CHAPTER THREE PSYCHOLOGY NOTES, Study notes of Psychology

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CHAPTER NO. 3

Meeting Life Challenges  INTRODUCTION OF STRESS Stress is a part of life.  Stress is neither a stimulus nor a response but an ongoing transactional process between the individual and the environment. Life is full of challenges.  Such as challenges posed by examination to students, challenges about a carrier, think of a child who loses his/her parents, young women who loses her husband in an accident or children who are physically or mentally challenged and so on.  All of us try to meet these challenges in our own way. Life challenges are not necessarily stressful.  Much depends how a challenge is viewed.  Stress is like electricity which provides energy but too high or too little energy, becomes hazardous.  Similarly, too much stress or too little stress have adverse effect for our well-being, optimum stress is healthy. TWO TYPES OF STRESS Eustress- The level of stress that is good for you and is one of a person’s best assets for achieving peak performance and managing minor crisis. Distress – Eustress, however has the potential of turning into “distress”. Manifestation of stress that causes our body’s wear and tear. DEFINITION OF STRESS

1. Stress can be described as the pattern of responses an organism makes to stimulus event that disturbs the equilibrium and exceeds a person’s ab i l it y t o cope.
2. Hans Seyle, the father of modem stress researches, defined stress as the non-specific response of the body to any demand. Nature of stress: The word stress has its origin in the latin word ‘strictus’, meaning tight or narrow and stringer, the verb meaning to tighten. These root words reflect the internal feelings of tightness and constriction of muscles and breathing, a common sign of stress. What are stressor? Events or situations in our environment that causes stress.

These stressors can be external, such as environmental (noise, air pollution), social (break-up with a friend, loneliness) or psychological (conflict, frustration) within the individual. What is strain? The reaction of external stressor is called strain. PROCESS /MEANING OF STRESS What are the two determining factors of perception of stress? The perception of stress is dependent upon the

1. individual’s cognitive appraisal of events and
2. the resources available to deal with them. COGNITIVE THEORY OF STRESS The stress process, based on the cognitive theory of stress propounded by Lazarus An individual’s response to a stressful situation largely depends upon the perceived events and how they are interpreted or appraised. CAUSE Internal or External stressor INTERNAL STATE Biological or Psychological reactions (coping, defence) leading to stress response RESULT - STRESS REACTION Challenge or Overcome or illness or strain

PERSON’S CHARACTERISTICS

Psychological characteristics like mental health, temperament, and self- concept are relevant to the experience of stress. The cultural context in which we live determines the meaning of any event and defines the nature of response that is expected under various conditions. Finally, the stress experience will be determined by the resources of the person, such as money, social skills, coping style, support networks, etc. All these factors determine the appraisal of a given stressful situation. DIMENSIONS OF STRESS The stresses which people experience also vary in terms of

1. Intensity (low intensity vs. high intensity)
2. Duration (short-term vs. long- term)
3. Complexity (less complex vs. more complex) and
4. Predictability (unexpected vs. predictable). The outcome of stress depends on the position of a particular str essful experience along these dimensions. Usually m o r e i n t e n s e , prolonged o r c h r o n i c , c o m p l e x a n d unanticipated stresses have more negative consequences than have less intense, short-term, less complex and expected stresses.

STRESS REACTIONS STRESS EFFECTS

Physiological: Arousal plays a key role in stress related behaviours. The hypothalamus initiates action along two pathways: (i) The first pathway involves the autonomic nervous system. The adrenal gland releases large amount of catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine) into the blood stream. This leads to physiological changes seen in fight-or-flight response. (ii) The second pathway involves the pituitary gland which secrets the corticosteroid (cortisol) which provides energy. Emotional : Negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, embarrassment, anger, depression or even denial. Behavioral : Depending on the nature of the stressful event; confrontative action against the stress or (fight) or withdrawal from the threatening event (flight). Cognitive: Beliefs about the harm or threat an event poses, its causes or controllability. These include responses such as inability to concentrate, and intrusive, repetitive or morbid thoughts. Physiological Effects: Increases the production of certain hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones produce marked changes in heart-rate, blood-pressure levels, metabolism and physical activity. Helps us function more effectively when we are under pressure for short periods of time, it can be extremely damaging to the body in the long-term effects. Emotional Effects: Experience mood swings, show erratic behaviour that may alienate them from family and friends, start a vicious circle of decreasing confidence, leading to more serious emotional problems. Behavioural Effects: Eating less nutritious food, increasing intake of stimulants such as caffeine, excessive consumption of cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs such as tranquillizer. These could be addictive and lead to side effects such as loss of concentration, poor coordination, and dizziness. Typical behavioral effects are disrupted sleep patterns, increased absenteeism, reduced work performance. Cognitive Effects: If pressures due to stress continue, one may suffer from mental overload. This suffering from high level of stress can rapidly cause individuals to lose their ability to make sound decisions, poor concentration, and reduced short-term memory capacity.

3. Traumatic Events: Variety of extreme events (fire, train or road accident, robbery, earthquake, tsunami). The effects of these events may occur after some lapse of time and sometimes persist as symptoms of anxiety, flashbacks, dreams and intrusive thoughts, etc. Severe trauma can also strain relationships. Professional help will be needed to cope with them. - Signs and symptoms of stress: There are individual differences in coping pattern of stress response and therefore the warning signals or signs also vary in its intensity. The signs of stress are very much dependent on how individual views them or its dimension i. e. Intensity duration, predictability or complexity. The warning signs and its manifestation as symptoms of stress can be physical, emotional, cognitive and behavioural. EXAMINATION ANXIETY What is Examination Anxiety? Examination anxiety is a fairly common phenomenon that involves feelings of tension or uneasiness that occur before, during, or after an examination. Examination stress has been characterised as “evaluative apprehension” or “evaluative stress” and produces debilitating behavioral, cognitive, and physiological effects no different from those produced by any other stressor. How does it affect the students?  Many people experience feelings of anxiety around examinations and find it helpful in some ways, as it can be motivating and create the pressure that is needed to stay focused on one’s performance.  Examination nerves, worry, or fear of failure are normal for even the most talented student.  Examination stress can cause test anxiety which adversely affects test performance.  Persons who are high in test anxiety tend to perceive evaluative situations as personally threatening; in test situations, they are often tense, apprehensive, nervous, and emotionally aroused  Moreover, the negative self-centred cognitions which they experience distract their attention and interfere with concentration during examinations. STRESS AND HEALTH Chronic daily stress can divert an individual’s attention from caring for herself or himself. When stress is prolonged, it affects physical health and impairs psychological functioning.

People experience exhaustion and attitudinal problems when the stress due to demands from the environment and constraints are too high and little support is available from family and f r i e n d s. The physical exhaustion fatigue, in the signs of chronic fatigue weakness and low energy. The mental exhaustion appears in the form of irritability, anxiety, feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. BURNOUT This state of physical emotional and psychological exhaustion is known as burnout. STRESS EFECTS ON HEALTH  There is also convincing evidence to show that stress can produce changes in the immune system and increase the chances of someone becoming ill.  Stress has been implicated in the development of cardiovascular disorders, high blood pressure, as well as psychosomatic disorders including ulcers, asthma, allergies and headaches.  Researchers estimate that stress plays an important role in fifty to seventy per cent of all physical illnesses. Studies also reveal that sixty per cent of medical visits are primarily for stress-related symptoms. General Adaptation Syndrome by HANS SELYE: (GAS)  Selye studied this issue by subjecting animals to a variety of stressors such as high temperature, X-rays and insulin injections, in the laboratory over a long period of time.  He also observed patients with various injuries and illnesses in hospitals.  Selye noticed a similar pattern of bodily response in all of them.  He called this patter n the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS).  According to him, GAS involves three stages: alarm reaction, resistance, and exhaustion

RELATIONSHIP OF STRESS AND ILLNESS

 Stress can affect natural killer cell cytotoxicity, which is of major importance in the defence against various infections and cancer.  Reduced levels of natural killer cell cytotoxicity have been found in people who are highly stressed, including students facing important examinations, bereaved persons, and those who are severely depressed.  Studies reveal that immune functioning is better in individuals receiving social support.  Also, changes in the immune system will have more effect on health among those whose immune systems are already weakened. How does the psychological stress affect health?  Psychological stress is accompanied by negative emotions and associated behaviours, including depression, hostility, anger and aggression.  Negative emotion states are of particular concern to the study of effects of stress on health.  The incidence of psychological disorders, such as panic attacks and obsessive behaviour increases with the buildup of long-term stress.  Worries can reach such a level that they surface as a frightening, painful physical sensation, which can be mistaken for a heart attack.  People under prolonged stress are more prone to irrational fears, mood swings and phobias, and may experience fits of depression, anger and irritability. These negative emotions appear to be related to the function of the immune system.  Our ability to interpret our world and to invest that interpretation with personal meaning and emotion have a powerful and direct effect on the body. Negative moods have been associated with poorer health outcomes.  Feelings of hopelessness are related to worsening of disease, increased risk of injury and death due to various causes. LIFE STYLE WHAT IS LIFE STYLE? Life style refers to the overall patterns of decision and behaviours that determine health and quality of life.  Stressed individuals may be more likely to expose themselves to pathogens which are agents causing illness.

 Stressed people have poor nutritional habits, steep less and are likely to engage in smoking and alchol abuse. HEALTH PROMOTING BEHAVIOUR  Balanced diet, Regular exercise, family support etc play important role in good health. Adhering to a lifestyle that includes balanced low fat diet, regular exercise and continued activity along with positive thinking enhances health and longevity.  The modern lifestyle of excesses in eating, drinking and the so called fast-paced good life COPING WITH STRESS Coping is a dynamic situation-specific reaction to stress. It is a set of concrete responses to stressful situations or events that are intended to resolve the problem and reduce stress. Endler and Parker:  THREE COPING STRATEGIES

1. Task-oriented Strategy: Obtaining information about the stressful situation and about alternative courses of action and their probable outcome; deciding priorities and acting so as to deal directly with the stressful situation.
2. Emotion-oriented Strategy: Efforts to maintain hope and to control one’s emotion; venting feelings of anger and frustration, or deciding that nothing can be done to change things.  Avoidance-oriented Strategy: Denying or minimizing the seriousness of the situation; conscious suppression of stressful thoughts and their replacement by self-protective ‘thoughts. Lazarus and Folkman: Lazarus and Folkman has conceptualised coping as a dynamic process rather than an individual trait. What is Coping? Coping refers to constantly changing cognitive and behavioural efforts to master, reduce or tolerate the internal or external demands that are created by the stressful transaction. Coping serves to allow the individual to manage or alter a problem and regulate the emotional response to that problem.

1. Cognitive Behavioural Techniques:  These techniques aim to inoculate people against stress.  Stress inoculation training is one effective method developed by Meichenbaum.  Replace negative and irrational thoughts with positive and rational ones. There are three main phases: a. Assessment b. Stress reduction techniques, and c. Application and follow- through.  Assessment involves discussing the nature of the problem and seeing it from the viewpoint of the person/client.  Stress reduction involves learning the techniques of reducing stress such as relaxation and self-instruction.
2. Exercise:  It can provide an active outlet for the physiological arousal experienced in response to stress.  Improves the efficiency of the heart, enhances the function of the lungs, maintains good circulation, lowers blood pressure, reduces fat in the blood, and improves the body’s immune system.  Swimming, walking, running, cycling, skipping, etc. help to reduce stress.  One must practice these exercises at least four times a week for 30 minutes at a time.  Each session must have a warm-up, exercise and cool down phases. PROMOTING POSITIVE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING 1. Stress Resistant Personality (Kobasa): People with high levels of stress but low levels of illness share three characteristics, which are referred to as the Personality traits of hardiness (a set of beliefs about oneself, the world, and how they interact). It has 3 C’S Commitment, Control and Challenge. (i) Commitment (personal commitment to work, family, hobbies and social life). (ii)Control (A sense of purpose and direction in life). (iii) Challenge (They see changes in life as normal and positive, rather than as a threat).
3. Life skills - They are abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. Our ability to cope depends on how well we are prepared to deal with and counterbalance everyday demands, and keep equilibrium in our lives. These life skills can be learned and even improved upon.

Assertiveness Time management Rational thinking Improving relationships, self-care and a. Assertiveness - Helps to communicate clearly and confidently, our feelings, needs, wants and thoughts. It is the ability to say ‘no’ to a request, to state an opinion without being self- conscious, or to express emotions. b. Time Management: Learning how to plan time and delegate can help to relieve the pressure. The central principle of time management is to spend your time doing the things that you value, or that help you to achieve your goals. c. Rational Thinking: When we are stressed, we have an inbuilt selective bias to attend to negative thoughts and images from the past, which affect our perception of the present and the future. Challenging your distorted thinking and irrational beliefs, driving out potentially intrusive negative anxiety-provoking thoughts, and making positive statements. d. Improving Relationships: The key to a sound lasting relationship is communication. Listening to what the other person is saying, expressing how you feel and what you think, and accepting the other person’s opinions and feelings, even if they are different from your own. e. Self-care: If we keep ourselves healthy, firm and relaxed, we are better prepared physically and emotionally to tackle the stresses of everyday life. Our breathing pattern reflect our state of mind and emotions. Rapid and shallow breathing from high in the chest, with frequent sighs. Overcoming unhelpful habits such as perfectionism, procrastination , etc. are some life skills that will help to meet the challenges of life. f. Overcoming Unhelpful Habits: Unhelpful habits such as perfectionism, avoidance, procrastination, etc. are strategies that help to cope in the short term hut which make one more vulnerable to stress.  Perfectionists are persons who have to get everything just right. They have difficulty in varying standards according to factors such as time available, consequences of not being able to stop work, and the effort needed. They are more likely to feel tense and find it difficult to relax, are critical of self and others, and may become inclined to avoid challenges.  Avoidance is to put the issue under the carpet and refuse to accept or face it.  Procrastination means putting off what we know we need to do. We all are guilty of saying “I will do it later”. People who procrastinate are deliberately avoiding confronting their fears of failure or rejection.

 EMOTIONAL SUPPORT - Reassuring the individual that she/he is loved, valued, and cared for. For E.g during times of stress, one may experience sadness, anxiety, and loss of self- esteem. Supportive friends and family provide emotional support. Research has demonstrated that social support effectively reduces psychological distress such as depression or anxiety, during times of stress. There is growing evidence that social support is positively related to psychological well- being. Generally, social support leads to mental health benefits for both the giver and the receiver. Resilience and Health:  Resilience is a dynamic developmental process referring to the maintenance of positive adjustment under challenging life conditions.  It has been described as the capacity to ‘bounce back’ in the face of stress and adversity. Resilience has recently been defined in terms of three resources—  I HAVE (social and interpersonal strengths)  I AM (inner strengths)  I CAN (interpersonal and problem-solving skills). ADJUSTMENT AND ADAPTATION:  “Adjustment is a continuous process by which a person varies his behaviour to produce a more harmonious relationship between himself and his environment.”  Adjustment helps us keeping balance between our need and the capacity to meet these needs. Adjustment is a subjective process. It is always related to some object and it varies from culture to culture.  Adjustment is the end product of coping.  Adaptation is structural or functional change that enhances the organisms survival value.

• It is a biological mechanism.
• In general adaptation is a term used in biological sciences for learning new ways for survival where as adjustment is psychological process to cope with the demands of the self and the environment.  Contemporary Psychologists have shown increasing interest in understanding what makes life good and meaningful.  Positive Psychology systematically investigates the positive aspects that is the strengths and virtues of human beings such as  Wisdom and knowledge [curiosity, love, emotional intelligence etc]  Courage [Bravery, industry, integrity]  Justice [Loyalty, Equity, Leadership]  Temperance [Self-control, prudence, Modesty]  Transcendence [Excellence gratitude, Hope, optimism, zest],

WORDS THAT MATTER

- Adaptation: Structural or functional change that enhances the organism’s survival value. - Alarm Reaction: The first stage of the general adaptation syndrome characterized by an emergency reaction involving the mobilization of energy through adrenal and sympathetic activity. - Appraisal: Refers to evaluation and interpretation. - Arousal: The tension experienced at the thought of others being present, and/or performance being evaluated. - Conflict: A state of disturbance in which resulting from opposing motivates, drives, needs or goals. - Coping: The process of trying to manage demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding one’s resources. - Exhaustion: State in which energy resources have been used up and responsiveness is reduced to a minimum. - General Adaptation syndrome (GAS): It consists of two phases—an alarm phase during which the organism makes efforts to cope with the threat, resistance phase during which the organism makes efforts to cope with the threat as through confrontation and an exhaustion phase which occurs if the organism fails to overcome the threat and depletes its physiological resources. - Hardiness: It is a set of beliefs about oneself, the world, and how they interact. It has three characteristics, i.e., commitment, control and challenge. - Homoeostasis: A state of physiological balance within the body. - Life Skills: Abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the environment. - Lifestyle: In the context of health psychology, the overall pattern of decision and behaviours that determine health and quality of life. - Meditation: A technique of turning one’s concentration inward and achieving an altered state of consciousness. - Optimism: The tendency to seek out, remember and expect pleasurable experiences. - Positive Health: It includes a healthy body, good interpersonal relationship, a sense of purpose in life, and resilience to stress, trauma and change. - Psychoneuroimmunology: Interaction among behavioural, neuroendocrine and immunological processes of adaptation. - Life Challenges and adjustment:  Life is a big challenge.  It presents a continuous chain of struggle for existence and survival for example if one aspires to join civil services, one works very hard but is not selected one may change one’s goal and feel inclined to join lectureship in any university. By restoring to such means one protects one’s self from the possible injury to ones ego, failure or frustration.