partly on: The way we interpret our situation People’s overall view of the world Do STRESS survey Watch video “Grieving, Forgiving & Loving”

Everyday Hassles �Pressure =A feeling that one must go faster, do better or change the direction of behavior �Frustration = the feeling when one is prevented from reaching a goal. Having needs or wants or goals blocked.

Psychological Stress �Pressure Internal or external demand to complete a task or activity �Within a limited time frame � In a specific way Worse when we perceive little or no control Stress in men versus women

Extreme Stress �Sources include: Unemployment Divorce and Separation Bereavement Catastrophes Combat and other threatening personal attacks

Reactions to Extreme Stress �Anticipating the danger is actually the time of greatest stress �Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Psychological disorder �episodes of anxiety, sleepiness, and nightmares resulting from some disturbing past event

Psychological Stress �Conflict Must choose between contradictory needs, desires, motives, or demands �Conflict occurs when one has simultaneous existence of incomplete demands, opportunities, needs or goals Do Conflict Resiliency Survey

Conflict Resilience SCORING KEY 15 -39 Hmmm…I guess you already know you are NOT conflict resilient and getting some help is highly recommended. 40 -54 Your conflict resilience quotient is low and learning about conflict resolution is recommended. 55 -69 You are conflict resilient with a few areas that could use some work to strengthen your skills even more. 70 -75 You are definitely conflict resilient!

Stress and its impact on your body.

Coping Styles �Emotion focused coping Focus on emotional reaction to stress Distract by listening to music, talking a walk, drinking, etc. �Problem-focused coping Focus on directly on the source of stress Develop a plan of action to reduce stress

Coping Styles �The Nature of Threat Perceived lack of control is just as threatening as an actual lack of control Feeling of incompetence increase threat Men and women cope differently

Guidelines for Times of High Stress 1. Develop a “Personal Early Warning System” 2. Prioritize 3. Delegate 4. Slow down decisions & consult �Stress Management Inventory – handout �Practical Stress Management – handout

How we unhealthily deal with stress �Defense Mechanisms �Self-Medicating �Self-Hate – power point discussion

Defense Mechanisms �Defense mechanism Habitual and unconscious psychological processes designed to reduce anxiety Protects idealized self-image so we can live with ourselves �Resolves conflict between reality and beliefs Can help cope with harsh circumstances Long term use – you don’t live in reality

Defense Mechanisms �Denial Refusal to accept or believe an unpleasant reality �Projection When one’s own feelings, shortcomings, or unacceptable traits and impulses are seen in others

Defense Mechanisms �Rationalization Justifying personal actions by giving “rational” but false reasons for them �Repression A form of forgetting Painful memories, anxieties, etc. are held out of your awareness

Defense Mechanisms �Displacement Shifting repressed motives and emotions from an original object to a substitute

How does society influence the use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs as a way of relaxing and reducing stress? �Television �Music �Peers �Celebrities

Preschoolers mimic smoking and drinking while role-playing as adults. I wanna be like mommy

Self – Hate and Stress �What happened to you, NOT who you are, makes you angry, nervous, afraid, greedy, mean, etc. �We learned behaviors when we were very young in order to survive. �We were taught to hate those behaviors and to see them as signs of our badness. �Yet we must keep doing them because they still mean survival to us. �And we hate ourselves for doing them.

� THE TRAP: I believe I must be this way to survive. I hate myself for being this way. � RESULT: self-hate = survival = self-hate Suffering provides our identity. Identity is maintained in struggle and dissatisfaction, in trying to fix what’s wrong. self-hate suffering egocentricity fear illusion of being unaccepted

So we are constantly looking for what is wrong, constantly creating new crises so we can rise to the occasion. To ego, that’s survival. It is very important That something be wrong So ego can continue to survive it.

Self-Hate is a Process Self-hate is a “how” not a “what. ” Examples: 1. If I’m a worrier, worrying is the “how, ” the process. The things I worry about are the “whats, ” the content. 2. If I’m judgmental, judging is the “how, ” the process. The things I judge are the “whats, ” the content. 3. If I’m caught in self-hate, self hating is the “how, ” the process. The aspects of “me” that are being hated—body, personality, looks (the list is endless) – are the “whats, ” the content.

In other words, I am not hating myself; self-hate is hating me. Self-hate is an autonomous process with a life of it’s own, an endless tape loop of conditioning, creating and shaping the world in which we live.

The simplest example is that if self-hate is hating my body, too wide too thin too short too flat too fat too weak too small too ugly it doesn’t matter what I do or what I look like, I will never meet self-hate’s standard…. which is the point.

Self-hate is not hating me in order to help me. No. It is a process of hating and hating is just what it does. As long as it exists, It will find something to hate. That’s how it maintains itself. � The process of self-hate is so much a part of the average person that we don’t even recognize it. � We think we’re just doing the things that will ensure we’ll be good. � It’s normal, we say. Everybody does it. Or should

Some of the common forms self-hate takes • Self sabotage • Not being able to receive • Procrastination • Seeing what is wrong with everything • Taking blame but not credit • Blaming others • Trying too hard to be different • Being secretive • Being accident prone • Holding grudges • Continuing to put yourself in abusive situations

A story “Why is everyone here so happy except me? ” “Because they have learned to see goodness and beauty everywhere, ” said the teacher “Why don’t I see goodness and beauty everywhere? ” “Because you cannot see outside of you what you fail to see inside. ”

A truth One of the greatest challenges of life is not to give love, but to receive it.

It’s confusing for us to believe that we aren’t loved because there’s something wrong with us. “I want to be loved, but there’s something wrong with me. I need to fix that even though I’m not really sure I know what it is or how to fix it. But I must keep trying anyway because I really want to be loved. ”

When you are trying to become lovable you spend much time, attention and energy trying to be good, earn approval and please others…BE PERFECT. And then, when you find that all that trying to be good doesn’t work, and doesn’t in fact get the love and approval you want, the only think you know how to do is…. TRY HARDER.

It’s like being on a journey, and being completely lost, Going in the wrong direction, but making really good time.

And what we are left with is confusion. “I’m trapped and confused. What I’m doing isn’t working, but I don’t know what to do instead. ” Confusion is the result of attempting to cling to conditioned/limiting beliefs (if I try harder I can make it work) in the face of what you are seeing to be true for you (This isn’t working. I feel powerless. There must be another way. ).

If you continue to pay attention, the confusion will give way to clarity. If you can find the willingness to LOOK, AND TAKE A STAND AGAINST THE SCAM SELF-HATE HAS YOU CAUGHT IN, the confusion will give way to clarity. And the clarity is compassion.

One of the greatest things we can do for others is to learn to like ourselves. People with good self-esteem are less defensive, better able to deal with negativity and pain from others, and are in a good position to inspire love and hope in others.

“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make a life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a person humanized or dehumanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming. ” Goethe

�Exercise �Diet �Loving and Living

Long-Term Strategies �Diet & Exercise Choose Healthy foods – Stanford experiment Exercise �Increases ability to tolerate stress �Enjoy post-exercise relaxation

Long-Term Strategies �Reduce distorted thinking Main source of internal stress �Should/must thinking �Decompression routines �Humor �Play �Social connection � Watch video clip on Reducing Anxiety

Who’s on Your Bus?

Spanish Pipedream » or « Blow Up Your TV » She was a level-headed dancer on the road to alcohol And I was just a soldier on my way to Montreal Well she pressed her chest against me About the time the juke box broke Yeah, she gave me a peck on the back of the neck And these are the words she spoke

Chorus: Blow up your T. V. throw away your paper Go to the country, build you a home Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches Try an find Jesus on your own Well, I sat there at the table and I acted real naive For I knew that topless lady had something up her sleeve Well, she danced around the bar room and she did the hoochy-coo Yeah she sang her song all night long, tellin' me what to do

Repeat chorus: Well, I was young and hungry and about to leave that place When just as I was leavin', well she looked me in the face I said "You must know the answer. " "She said, "No but I'll give it a try. " And to this very day we've been livin' our way And here is the reason why We blew up our T. V. threw away our paper Went to the country, built us a home Had a lot of children, fed 'em on peaches They all found Jesus on their own