The Psychology of Stress

Stress, definitions, mechanisms, and effects outlined: Concepts, cognition, emotion, and behavior. An overview of several different definitions of stress. Fink also describes stress relative to fear and anxiety and discusses how they are linked. Psychological distress in sociological context: Toward a general theory of psychosocial stress.

Trends in theory and research. Kaplan presents a model specifically for psychosocial stress. He proposes that stress is experienced when an individual is unable to obtain a desired outcome.

The unfulfilled need is then the source of distress. Psychological stress and the coping process. Although the entire book is valuable to understanding the theory proposed by Lazarus, in the first chapter pp. A historical view of the stress field. Journal of Human Stress 1: He provides evidence that stress has discrete effects and argues that the terminology for stress be differentiated into external challenges i. Social and psychological factors in stress. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. As a product of the proceedings from a conference, McGrath has put together several perspectives on defining stress and the methodological issues that are important to continuing stress research.

Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Psychologically, this is all an unconscious attempt at self-destruction as a sort of self-punishment for feeling weak and vulnerable. In Western cultures, men tend to use sports, sex, and wealth to achieve a feeling of control, while women tend to use glamor and fashion.

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But these distractions can also lead you straight into pathology. An obsession with being in control of your weight can lead to an eating disorder ; an obsession with body-building can lead to Body Dysmorphic Disorder , which, by definition, is a preoccupation with an imagined defect in your appearance. Trying to be in control is just a vain illusion that you can determine what happens next in your life. Anger and Forgiveness 3rd edition Shows how to turn the emotional wounds of daily life into psychological growth. Available as a paperback book or as an e-book. If this website has helped you, then please help support this website.

There is no advertising on this website. A Guide to Psychology and its Practice. All material on this website is copyrighted. This type of stressor is unforeseen and unpredictable and, as such, is completely out of the control of the individual. Though rare in occurrence, this type of stressor typically causes a great deal of stress in a person's life.

A study conducted by Stanford University found that after natural disasters, those affected experienced a significant increase in stress level. Prevention requires stress reduction, emphasis on vehicle and other identification training, awareness of the tactical situation, and continual risk analysis by leaders at all echelons. Common examples of major life events include: These events, either positive or negative, can create a sense of uncertainty and fear, which will ultimately lead to stress.

For instance, research has found the elevation of stress during the transition from high school to university, with college freshmen being about two times more likely to be stressed than final year students. The length of time since occurrence and whether or not it is a positive or negative event are factors in whether or not it causes stress and how much stress it causes. Researchers have found that events that have occurred within the past month generally are not linked to stress or illness, while chronic events that occurred more than several months ago are linked to stress and illness [15] and personality change.

This category includes daily annoyances and minor hassles. Often, this type of stressor includes conflicts with other people. Daily stressors, however, are different for each individual, as not everyone perceives a certain event as stressful. For example, most people find public speaking to be stressful, nevertheless, a seasoned politician most likely will not. Daily hassles are the most frequently occurring type of stressor in most adults.

The high frequency of hassles causes this stressor to have the most physiological effect on an individual. Aldwin's study concluded that there is a strong correlation between individuals who rate their hassles as very intense and a high level of mortality.

Travel-related stress results from three main categories: As their name implies, these are global as opposed to individual low-grade stressors that are a part of the background environment. They are defined as stressors that are "chronic, negatively valued, non-urgent, physically perceptible, and intractable to the efforts of individuals to change them". Unlike the other three types of stressor, ambient stressors can but do not necessarily have to negatively impact stress without conscious awareness.

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They are thus low on what Stokols called "perceptual salience". Studies conducted in military and combat fields show that some of the most potent stressors can be due to personal organizational problems in the unit or on the home front. Life events scales can be used to assess stressful things that people experience in their lives.

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To calculate one's score, add up the number of "life change units" if an event occurred in the past year. A score of more than means that individual is at risk for illness, a score between and means risk of illness is moderate, and a score under means that individual only has a slight risk of illness. A modified version was made for non-adults. The scale is below. The SSRS is used in psychiatry to weight the impact of life events. The body responds to stress in many ways.

The Science of Stress: From Psychology to Physiology

Readjusting chemical levels is just one of them. Here are some examples of adjustments and changes. In terms of measuring the body's response to stress, psychologists tend to use Hans Selye's general adaptation syndrome. This model is also often referred to as the classic stress response, and it revolves around the concept of homeostasis. General adaptive syndrome occurs in three stages:.

The Impact of Stress

This physiological stress response involves high levels of sympathetic nervous system activation, often referred to as the "fight or flight" response. The response involves pupil dilation, release of endorphins, increased heart and respiration rates, cessation of digestive processes, secretion of adrenaline, arteriole dilation, and constriction of veins. This high level of arousal is often unnecessary to adequately cope with micro-stressors and daily hassles; yet, this is the response pattern seen in humans, which often leads to health issues commonly associated with high levels of stress.

Sleep allows people to rest and re-energize for another day filled with interactions and tasks. If someone is stressed it is extremely important for them to get enough sleep so that they can think clearly [ citation needed ]. Unfortunately, chemical changes in the body caused by stress can make sleep a difficult thing. Glucocorticoids are released by the body in response to stress which can disrupt sleep [ citation needed ]. There is likely a connection between stress and illness.

Behavioral changes can be smoking and eating habits and physical activity. Physiological changes can be changes in sympathetic activation or hypothalamic pituitary adrenocorticoid activation, and immunological function. Stress can make the individual more susceptible to physical illnesses like the common cold. Chronic stress and a lack of coping resources available or used by an individual can often lead to the development of psychological issues such as depression and anxiety see below for further information.

These are stressors that may not be as intense as an acute stressor like a natural disaster or a major accident, but they persist over longer periods of time. These types of stressors tend to have a more negative impact on health because they are sustained and thus require the body's physiological response to occur daily.

This depletes the body's energy more quickly and usually occurs over long periods of time, especially when these microstressors cannot be avoided i. See allostatic load for further discussion of the biological process by which chronic stress may affect the body. For example, studies have found that caregivers, particularly those of dementia patients, have higher levels of depression and slightly worse physical health than noncaregivers.

Studies have also shown that perceived chronic stress and the hostility associated with Type A personalities are often associated with much higher risks of cardiovascular disease.

Psychological stress

This occurs because of the compromised immune system as well as the high levels of arousal in the sympathetic nervous system that occur as part of the body's physiological response to stressful events. It has long been believed that negative affective states, such as feelings of anxiety and depression, could influence the pathogenesis of physical disease, which in turn, have direct effects on biological process that could result in increased risk of disease in the end. However, studies done by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and other places have shown this to be partly untrue; although stress seems to increase the risk of reported poor health, the perception that stress is harmful increases the risk even further.

Chronic stress results from stressful events that persist over a relatively long period of time, such as caring for a spouse with dementia, or results from brief focal events that continue to be experienced as overwhelming even long after they are over, such as experiencing a sexual assault.



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Experiments show that when healthy human individuals are exposed to acute laboratory stressors, they show an adaptive enhancement of some markers of natural immunity but a general suppression of functions of specific immunity. By comparison, when healthy human individuals are exposed to real-life chronic stress, this stress is associated with a biphasic immune response where partial suppression of cellular and humoral function coincides with low-grade, nonspecific inflammation.

Even though psychological stress is often connected with illness or disease, most healthy individuals can still remain disease-free after confronting chronic stressful events. Also, people who do not believe that stress will affect their health do not have an increased risk of illness, disease, or death.

In addition, the age at which the stress is experienced can dictate its effect on health. Research suggests chronic stress at a young age can have lifelong impacts on the biological, psychological, and behavioral responses to stress later in life. As stress has a physical effect on the body, some individuals may not distinguish this from other more serious illnesses.

If the symptom is unambiguous e.